Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D.,R.T.(R)(M), FASRT and CAE of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Pergola talks about the importance of their new Be Seen campaign. Pergola also talks about the importance of being your own patient advocate.
https://www.asrt.org/beseen
Radiologic technologists are eligible for Active membership if they are registered in a primary modality by certification agencies recognized by the ASRT or hold an unrestricted license in medical imaging or radiation therapy under state statute. They have all the rights, privileges and obligations of membership including voting, holding office and serving as a delegate.
https://www.asrt.org/beseen
https://www.asrt.org/beseen
Radiologic technologists are eligible for Active membership if they are registered in a primary modality by certification agencies recognized by the ASRT or hold an unrestricted license in medical imaging or radiation therapy under state statute. They have all the rights, privileges and obligations of membership including voting, holding office and serving as a delegate.
https://www.asrt.org/beseen
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, I'm Karen Klaus and thisweek on the Art of Improvement, I'll
be speaking with Melissa Pergola. She'sthe CEO and Executive director of the American
Society of Radiologic Technologists. Sometimes inlife we put off our health and then
when it comes to having to goto the doctor the hospital to get an
MRI or an X ray or anythingthat has to do with your health.
(00:23):
The more you know, the betteroff you are. Being your own patient
advocate is crucial, and that's whymy conversation with Melissa is going to be
extra special today. I hope youhave the time to listen to the whole
show, because she says, askingthe right questions to assure that you're getting
the best care possible is crucial.My conversation with Melissa is coming up next
(00:44):
on the Art of Improvement. Thankyou so much for listening to the Art
of Improvement. My guest today issomeone that I've talked to before, but
we were having a conversation recently andshe brought up some really interesting observations.
Melissa Pergola is the CEO and Executivedirector of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists,
(01:11):
also known as Asart. Hi,Melissa, Hi, so good to
be talking to you again. Yeah, it was so great the first time
we talked, because I feel like, embarrassingly I spent the entire time that
I should have been talking to youabout ASRT making you explain to me what
the heck is a radiologic technologist.And it's funny because if people are just
(01:34):
listening to this and haven't heard thefirst one it is, I wanted you
to just give a general overview ofwhat it is, sure, and don't
apologize. I think that was absolutelyfabulous. Anytime I can talk about how
to get into this amazing profession orwho we are, I'm always up for
(01:55):
that and excited to do it.Thank you. But a little bit about
who we are are? So asa society, of course, you mentioned
were the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, and so that includes medical imaging and
radiation therapy professionals. So who isthat. If you've ever had a hand
(02:15):
X ray, you've met a radiographer. If you have had you or a
family member have had to have radiationtherapy treatments, you've met our radiation therapists
and medical disymmetrists. If you've everhad CT or MRI. You've met our
technologists, ultra found our sonographers.If you've ever had something like an exam
(02:40):
to look at the function of yourthyroids, you may have met one of
our nuclear medicine technologists. I'm almostsunch have you ever No, I know,
it's crazy. Go ahead. Ifyou've ever had say a cardiac cast,
or had to have your vascular systemlooked at, you've met our cardiac
and vascular interventional technologists. And ofcourse you may have met our mammographers and
(03:04):
even maybe bone desotometry technologists. Andwe even have multiple mid level providers,
but one that's currently under our purviewwith ASRT are the radiologists assistants. So
I would dare say that if Iwould ask in a public forum how many
of you have ever been touched bymedical imagery or radiation therapy? Most everybody
(03:28):
raises their heads, either they've hadone of the bands or their friends or
family members have. So we've alwaysbeen around. You just may not have
known that you interfaced with these amazingtechnologically clinically competent professionals. Well, one
of the things that we had adiscussion about that made me think, ugh,
(03:52):
this is exactly what you need toexplain to us what it is that
I mean, there are so manyparts that in compass ASRT. But it's
funny because you brought it up.We are sometimes so I guess if we
are not educated on things like this, what it is that they do radiologic
(04:14):
technologists and in the many facets.But if we don't even know what they're
doing, how do we know whatquestions to ask on our own behalf when
it comes to our health. Doesthat make sense? It does? It
does, and it is something thatis so important. You know, we
do a lot of work around advocacy, and the problem is that patients oftentimes
(04:36):
don't even know as you say thatthey need to ask questions about who is
this, who is doing this highlytechnical, high touch procedure or intervention or
treatment for me? And the factis that the regulations and legislation are not
(04:57):
the same in every state, andso it's important for professionals to talk to
everyone about who we are. Butit's also important that patients become their own
advocates and ask those questions. Now, for someone in the general public who
is a patient to know to askthose questions, they have to as you
(05:20):
said, understand that this profession evenexists. It's so weird. I mean,
I have a personal story, andyou know, Melissa, you have
to just bear with me because Ialways have a story for everything. But
it's horrible. When I was Imean when my children were really, really
young, I was having a ticklefight with one of them and I got
(05:41):
kicked in the eye. Well,I didn't know that what had happened was
that I had my retina detached,and so I didn't go to the doctor
because I was like, gosh,I see spots. You know, it's
getting worse instead of getting better.I just thought, oh, you know,
I just I just got And itturned out that when I finally a
(06:02):
week or maybe a week and ahalf later, I went, they couldn't
do anything about it. I meanthey tried and tried and tried to make
but because I didn't know that therewas a you know, such thing as
a detached retina, what the signswere, it ruined my eyesight. I
shouldn't say ruined. They've done thebest that they can, but it's just
(06:23):
it. It made me almost passout when I found out that there was
damage that was done that could havebeen prevented. And I feel like what
you're saying now is exactly that ifyou don't know what it is to even
ask about, you can be hurtingyourself. Oh my goodness, that is
so scary. I know it is, and that is a perfect example.
(06:46):
And you're right. And so withpatients not being able to truly understand that
they need to ask questions or researchfor themselves, it really puts more of
the responsibility on each of the individualprofessions to be able to advocate for themselves.
(07:06):
And in my mind, when Isay advocate with the ultimate goal of
helping patients, there are really threeareas that, regardless of the profession that
you work in, that you couldbe advocating. One of course, is
joining forces with those who promote yourindividual professions, such as, for an
(07:30):
instance, in our field, whetherthat state or local associations in medical imaging,
radiation therapy, joining the ASR key. We recently launched I know you
spoke to Michael and he's absolutely amazing. Recently launched a b seen campaign where
we are trying to educate the generalpublic about who we are and we want
(07:51):
them to go to our website beseendot org learn about all these professions and
the questions that they should be asking, but also as individual professionals, we
should be promoting ourselves. You know, I think when I live next to
a lawyer, I know I livenext to a lawyer. If I go
to the gym and the people thatI see on a regular basis are maybe
(08:15):
physical therapists, I know their physicaltherapists. So do we all do that?
Do we as individuals let our neighborsand friends and even in our work
setting our patients know who we areand what we do so that they can
be educated. And then the lastthing I would say, a way that
each profession can work for advocacy toultimately help their consumers. For us,
(08:39):
it's patients is to get to knowtheir representatives, both their state representatives,
legislators and also their federal And youknow, you may not in your profession
have had to deal with any issueslegislatively where you've had to protect your consumers,
but we have. And it's importantthat individuals don't have to react when
(09:03):
there are issues to educate the government. It's better if we work on a
daily basis to get to know thoselegislators so that when issues come up,
we can begin the conversation with whatneeds to be done, not who are
we? That is. That issuch a great point because when you first
said it, I was thinking,aren't you know isn't that a far reach
(09:26):
to say, Okay, I amyou know a radiologic technologist. I better
call my you know, legislator.Well, you don't initially think of that,
but you also don't want to waituntil there is a problem and then
try to teach your representative what youdo and why it's important that they get
involved. You're exactly right, andbelieve it or not, our leadership,
(09:50):
our elected leadership, has many billsand legislation that come across their desks and
they can't be experts on all ofthose things, and they are looking for
the constituents to guide them and tobe that counsel and those experts. So
if they already know us by nameand already know who we are when they
need us, we will be there. Yeah, that's that is such a
(10:13):
great idea. If you just nowstarted listening. This is Melissa Pargoleshi is
CEO and Executive director of the AmericanSociety of Radiologic Technologists, And I asked
you last time, how can people, whether you're in the field or not.
How can they find out more?Do you have a website that people
can go to? We do so. Our general website is ASRT dot org,
(10:37):
but we recently launched a campaign tryingto raise the visibility of who we
are with the general public, andthat website is ASRT dot org slash be
seen, because it is time forus to be seen. As we talked
about, many times, people thinkwe're nurses or doctors. They don't even
(10:58):
realize that they're is this whole bodyof specialists in medical imaging and radiation therapy.
It's so funny, and I hopeyou don't mind me asking, But
for anyone that is the least bitinterested in, you know, radiologic technologists
SRT, can you give us thebackground again of how you even got interested
(11:22):
in it? Sure? So youknow it goes to the heart of this
whole needing to be seen. Ifell into this profession when I was eighteen
years old. Four days out ofhigh school. The local program director came
to my high school chemistry class andshowed images and I thought those were cool.
(11:43):
Gave us an application and they onlyaccepted seven people, and it was
basically free tuition, free food,free books. We got a stipend and
I took it, and in anaive way that eighteen year olds do,
filled out the application with no intentionof being dropped off at that hospital campus.
And imagine when my acceptance letter came, my parents said, guess where
(12:05):
we're dropping you off? Four daysafter high school. That started my career
in this profession. And you know, I said this to you before,
and I just, I don't know, hopefully I adequately expressed the gratitude that
my parents deserve for putting me insuch an amazing profession. Incredible, that's
(12:30):
a that's such a plus, especiallythese days when and I am not criticizing
judging or anything else, but myown parents were kind of hands off.
And when I was eighteen, Iwas looking through a college catalog asking myself
the question, what do I wantto be when I grow up? And
(12:54):
I like animals? Should I workat the zoo? Should I? You
know, I like this? Andso when I say that, laughing and
thinking back, did you ever haveI guess, maybe just a tendency to
think maybe I could be a doctor, Maybe I could work at a hospital,
Maybe I could work in the medicalfield. Because for young people today,
(13:16):
sometimes it is hands off and theyhave to make up their own mind
on what they want their path tolook like. It's such a great question,
Karen, that I've never been asked. So even though I've told the
story often about how I got intothe profession, I've never expanded on it
to that extent. And I cantell you I was always interested in healthcare.
I remember sitting in my high schoolcafeteria looking at a flyer about a
(13:41):
nursing program in Alaska. And nowremember I was in rural North Carolina in
a high school, and I thought, well, wouldn't that be nice?
Wow? I love it. Ilove it. And so you didn't go
to Alaska. But to do yougot to follow on the path. And
so I mean, I have toask you again. I mean, was
(14:05):
there someone in your family, likeyour mom or your dad that was in
the medical field. There was,and I think that's important. So my
mom was a radiology transcriptionist, soshe understood the field. My dad was
a police officer his whole life,but my mom did have experience in radiology.
And it's so funny, even withher being radiology transcription me not really
(14:28):
understanding what that profession was. WhenI thought of healthcare at that time,
I thought of nursing. And that'swhat we're trying to help the general public
understand. There are so many amazingprofessions in health care, and when someone
thinks of health care, we wantthem to think of nursing and doctors and
maybe physical therapists. But we wantthem to think of us too. Yes,
(14:52):
absolutely, And how awful is itto I think that both of us
talked to us someone recently and shesaid that when she was we first introduced
her to radiologic technologists, she waslike, I think my neighbor is one,
you know, I think, Ithink I've heard that term before.
(15:15):
And so how awful that radiologic technologistsare in our lives, whether we whether
we have stubbed a tow or hada serious illness, not knowing not knowing
what they're doing or the title oftheir job has could have could have been
a bad experience. I'm not talkingabout the experience of having you know,
(15:39):
technology you know, done on usand help us, but bad because we
won't even know what to ask ifthere's a problem, right, And and
it's so interesting, you know that, she said, I think then someone
in my life is this And againI go back to the and this is
for our profession because I I amthe CEO of this national organization, but
(16:02):
I am part of this profession.I'm a radiographer. And you know the
fact that people don't realize when I'mtheir neighbor that I am when they would
know, as I said, ifit's a lawyer or a nurse, that
there's just so much work to bedone for us as professionals to really explain
to everyone around us who we are. And so when we talk about you're
(16:26):
the CEO and executive director of ASRT, I mean, why would it even
be advantageous for someone in the fieldto join that society? Well, great
questions. So the BAFTAM campaign isa good example. I can tell you
that I feel to my core,having been in this profession for over thirty
five years, that it is timethat we have an association that puts the
(16:52):
funds behind and the amount of workit takes to try to get the general
public to understand who we are.We do amazing things like offer continuing education,
and we have webinars, and wehave online education, and we have
a scientific journal, and we doresearch that informs the profession and the modalities.
(17:15):
And we also have a massive advocacyarm, so all the things that
I've been talking about with how weas professionals need to individually advocate, I
have a whole government relations arm thatis doing this, trying to help legislators
understand who we are. We alsohave a foundation. I'm the CEO of
(17:36):
our foundation, and it does animmense amount of philanthropic work, giving scholarships
and grants and even supporting those togo to other countries to develop radiology practices.
So it's interesting when you think aboutjoining a professional organization. Sometimes people
think, well, that might bea good place for me to get my
(17:57):
continuing education, and we are thegold standard for that. But it's so
much more. It's it's really joininga community and a movement and really trying
to help move your professions forward.And that is so I don't know,
maybe I'm wrong, but I feellike it's it's so rare, and so
(18:19):
it really should be something that isutilized by all medical imaging professionals because if
you're not up to date on what'sgoing on, whether it's new tools or
services or legislation, you might missout on an opportunity for yourself as being
(18:40):
a member of that profession. You'reright, and so there's a whole other
arm of things that we do whichis helping individuals sort of move through their
careers. So if you're a radiographerbut you want to become a manager,
we have roadmaps with stops and thingsyou can do to get there. We
have roadmaps for all different ways todevelop your career. We have leadership academies,
(19:04):
we have academies on how to becomean advocate, and so there are
not just the big things I talkedabout how we collectively raise the respect and
visibility of the profession, but there'sso much there to help individuals move throughout
this amazing careers. It's funny becausenot too long ago I spoke to Michael
(19:27):
Benzaia and he is a medical imagingprofessional, but he's also an actor and
he is the actor, I guess, the representative of the field in your
B scene campaign. And I havenot seen it yet, but that is
amazing that you got somebody that's beenlike in law, law and order or
(19:48):
general hospital to be your representative.How cool it really is and you need
to go watch it. So saysdot Org slash b scene and you'll be
able to see the video that sharethe video. Michael is the face,
he's our talent and the commercial,and what an amazing opportunity to be able
(20:08):
to work with him. He ishis career is impressive, both in imaging
and his acting career. But he'sjust a phenomenal human being and I'm so
proud that he is the face ofthis commercial. And like you said,
what a neat a pathway he hashad to have been a medical imaging professional
(20:30):
and now be an actor where heoftentimes plays healthcare professionals and is even an
advisor to some of these shows.You know, it's funny, Karen,
that's a pain point for us whenwe see television shows. A lot of
the time, they get it wrong. They hang our backwards, you know,
they're screaming, you know, where'sthe X ray tech? And they
(20:52):
just don't get it right. Sothe fact that Michael is out there helping
make sure that we are represented appropriately, not only for our campaign but on
television is just an amazing thing.What a great fit. And congratulations on
getting somebody like him, I mean, that's pretty miraculous how that even fell
(21:12):
together. Yes, yes, wellhe has done a lot of things for
us. He has stayed connected asmany of us do as medical imaging and
radition therapy professionals. It's not justa job. We care deeply about what
we do and it becomes a partof who we are, and I think
for Michaels, even though he isan actor now, it's just in the
(21:34):
fabric of who he is. Andso he has written for us in our
journals and magazine, our Scanner magazine. So we're real happy that he stays
involved with promoting the profession. Well. Melissa Pergola as CEO and Executive director
of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. Melissa, as we're wrapping up here,
(21:56):
please give people information on where theycan find out more and also where
they can see the B Scene commercial. Yes, so to learn more about
the ASRT and the profession, youcan go to ASRT dot org. If
you're interested in learning about our foundation, it's foundation dot ASRT dot org.
(22:19):
And then also the B Scene campaignthat I mentioned, that's ASRT dot org
slash b Scene and there you'll beable to see a video the commercial that
we mentioned about who we are.You'll also be able to learn about all
of our individual twelve modalities that werepresent. You'll be able to learn how
(22:42):
you might have interfaced with these individuals. And something that's really cool that I
don't want to forget if we allknow that in our profession, when we
see that people appreciate us, itmakes a difference. It encourages our heart
to continue. And there's an affectionat ASRT dot org slash b scene where
(23:04):
you, as the general public individualscan leave stories about how you've been impacted
by a medical imaging or radiation therapyprofessional. So I wanted to make sure
that I mentioned that that's incredible.That is such a great idea. Okay,
well, I'm hating that we haveto wrap it up again, but
I hope that you'll come on againsoon because I think this is such an
(23:26):
important message that you have not onlyfor young people, but people that are
already in the field. And Ialways enjoy talking to you, Melissa.
I would love to and I enjoytalking to you as well. Thank you
for everything that you do. Thanksso much. Talk to you soon.
Bye bye.
Hi, I'm Karen Klaus and thisweek on the Art of Improvement, I'll
be speaking with Melissa Pergola. She'sthe CEO and Executive director of the American
Society of Radiologic Technologists. Sometimes inlife we put off our health and then
when it comes to having to goto the doctor the hospital to get an
MRI or an X ray or anythingthat has to do with your health.
(00:23):
The more you know, the betteroff you are. Being your own patient
advocate is crucial, and that's whymy conversation with Melissa is going to be
extra special today. I hope youhave the time to listen to the whole
show, because she says, askingthe right questions to assure that you're getting
the best care possible is crucial.My conversation with Melissa is coming up next
(00:44):
on the Art of Improvement. Thankyou so much for listening to the Art
of Improvement. My guest today issomeone that I've talked to before, but
we were having a conversation recently andshe brought up some really interesting observations.
Melissa Pergola is the CEO and Executivedirector of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists,
(01:11):
also known as Asart. Hi,Melissa, Hi, so good to
be talking to you again. Yeah, it was so great the first time
we talked, because I feel like, embarrassingly I spent the entire time that
I should have been talking to youabout ASRT making you explain to me what
the heck is a radiologic technologist.And it's funny because if people are just
(01:34):
listening to this and haven't heard thefirst one it is, I wanted you
to just give a general overview ofwhat it is, sure, and don't
apologize. I think that was absolutelyfabulous. Anytime I can talk about how
to get into this amazing profession orwho we are, I'm always up for
(01:55):
that and excited to do it.Thank you. But a little bit about
who we are are? So asa society, of course, you mentioned
were the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, and so that includes medical imaging and
radiation therapy professionals. So who isthat. If you've ever had a hand
(02:15):
X ray, you've met a radiographer. If you have had you or a
family member have had to have radiationtherapy treatments, you've met our radiation therapists
and medical disymmetrists. If you've everhad CT or MRI. You've met our
technologists, ultra found our sonographers.If you've ever had something like an exam
(02:40):
to look at the function of yourthyroids, you may have met one of
our nuclear medicine technologists. I'm almostsunch have you ever No, I know,
it's crazy. Go ahead. Ifyou've ever had say a cardiac cast,
or had to have your vascular systemlooked at, you've met our cardiac
and vascular interventional technologists. And ofcourse you may have met our mammographers and
(03:04):
even maybe bone desotometry technologists. Andwe even have multiple mid level providers,
but one that's currently under our purviewwith ASRT are the radiologists assistants. So
I would dare say that if Iwould ask in a public forum how many
of you have ever been touched bymedical imagery or radiation therapy? Most everybody
(03:28):
raises their heads, either they've hadone of the bands or their friends or
family members have. So we've alwaysbeen around. You just may not have
known that you interfaced with these amazingtechnologically clinically competent professionals. Well, one
of the things that we had adiscussion about that made me think, ugh,
(03:52):
this is exactly what you need toexplain to us what it is that
I mean, there are so manyparts that in compass ASRT. But it's
funny because you brought it up.We are sometimes so I guess if we
are not educated on things like this, what it is that they do radiologic
(04:14):
technologists and in the many facets.But if we don't even know what they're
doing, how do we know whatquestions to ask on our own behalf when
it comes to our health. Doesthat make sense? It does? It
does, and it is something thatis so important. You know, we
do a lot of work around advocacy, and the problem is that patients oftentimes
(04:36):
don't even know as you say thatthey need to ask questions about who is
this, who is doing this highlytechnical, high touch procedure or intervention or
treatment for me? And the factis that the regulations and legislation are not
(04:57):
the same in every state, andso it's important for professionals to talk to
everyone about who we are. Butit's also important that patients become their own
advocates and ask those questions. Now, for someone in the general public who
is a patient to know to askthose questions, they have to as you
(05:20):
said, understand that this profession evenexists. It's so weird. I mean,
I have a personal story, andyou know, Melissa, you have
to just bear with me because Ialways have a story for everything. But
it's horrible. When I was Imean when my children were really, really
young, I was having a ticklefight with one of them and I got
(05:41):
kicked in the eye. Well,I didn't know that what had happened was
that I had my retina detached,and so I didn't go to the doctor
because I was like, gosh,I see spots. You know, it's
getting worse instead of getting better.I just thought, oh, you know,
I just I just got And itturned out that when I finally a
(06:02):
week or maybe a week and ahalf later, I went, they couldn't
do anything about it. I meanthey tried and tried and tried to make
but because I didn't know that therewas a you know, such thing as
a detached retina, what the signswere, it ruined my eyesight. I
shouldn't say ruined. They've done thebest that they can, but it's just
(06:23):
it. It made me almost passout when I found out that there was
damage that was done that could havebeen prevented. And I feel like what
you're saying now is exactly that ifyou don't know what it is to even
ask about, you can be hurtingyourself. Oh my goodness, that is
so scary. I know it is, and that is a perfect example.
(06:46):
And you're right. And so withpatients not being able to truly understand that
they need to ask questions or researchfor themselves, it really puts more of
the responsibility on each of the individualprofessions to be able to advocate for themselves.
(07:06):
And in my mind, when Isay advocate with the ultimate goal of
helping patients, there are really threeareas that, regardless of the profession that
you work in, that you couldbe advocating. One of course, is
joining forces with those who promote yourindividual professions, such as, for an
(07:30):
instance, in our field, whetherthat state or local associations in medical imaging,
radiation therapy, joining the ASR key. We recently launched I know you
spoke to Michael and he's absolutely amazing. Recently launched a b seen campaign where
we are trying to educate the generalpublic about who we are and we want
(07:51):
them to go to our website beseendot org learn about all these professions and
the questions that they should be asking, but also as individual professionals, we
should be promoting ourselves. You know, I think when I live next to
a lawyer, I know I livenext to a lawyer. If I go
to the gym and the people thatI see on a regular basis are maybe
(08:15):
physical therapists, I know their physicaltherapists. So do we all do that?
Do we as individuals let our neighborsand friends and even in our work
setting our patients know who we areand what we do so that they can
be educated. And then the lastthing I would say, a way that
each profession can work for advocacy toultimately help their consumers. For us,
(08:39):
it's patients is to get to knowtheir representatives, both their state representatives,
legislators and also their federal And youknow, you may not in your profession
have had to deal with any issueslegislatively where you've had to protect your consumers,
but we have. And it's importantthat individuals don't have to react when
(09:03):
there are issues to educate the government. It's better if we work on a
daily basis to get to know thoselegislators so that when issues come up,
we can begin the conversation with whatneeds to be done, not who are
we? That is. That issuch a great point because when you first
said it, I was thinking,aren't you know isn't that a far reach
(09:26):
to say, Okay, I amyou know a radiologic technologist. I better
call my you know, legislator.Well, you don't initially think of that,
but you also don't want to waituntil there is a problem and then
try to teach your representative what youdo and why it's important that they get
involved. You're exactly right, andbelieve it or not, our leadership,
(09:50):
our elected leadership, has many billsand legislation that come across their desks and
they can't be experts on all ofthose things, and they are looking for
the constituents to guide them and tobe that counsel and those experts. So
if they already know us by nameand already know who we are when they
need us, we will be there. Yeah, that's that is such a
(10:13):
great idea. If you just nowstarted listening. This is Melissa Pargoleshi is
CEO and Executive director of the AmericanSociety of Radiologic Technologists, And I asked
you last time, how can people, whether you're in the field or not.
How can they find out more?Do you have a website that people
can go to? We do so. Our general website is ASRT dot org,
(10:37):
but we recently launched a campaign tryingto raise the visibility of who we
are with the general public, andthat website is ASRT dot org slash be
seen, because it is time forus to be seen. As we talked
about, many times, people thinkwe're nurses or doctors. They don't even
(10:58):
realize that they're is this whole bodyof specialists in medical imaging and radiation therapy.
It's so funny, and I hopeyou don't mind me asking, But
for anyone that is the least bitinterested in, you know, radiologic technologists
SRT, can you give us thebackground again of how you even got interested
(11:22):
in it? Sure? So youknow it goes to the heart of this
whole needing to be seen. Ifell into this profession when I was eighteen
years old. Four days out ofhigh school. The local program director came
to my high school chemistry class andshowed images and I thought those were cool.
(11:43):
Gave us an application and they onlyaccepted seven people, and it was
basically free tuition, free food,free books. We got a stipend and
I took it, and in anaive way that eighteen year olds do,
filled out the application with no intentionof being dropped off at that hospital campus.
And imagine when my acceptance letter came, my parents said, guess where
(12:05):
we're dropping you off? Four daysafter high school. That started my career
in this profession. And you know, I said this to you before,
and I just, I don't know, hopefully I adequately expressed the gratitude that
my parents deserve for putting me insuch an amazing profession. Incredible, that's
(12:30):
a that's such a plus, especiallythese days when and I am not criticizing
judging or anything else, but myown parents were kind of hands off.
And when I was eighteen, Iwas looking through a college catalog asking myself
the question, what do I wantto be when I grow up? And
(12:54):
I like animals? Should I workat the zoo? Should I? You
know, I like this? Andso when I say that, laughing and
thinking back, did you ever haveI guess, maybe just a tendency to
think maybe I could be a doctor, Maybe I could work at a hospital,
Maybe I could work in the medicalfield. Because for young people today,
(13:16):
sometimes it is hands off and theyhave to make up their own mind
on what they want their path tolook like. It's such a great question,
Karen, that I've never been asked. So even though I've told the
story often about how I got intothe profession, I've never expanded on it
to that extent. And I cantell you I was always interested in healthcare.
I remember sitting in my high schoolcafeteria looking at a flyer about a
(13:41):
nursing program in Alaska. And nowremember I was in rural North Carolina in
a high school, and I thought, well, wouldn't that be nice?
Wow? I love it. Ilove it. And so you didn't go
to Alaska. But to do yougot to follow on the path. And
so I mean, I have toask you again. I mean, was
(14:05):
there someone in your family, likeyour mom or your dad that was in
the medical field. There was,and I think that's important. So my
mom was a radiology transcriptionist, soshe understood the field. My dad was
a police officer his whole life,but my mom did have experience in radiology.
And it's so funny, even withher being radiology transcription me not really
(14:28):
understanding what that profession was. WhenI thought of healthcare at that time,
I thought of nursing. And that'swhat we're trying to help the general public
understand. There are so many amazingprofessions in health care, and when someone
thinks of health care, we wantthem to think of nursing and doctors and
maybe physical therapists. But we wantthem to think of us too. Yes,
(14:52):
absolutely, And how awful is itto I think that both of us
talked to us someone recently and shesaid that when she was we first introduced
her to radiologic technologists, she waslike, I think my neighbor is one,
you know, I think, Ithink I've heard that term before.
(15:15):
And so how awful that radiologic technologistsare in our lives, whether we whether
we have stubbed a tow or hada serious illness, not knowing not knowing
what they're doing or the title oftheir job has could have could have been
a bad experience. I'm not talkingabout the experience of having you know,
(15:39):
technology you know, done on usand help us, but bad because we
won't even know what to ask ifthere's a problem, right, And and
it's so interesting, you know that, she said, I think then someone
in my life is this And againI go back to the and this is
for our profession because I I amthe CEO of this national organization, but
(16:02):
I am part of this profession.I'm a radiographer. And you know the
fact that people don't realize when I'mtheir neighbor that I am when they would
know, as I said, ifit's a lawyer or a nurse, that
there's just so much work to bedone for us as professionals to really explain
to everyone around us who we are. And so when we talk about you're
(16:26):
the CEO and executive director of ASRT, I mean, why would it even
be advantageous for someone in the fieldto join that society? Well, great
questions. So the BAFTAM campaign isa good example. I can tell you
that I feel to my core,having been in this profession for over thirty
five years, that it is timethat we have an association that puts the
(16:52):
funds behind and the amount of workit takes to try to get the general
public to understand who we are.We do amazing things like offer continuing education,
and we have webinars, and wehave online education, and we have
a scientific journal, and we doresearch that informs the profession and the modalities.
(17:15):
And we also have a massive advocacyarm, so all the things that
I've been talking about with how weas professionals need to individually advocate, I
have a whole government relations arm thatis doing this, trying to help legislators
understand who we are. We alsohave a foundation. I'm the CEO of
(17:36):
our foundation, and it does animmense amount of philanthropic work, giving scholarships
and grants and even supporting those togo to other countries to develop radiology practices.
So it's interesting when you think aboutjoining a professional organization. Sometimes people
think, well, that might bea good place for me to get my
(17:57):
continuing education, and we are thegold standard for that. But it's so
much more. It's it's really joininga community and a movement and really trying
to help move your professions forward.And that is so I don't know,
maybe I'm wrong, but I feellike it's it's so rare, and so
(18:19):
it really should be something that isutilized by all medical imaging professionals because if
you're not up to date on what'sgoing on, whether it's new tools or
services or legislation, you might missout on an opportunity for yourself as being
(18:40):
a member of that profession. You'reright, and so there's a whole other
arm of things that we do whichis helping individuals sort of move through their
careers. So if you're a radiographerbut you want to become a manager,
we have roadmaps with stops and thingsyou can do to get there. We
have roadmaps for all different ways todevelop your career. We have leadership academies,
(19:04):
we have academies on how to becomean advocate, and so there are
not just the big things I talkedabout how we collectively raise the respect and
visibility of the profession, but there'sso much there to help individuals move throughout
this amazing careers. It's funny becausenot too long ago I spoke to Michael
(19:27):
Benzaia and he is a medical imagingprofessional, but he's also an actor and
he is the actor, I guess, the representative of the field in your
B scene campaign. And I havenot seen it yet, but that is
amazing that you got somebody that's beenlike in law, law and order or
(19:48):
general hospital to be your representative.How cool it really is and you need
to go watch it. So saysdot Org slash b scene and you'll be
able to see the video that sharethe video. Michael is the face,
he's our talent and the commercial,and what an amazing opportunity to be able
(20:08):
to work with him. He ishis career is impressive, both in imaging
and his acting career. But he'sjust a phenomenal human being and I'm so
proud that he is the face ofthis commercial. And like you said,
what a neat a pathway he hashad to have been a medical imaging professional
(20:30):
and now be an actor where heoftentimes plays healthcare professionals and is even an
advisor to some of these shows.You know, it's funny, Karen,
that's a pain point for us whenwe see television shows. A lot of
the time, they get it wrong. They hang our backwards, you know,
they're screaming, you know, where'sthe X ray tech? And they
(20:52):
just don't get it right. Sothe fact that Michael is out there helping
make sure that we are represented appropriately, not only for our campaign but on
television is just an amazing thing.What a great fit. And congratulations on
getting somebody like him, I mean, that's pretty miraculous how that even fell
(21:12):
together. Yes, yes, wellhe has done a lot of things for
us. He has stayed connected asmany of us do as medical imaging and
radition therapy professionals. It's not justa job. We care deeply about what
we do and it becomes a partof who we are, and I think
for Michaels, even though he isan actor now, it's just in the
(21:34):
fabric of who he is. Andso he has written for us in our
journals and magazine, our Scanner magazine. So we're real happy that he stays
involved with promoting the profession. Well. Melissa Pergola as CEO and Executive director
of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. Melissa, as we're wrapping up here,
(21:56):
please give people information on where theycan find out more and also where
they can see the B Scene commercial. Yes, so to learn more about
the ASRT and the profession, youcan go to ASRT dot org. If
you're interested in learning about our foundation, it's foundation dot ASRT dot org.
(22:19):
And then also the B Scene campaignthat I mentioned, that's ASRT dot org
slash b Scene and there you'll beable to see a video the commercial that
we mentioned about who we are.You'll also be able to learn about all
of our individual twelve modalities that werepresent. You'll be able to learn how
(22:42):
you might have interfaced with these individuals. And something that's really cool that I
don't want to forget if we allknow that in our profession, when we
see that people appreciate us, itmakes a difference. It encourages our heart
to continue. And there's an affectionat ASRT dot org slash b scene where
(23:04):
you, as the general public individualscan leave stories about how you've been impacted
by a medical imaging or radiation therapyprofessional. So I wanted to make sure
that I mentioned that that's incredible.That is such a great idea. Okay,
well, I'm hating that we haveto wrap it up again, but
I hope that you'll come on againsoon because I think this is such an
(23:26):
important message that you have not onlyfor young people, but people that are
already in the field. And Ialways enjoy talking to you, Melissa.
I would love to and I enjoytalking to you as well. Thank you
for everything that you do. Thanksso much. Talk to you soon.
Bye bye.
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