Radiology = Done

Cat Scan! 

Two funny pictures pulled from my Radiology course notes (I don't know the sources for them, sorry!). 

Briefly, here are some final thoughts on my Radiology course:

 

- In this course, we talked about Xrays, CT scans, MRI exams, Ultrasounds, and other machines used to image the body. 

- All of these machines have specific uses/indications. Some general uses include: Xrays for bones or masses, ultrasounds for soft tissue and organs, and MRIs for neural imaging. 

- There are lots of conditions that can be picked up during diagnostic imaging that are otherwise asymptomatic!

- Xrays have been linked to breast cancer in women who had many chest Xrays in their life. This is because the Xray chest image is often taken in the anterior to posterior direction (i.e. with the machine facing the front of the chest) allowing the rays to penetrate the breast tissue. Clinical guidelines now recommend that Xrays of the chest be taken in the posterior to anterior direction (i.e. with the machine facing the back) to decrease the Xray exposure of the breasts. 

- This course taught me some really neat tid-bits, such as how to diagnose osteoporosis, that our lumbar vertebrate look a lot like scotty dogs on Xrays (i.e. like Scottish Terrier dogs), that many cancers present as 'hot spots' in the body, and that most 'fuzzy' things on images are bad things! 

- As an ND, I will rarely have to evaluate an Xray, but if I were pressed to read one, I'm sure I could figure out what the Xray is showing me! I may have to consult my Radiology notes if it is something obscure, but if it something common, I'm confident that I would be able to interpret the film. 

- This was one of the funniest classes of the year. The prof was often cracking jokes and including funny images (like those shown above!) in his PowerPoint presentations. His humorous and relaxed teaching style was much appreciated.