u/JulieSantRadTech

Hey r/RadiologyCareers! I'm the Radiologic Technology Program Director at Concorde Career Institute- Orlando. I'm a few weeks into the new semester, and the questions keep coming: how do I do all of this? Anyone who's been through it knows the program is a lot. And the clinical hours alone can feel like a full-time job before you factor in everything else.

The advice I give most often is that joining an accelerated radiologic technology program is an exciting step, but it is a serious commitment. To set yourself up to thrive, build your support system early. Have backup plans ready for life’s unexpected moments, and make sure your family and friends understand the time this program requires. You will need a quiet place to focus and at least 2 to 4 hours of uninterrupted study time every single day. Between lectures and clinical rotations, you will be busy at least five days a week, so reducing your work hours will be critical to keeping up. It will feel intense at times, but time flies in an accelerated format. Stay disciplined, take it one day at a time, and you will be done before you know it!

I'd love to share something that comes from others who are in or have been in a similar program, and not just from me, the program director. What's one thing that actually helped you survive it?

TL;dr: tips, systems, honest lessons. Anything goes for surviving a rad tech program.

Hey r/Radiology! I'm the Radiologic Technology Program Director at Concorde Career College Orlando, and I teach rad tech students who could use more than textbook cases to learn from.

So a question for everyone... is there a scan or image from early in your career that you still think about?

For me, it was during my clinical rotations when EMS brought in a man who had jumped off a highway bridge, landed onto another highway, and was run over by a truck. Amazingly, he was still alive. As a 19-year-old student, I had to x-ray every bone in his body right there in the trauma bay using analog film that had to be hand-processed in a darkroom long before digital imaging was a thing. That night exposed me to things I had never imagined seeing, but it ultimately taught me how to stay calm, focused, and organized under extreme pressure. 

Would love to hear some stories I can share with my students. Thanks!