submitted by Amy Molle, student in the CT/MRI program at UNMC, class of 2009

A day in the life of a CT/MRI student is spent splitting your time between classroom/online classes and putting in clinical hours at the hospital.  Your schedule from Fall to Spring semester does not change except for the classes you are taking each semester. You can expect to start your day at 8 am every day of the week.  On Mondays you are at the hospital from 8 am to noon then you are done for the day. This time is given to you to work on your online classes which, depending on the semester, is either 2 or 3 classes. Tuesday-Thursday you are at the hospital working from 8 am to 4 pm logging clinical hours at the hospital.  Friday you will split your day between hospital and class time, you leave the hospital at noon and return to campus at 1 pm for classes until 4 pm.

Working at the hospital logging clinical hours means working hand in hand with the technologists.  CT/MRI students are on two-week rotations splitting their time between the two modalities. During those hours they are screening patients to make sure it’s safe to enter the scanning room and proceed with the scheduled procedure; also making sure that the patient’s questions are answered and they feel comfortable with the procedure ahead of them. The student preps patients and performs scans from day one with the technologists right by their side.  It’s a very hands-on learning environment. Most of these hours are logged at the Nebraska Medical Center, but you also visit Nebraska Health Imaging and Midwest Neuro Surgical Center.   

Technologists view

The game is still afoot…identify my whereabouts and find Elephanto!

Where in UNMC...?

     submitted by Ellie Jorgensen, student in the Radiography program at UNMC, class of 2009

A day in the life of a radiography student usually involves time split between classroom/online classes and clinic.  Students get to know their classmates very well due to the small class sizes and enjoy hanging out or studying together in SEC in between classes. 

There is plenty of opportunity for hands-on experience to practice what is learned in class and lab.  Various weekly rotations at the Med Center include: Outpatient Clinic, Surgery, the Emergency Room, Fluoroscopy and going on portable x-ray exams to in-patients’ rooms.  Students get to also rotate to other Omaha hospitals like the Veterans Affairs Hospital (VA), Creighton Medical Center, Clarkson, and Children’s Hospital and Medical Center.  There is also the option to complete a one or two week rotation at a rural hospital during the summer semester.  Students get the opportunity to work with many different technologists and see diverse exams.   

While everyone is usually busy studying and going to clinic, there is still time to relax out with new friends.

Radiography Students in the Bennett Hall Reading Room.

by Fran Higgins, BFA
So, you love peanut butter and alfalfa sprouts but hate salmonellosis. You’re not alone.

Linsey Donner, MT(ASCP)

The fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea caused by the Salmonella serotype Typhimurium bacteria are not what one expects or hopes for after enjoying a sandwich or snack, so I spoke with Linsey Donner, MT(ASCP) from our Clinical Laboratory Science Education program to find out more about these critters and the recent outbreaks we’ve all heard about in the news lately. Linsey has faced off with these bacteria under her microscope on more than one occasion. She was happy to share her expertise.

Salmonellosis is not uncommon and most of the time it is self-limiting, meaning the symptoms will probably subside on their own in 4-7 days without any treatment. If you are treated, you are more likely to become a carrier, so treatment is only necessary in severe cases – usually in the elderly, infants, or immunocompromised individuals. The most important things for someone with salmonellosis are to stay hydrated and wash hands, especially before handling food.

If you think you’ve been exposed to Salmonella and are showing symptoms which are not getting better within a week, see your family practitioner. Your doctor will ask you to collect a stool sample and they will send it to the lab. The clinical laboratory scientist then cultures the sample for pathogenic bacteria, incubates it, and can identify the bacteria in 48 hours. If it is indeed Salmonella hanging its ugly hat in the agar plate, the scientist then does susceptibility testing to see which antibiotics are effective against the bacteria. All told, it takes about 72 hours from start of identification to the finish of this process, at which time the lab sends a report back to the physician who can then, if indicated, prescribe and treat with the proper antibiotics. The lab also reports these positive findings to the Public Health Department who in turn reports to the Centers for Disease Control.

Did you know that 70-80% of patient management decisions are based on laboratory tests? Without microbiologists and clinical laboratory scientists, physicians wouldn’t have enough information to diagnose and treat most illnesses, particularly those like salmonellosis which require specific tests to detect. The scientist needs to be able to differentiate between thousands of “normal” bacteria and the pathogenic ones, or “bad guys,” as I prefer to call them.

Most people get salmonellosis from undercooked meat, poultry, eggs, or from milk. The recent cases in the United States have been connected to peanut butter and, here in Douglas County, alfalfa sprouts. To see a complete listing of recalled peanut foods, go to: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm

Linsey’s tips for prevention: Cook your foods to the correct temperatures, make certain your dairy products are pasteurized, keep uncooked meats separated from produce, wash your hands thoroughly with soap before handling foods, after using the restroom, and after coming in contact with animal feces or handling pets (particularly reptiles or birds).