Medical radiation technologist

You need to reassure people, says radiation technologist Cameron Marjoribanks. Picture / Graeme Sedal

Name: Cameron Marjoribanks
Age: 23
Role: Medical radiation technologist, Auckland Hospital
Working hours: 35 hours and on-call work
Average pay: $34,026 (starting) to $57,101 (senior)
Qualifications: Bachelor of Health Science (medical imaging)

Describe how you got this job?

I had a look at the Unitec prospectus and they suggested spending a day in the radiology department before enrolling. I did that and thought it was for me. You are in the hospital from the second or third week of the degree course and you know quite quickly whether it is for you. I did my three years and I signed a job contract some time before I qualified as a radiographer, which is the old name for the job. There are thousands of jobs. There's a shortage in New Zealand.

Describe what you do?

Anything from x-raying patients in trauma in the emergency department to taking x-rays of broken bones and imaging of patients as they are getting put back together in theatre at Auckland Hospital. We get a request form of what is wrong and what the referring physician recommends be done. If we think there is more to be done we go ahead and do it. You quite often see the patients several times, first from the emergency department, then during surgery and later in outpatients when they come in for a progress check.

What have you had to do to succeed at this job?

Keep a sense of humour. People who have an interest in the job are the ones who have been here for years and are keen to see the right result come out of the pictures they take.

What sort of training or experience do you need?

You need a three-year degree. Clinical experience of one year is jammed into the degree years, so there are no holidays as they are spent doing the clinical experience. It is paid after the first year. You spend nearly half your time in the hospital working with patients, so it is very hands-on.

What skills and qualities do you need?

Be diligent about what you do, be down to earth. A sense of humour goes a long way, because half the time it is either laugh or cry. No matter what you do it is going to be a bit rough, either for the patient or for you. If you had a negative perception of things you would not enjoy being at the hospital at 3am after 12 hours. You need people skills. The most important one is being able to work with different people. When people aren't well they need people to be reassuring and sensitive to their suffering. You need cultural awareness as you meet absolutely everyone.

Best part of the job?

It is always nice when, having worked in critical care, several months later you see a patient in outpatients. It is nice to know the person pulls through and lives happily ever after. Plus, meeting all the people you work with - the people at the hospital are great.

Most challenging part?

Staying focused and interested at 3am when you have been at the hospital since 4pm the day before. Enthusiasm is hard to maintain under pressure.

How do you define success in this job?

Helping a person get better and enjoying it while you are doing it.

What are your career hopes for future?

There are other areas in the radiology department I would like to work in which require more training, for instance, in magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans. It is a very technical area to work in, fast-changing, and there are new developments all the time. It is interesting to see what is on the horizon as new technology always seems to be arriving.

If I wanted a job like yours how would I go about it, and what qualifications would I need?

Get in touch with the polytechs that run the courses and spend some time in a hospital being led around by a tutor. All the degree programmes are highly regarded.

What advice would you have for someone contemplating a career like yours?

Give it a go. If you do the first semester alone you get some qualification. The job prospects are very good everywhere.