04-08-11 week

This week I learning to scan carotid exams at the clinical site. I find it challenging to align the vessels, and obtain a good Doppler signal. I know it takes practice and I am willing to try it again, and get better at it.
I school, we studied fetal head and brain. I can't wait to go to an OB site so I can scan OB cases.

04-01-11 Week

During this week we learned about the fetal head and brain, we worked on our future presentations, and we learned about artifacts in physics. During my clinical hours, I scanned abdomens, pelvis, and I am still looking for a testicular or a breast study. I am enjoying my clinical site and I am looking forward to going to clinicals every week.

03-25-11 Week

After a relaxing spring break, we went back to school. The week went by very fast, but fruitfull. We presented our case about renal cell carcinoma on Monday, and then got another one about carotid body tumor. During the physics lab, we took another practice test. During my three days of clinicals I scanned a lot of vascular studies and abdomens.

03-18-11 Week

The week between the 03-14 and 03-18 was spring break. I enjoyed it by relaxing at home with my family.

3-11-2011 week

This week we had to present our case study about the ultrasound guided craniotomy. It was a very interesting case, that I got to observe in the OR. The presentation went well, and the nest case will be about renal cell carcinoma. I have to prepare the etiology and pathophysiology of the disease. At the physics lab we took a test, that prove to be harder than we anticipated. I plan to study physics over the spring break, so I get prepared for the upcoming boards. At the clinical site, I scan pelvic exams, both transabdominal and endovaginal. It take a lot of practice for me to obtain good images of the ovaries. I have practiced to find some good windows for the kidneys, especially the left one.

3-4-11 week

This week was just as busy as the previous one. We had a test on Monday, and I did pretty well, and the rest of the week was packed with studying, preparation for the case study presentation, and clinicals. At my clinical site I was able to scan more, and I started to scan more venous legs, and assist with invasive procedures, such as thoracentesis, paracentesis and biopsies.
As we enter the month of March , I realize that I only have two months until this semester ends and I need to complete all my competencies. I try to get at least 2 every week, if possible, so I don't stress out towards the end.

2-25-11 week

This week was a busy one, even without school on Monday. I feel overwhelmed with so many school projects and not enough time to study. At the hospital I started scanning venous legs and I am working on developing my own routine and order of images. I love what I do and where I am at, the techs are impressed with my attitude of trying new things and they encourage me to scan more. I hope to get better at the venous studies, since we get so many of them.

02-18-2011 week

This week in clinicals I got to scan more. The techs have been trusting me more, and I have been scanning abdomen and renal studies. I enjoy being at John C Lincoln Medical Center because of all the interesting cases and the helpful techs. I work mostly with Earl, Amy and Kay, and they all been very kind to me and willing to teach me the ropes. The most interesting case I have seen was the renal vein thrombosis in an 80 year old female. I did not find it, my preceptor found the pathology, but I scanned most of the other organs.

In the physics lab, we looked at the elevational resolution and we measured it by looking at dental floss in a bowl of water.

02-12-2011 week

I the physics lab, we measured for the lateral resolution, using an AIUM test object and we determined that it varies with the focus, depth, frequency and type of the transducer used.
This week was my first week at my new clinical rotation: John C Lincoln Medical Center. The drive was not as bad as I thought, and the employees are very nice. The techs that I work with mostly are Earl, Amy and Kay. The most interesting case that I got to see was a craniotomy in the OR. We placed the hockey stick transducer, right on the brain, after a piece of skull was removed, and we imaged the tumor, that was right underneath the pia mater. It was very interesting, and I would like to see more of these cases.

Feb 4th 2011 clinical week

I completed another week at SMIL, and I learned that I will be moved to another clinical site, because SMIL asked for just one student. I will be going to John C Lincoln Medical Center, probably starting next week. I am looking forward to learning how to scan the inpatient patient population, and all of the acute ER patients. I embrace this change and I will do my best at learning quickly the protocols, and all the tech preferences.