MRI Technician Training

If you are looking for good solid medical information, whether you are a medical professional or someone who wants to learn, then you need to check out these blogs.  These top 20 medical blogs contain high end, researched information that allow you to search through and find your answers very fast.

 
The Student Doctor Network
The Student Doctor Network is a great place for faculty, students, and advisors to connect and discuss everything from being a doctor to medical news.

Literature, Arts, and Medicine Blog
The goal of the NYU Blog is to create a space and open up discussion on medical research with how it relates to humanities, arts, and social sciences.

DrugWonks
The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest has brought to us the DrugWonks blog.  Reading through this blog, you will find information on new drug studies, FDA approvals and more.

The Portable Pediatrician
As a licensed practitioner of pediatrics, Dr. Stacy B. Stryer, focuses on children’s health including natural health, hearth health, cold and flu, and even college health.

Center for Health Care Research and Policy
As part of its mission to improve the health of the public by conducting research that examines access to health care, increases the quality of health care services, and informs health policy and practice; the Center for Health Care Research and Policy has developed this great blog to discuss its reviews, advertise seminars and reach out to the community.

Rx for healthcare
Oregon’s Rx for Healthcare Blog, sets out to inform the public and encourage discussions about how healthcare reform can come about.

Doctor David’s Blog
As a pediatric oncologist, Dr. David, uses his blog to write informally for anyone who is interested in pediatric oncology, cancer research, cancer treatments, and breaking medical news.

Women’s Health
Dr. Vivian Dickerson is a licensed OB/GYN who writes to inform women of all ages need to know for optimum health!

Health Blog
The Health Blog, brought to you by The Wall Street Journal, offers news and analysis on health and the business of health.  The blog covers stories from “why Joe Lieberman is opposed to expanding medicare” to “how remedial reading class changes young brains”.

Medical Humanities Blog
As a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Institute for Medical Humanities, Daniel Goldberg uses this blog to discuss the nature and future of medical humanities.

The National Nurse
Endorsed by American Holistic Nurses Association, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, The Center for Nursing Advocacy and other medical and nursing organizations, The Nation Nurse brings you news about nursing, conventions, research and more.

MyCancer
As a Journalist, Leroy Sievers, felt the need to share about his battle with cancer.  Read through his blog to keep up with his progress, as well as up to date information on cancer treatment.

MedicalNerds.com
This blog is all about technology, stats and IT for medics, brought to you by the Medical Nerds.  If you need to find out how to Zip a file, or the pitfalls when buying a blackberry from eBay, then this is the blog for you.

Acupuncture Today
This site, about acupuncture, will inform you on everything from “low-level laser light acupuncture” to “an effective supplemental therapy for cancer”.

Respectful Insolence
Respectful Insolence brings you news on alternative medicine and general industry through clever and funny post.

PsychCentral Blog
Brought to you by The PsychCentral, this blog informs and discusses all types of mental health symptoms, diseases and treatments, from parenting to anxiety to grief.

Stress
As a Mayo Clinic oncologist, Dr. Edward T. Creagan, talks about everything from dealing with stress to ways of simplifying your general life.

Healthy Relationships
Licensed as a psychotherapist, Mira Kirshenbaum uses this blog to cover how relationships are connected to your health.  With subjects from fitness, cancer, sex, to addiction and much more, this site has you covered.

The Differential
This blog is brought to you by several medical students through Medscape blogs, and covers all sorts of information.  Students are from colleges such as Cambridge University, UNC Chapel Hill, UT  Health Sciences Center, and more.

Health and Nutrition by Michael R. Eades, M.D.
Best-selling author, Dr. Michael R. Eades, who wrote Protein Power, uses his blog to inform you about diet research studies, metabolism, nutrition and more.

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H1N1, also known as swine flu, has ravaged us just last year. It has killed hundreds or maybe thousands of people around the world. From Europe to Asia, the rich and poor, healthy and sick, the disease doesn’t choose its victims. There have been preventive steps made by the governments, but it isn’t enough. Literally everywhere, we can get the disease, since it spreads very quickly. The virus has victimized tens of thousands of people, but it’s a good thing the mortality rate isn’t high.

We should be the ones to help ourselves, but to do so; we must know the details surrounding H1N1. The facts are important, and we should distinguish it from myths. Below are reliable sources of information where we can get the latest updates about swine flu. We can learn about the preventive measures we should take, how it has affected the lives of people, and everything else. Some may have bad news, but it is the truth and we must be conscious of it.

1. http://h1n1virus.us/ – This site tells the readers all about swine flu. It was created mainly for the reason of educating the public about the disease. There are preventions, possible treatments, and every bit of information they can gather. The lists of articles here are written by different people.
2. http://www.bestswineflu.com/ – This blog has a map of the US which includes the level of infection around each state. It shows how deadly it has been to us. They also have information about the outbreak, prevention, and symptoms of the disease.
3. http://theswineflublog.com/ – This has general information necessary to us so we know how to act with swine flu in our midst. The good thing about this blog is it has valuable questions and answers, not only for everyone, but also for pregnant women. This has current blog entries so what we read here is everything that the health department can offer.
4. http://swine-flu-epidemic.blogspot.com/ – Containing not only articles, but also videos and maps, the blog gives us news, tips, and opinions about swine flu. They included some links to government sites to give us more information that are factual. You can use the articles and videos here as long as those are referenced or linked back to them.
5. http://pandemicflu.gov/ – A government site meant to help the public, pandemicflu.gov teaches us what to do with the flu. It isn’t only about swine flu, but the regular ones that hit many of us all the time. What’s good about this website is that you can go to this site and use other languages like Chinese and Spanish.
6. http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/ – The blog mainly concentrates on the bad news about swine flu. This lists the deaths in different countries, the timeline, and includes news in Asia. Unlike other sites, I think this one is unbiased because it analyzes the content of other information sources.
7. http://www.wvflu.org/ – Like the other blogs, this one also provides a lot of information regarding swine flu. This is a reliable source since the writers are really doctors who know everything about H1N1. The blog focuses on helping those who are vulnerable to complications due to the disease. Listed here are local health departments and the links to each of them.
8. http://h1n1blog.org/ – They have articles not only about the US happenings, but have information all around the world. Some come from as far as Hong Kong and Egypt, but more are from the US. This site teaches us how to prepare and prevent H1N1 from harming us.
9. http://www.ndflu.com/h1n1/ – Aside from the usual information that can be seen on other sites, they have statistics to prove what they are saying. There are reports here in which the target audience varies. Some are for schools and others are for employers and employees. They answer frequently asked questions so it is easier for us to understand the message.
10. http://www.flula.com/ – They teach specific groups of people how to deal with swine flu. Families and schools differ in their ways to prevent the disease from spreading. It also has information that can help the people who have chronic illnesses, because they are the most vulnerable to it.

After reading through these blogs, hopefully you have learned a lot about swine flu. We are not sure whether the pandemic will cease, but we should always be careful. It is important to note, though, that swine flu isn’t the only scary thing in this world. There are a lot more sickness we can get.

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It’s amazing how a Magnetic Resonance Imaging examination (MRI) of the head works and how precise it can be. My friend recently needed to have an MRI performed due to some unexplained symptoms he was experiencing and it resulted in the doctor’s finding and successfully removing a non-cancerous meningioma.  That’s a sort of complicated way to say that my friend had a benign tumor in his brain and the doctors were able to find it and remove it thanks to the results of his MRI.

It’s really an interesting technology as it allows physicians to better analyze parts of the body and certain diseases that just can’t be assessed with other imaging technologies like x-rays, ultrasound, or CAT scans (computed tomography).  So how is an MRI different?  Essentially, an MRI does not expose you to radiation.  Instead it takes advantage of tiny electric signals that are emitted from hydrogen atoms in your body’s cells.  The MRI scanner has really strong magnets that detect those electric signals from the hydrogen atoms and uses a computer to create detailed images of your soft tissues (like your brain).  So it was through this technology that they were able to see that my friend had a brain tumor.

My friend assured me that there was absolutely no pain or discomfort associated with getting the MRI done.  The only difficult part was that he had to lie still for about 30 minutes as the procedure was being performed (no small task to keep him still for that long).  Anyway, in the end the results of the test can easily be well worth the boredom and uneasiness that can accompany the procedure (pretty much all of that is just mental anguish as you wonder what might be wrong with you that caused you to need the procedure in the first place).

After researching it a bit it appears that most people actually experience apprehension due to the following:

• They may feel claustrophobic due to being inside the MRI machine.
• They are all alone in the room/machine and that can be disconcerting.
• The small clicks and bangs that are being made by the equipments (totally normal).
• You have to drink a small amount of contrast material in advance of the procedure.

The doctors and nurses did a good job of preparing my friend for his procedure as they explained in advance all of the normal issues that can come up for people that are undergoing the procedure.  So my friend felt prepared for it and wasn’t as concerned as he may had been if he wasn’t aware of what was normal (so he didn’t get concerned by the clicking of the machine, etc.).

Like most procedures your doctor asks you to go through, it’s always good to ask questions and research what you are having done so that you know in advance what to expect and even what the normal results are and how long it takes to get them.  The last thing my friend or really anyone needs when you are having unexplained symptoms is fear of the procedures that are being used to try and find the source of the problem.  Thankfully, the story ended well for my friend who is recovering fine and happy to have his headaches and other symptoms behind him.

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Let me start out by saying, I am a pretty average person in most ways with the exception of having multiple sclerosis which is a disease that impacts thousands of Americans (I am not sure how many exactly).  However, that is really just background information for this story which I will circle back to a bit later.  This has been quite the week for me as I had a bunch of my regular checkups scheduled (regular exam at the doctor, and a dental cleaning).  My trip to the dentist started off pretty much like it always does with the dentist commenting on how much sugary sodas I drink (I love Mountain Dew) and of course my sweet tooth in general (chocolate, licorice, all the usual candy staples).

My next visit for the week was to the local medical center to get yet another MRI on my brain and spinal cord (relatively common for those of us afflicted with MS).  My regular neurologist recently moved to another town so I am getting a new one (referred by my previous doctor).  I went into the MRI machine and to my surprise it took a lot longer than normal.  Normally I am in the machine for about 45 minutes max, but this time I was in the machine for an hour and a half.  You would think that a person would get used to lying flat on their back for this procedure, but it’s just so darn uncomfortable… Anyway, my heart goes out to everyone else that has to endure this on a regular basis.

Just to give everyone a feel for what this is like, I am a pretty normal sized person (6′0″ and about 180 lbs.).  I was inserted like usual into my temporary little cave.  When it’s closed the MRI machine is about 2 feet in diameter (at least that’s my take on it, it’s probably a little bigger).  All I know is that my elbows were touching the sides of the cylinder and my nose was about 3 inches from the top of the machine.  The first few times I did the procedure it was just flat out terrifying because I felt too confined and the machine makes a series of annoying clicks throughout the whole process.  As I said before, normally this procedure only takes a max of 45 minutes so image my discomfort being in such a small place for over an hour and a half.  I don’t care who you are, that is going to leave a lasting impression on anyone.

So anyway, there I laid as the MRI technician did a very thorough look at my brain and spinal cord.  The tech running the procedure was apparently programming the computer to take more cross-section images of my brain.  I guess that takes a bit longer (I later found out why they were doing this).

The end result of my week was that I had a couple of more cavities (big shock), normal plaque build-up, and unfortunately I have secondary progressive MS.  In essence, the disease is not going away and not getting any better (which of course I could have already told them that).  So I decided to write this blog article just to provide an example from a patient’s perspective.  If it weren’t for the MRI, my doctors wouldn’t have been able to confirm that the disease is progressing as easily.  Which would have meant that my physical therapy program wouldn’t have necessarily been changed to help me try to slow the progression of the disease.  It’s tough having MS, but I am very glad for procedures and technologies like this which really help people.

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MRI is short for Magnetic Resonance Imaging.  An MRI program is basically a degree or series of courses that help people become qualified to get a job as an MRI Technician. MRI’s have quickly become a widely adopted technology to spot diseases and to just run diagnostic tests on patients that have general symptoms.  This technology allows doctors to be able to see internal images of their patient’s body that prior to MRI’s would have been virtually impossible to see short of a surgical procedure.  The technology was initially discovered when scientists were studying nuclear magnetic resonance.  In fact MRI was originally known as NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging).  It takes special training for a tech or doctor to be able to perform an MRI scan and currently there is a high demand for people that are trained on this procedure.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that this profession will see continued growth at least through 2012 and most likely beyond due to an aging population and an increase in the uses for the procedure.

The ideal career path is for a student to go to college and get either an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree in a related technology and then to sit for a certification exam.  Becoming a certified MRI technician gives you a tremendous advantage over any MRI techs that are not certified. It is highly recommend that you check with your State’s licensing board to determine what the requirements are for you to site for the exam in your State. It’s also important to note that you may want to check into an unlimited State license if you plan to move to another State at any point in your career. Other normal requirements for licensing and certification:

• Associate degree or bachelor degree in allied health field, and be certified in another clinical imaging field (such as ARDMS or NMTCB)
• You should have 6 months supervised MRI clinical scanning experience
• You usually need to be evaluated by a responsible physician to assure competence
• You should have experience in the intravenous administration of conventional MR contrast, supervised by a qualified physician or a qualified technologist
• Maintain Basic Life Support (BLS) certification (recommended)
• You should be capable of using an automatic external defibrillator (AED).(recommended)

Most schools will have an allied health science degree for you to select (usually both an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree).  Please do make sure that the program you select is approved by the certifying bodies for your State.

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