November 23rd / 24th – Professional Supervision in Sonography

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For November’s #MedRadJClub we are handing over the #MedRadJClub reins to the ultrasound community.

The selected paper is: Is there a role for professional supervision in supporting the professional and personal wellbeing of the sonographic workforce? A literature review by G Coleman and E Hyde published in Radiography this month (Volume 28, Issue 4, November 2022, Pages 991-998).

This month’s blog written by Gillian Coleman is an insightful and informative read about professional supervision, questioning why is it missing from sonography (and radiography in general)? READ IT HERE

We are excited to have Ruth Reeve as our guest moderator. Ruth is a Clinical Lead & GI Specialist Sonographer & Clinical Academic PhD fellow at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

Take a look at the chat themes below and scroll down to check the chat times and save the date!

Chat Themes:

1. What type of professional supervision do you have in your workplace?

2. What support or supervision is important for sonographers?

3. What is stopping / inhibiting professional supervision?

4. How can we practically develop more supervision in the workplace for sonographers?

Wednesday 23rd November in UK & Canada • Thursday 24th November in Australia & New Zealand

Times: Vancouver 12pm (23rd) /Edmonton 1pm (23rd) /Toronto 3pm (23rd) /UK 8pm (23rd)/Brisbane 6am (24th) Sydney & Melbourne 7am (24th) /Auckland 9am (24th)

September 29th/30th: Student Leadership

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Join Ben Potts and Chris Gibson this week for a student takeover on the topic of Student Leadership.

A bit about our guest mods:
Ben Potts is a final-year student diagnostic radiographer, studying at Birmingham City University in the UK. He is the immediate past vice-chair of the Society of Radiographers’ Student Forum and an ardent representative of the student voice. Dyslexic and an ADHD-er himself, he is passionate about neurodiversity and disability equity. Ben has published and given talks on this topic to health educators, NHS trusts and at the UK Imaging & Oncology Congress 2022, for which he won the Forder Memorial Prize from the College of Radiographers. He co-founded the national multidisciplinary student group SSHINE, which has recently authored the NHS Health Education England guide to neurodiversity in practice-based learning. Ben was selected to join the Council of Deans of Health’s student leadership program, #150Leaders, in the 2021-2022 cohort. 

Chris Gibson is a final-year student diagnostic radiographer, studying at Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK. He is the immediate past chair of the Society of Radiographers Student Forum and a strong advocate for student voice, reflection and well-being. Chris made a career change from science teaching for radiography after a ten-year teaching career. Chris has thrown himself into the wider radiography world writing articles for Synergy, presenting Student Series events and hosting last years #MedRadJClub student takeover.

Ben Potts
Chris Gibson

Ben and Chris have co-authored this month’s blog >>> you can read it here!

The selected paper is JMIRS’s Opportunities to develop leadership skills in the undergraduate diagnostic radiography program: Insights from students at an Australian university by Christopher Nuzzo et al.

CHAT THEMES:

T1. What does student leadership look like? e.g. on placement / in academic settings etc

T2. In what ways can we develop leadership skills during undergraduate education? 

T3. How does student leadership benefit the individual and the organisation or community in which the individual participates? 

T4. How can students at different points on their leadership journey be effectively supported?

Chat times: Vancouver 1pm (29th), Edmonton 2pm (29th), Toronto 4pm (29th), London 9pm (29th), Sydney & Brisbane 6am (30th), Auckland 8am (30th).

Missed the chat? Catch up here.

June 23rd: Career paths

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Image: Jonathan Billinger, Wikimedia Commons

For June we’re talking about how we chose our career paths. The paper by Hizzett and Snaith examines diagnostic radiography choices but we will also broaden the discussion to include radiation therapy.

Hizzett K & Snaith B. Career intentions, their influences and motivational factors in diagnostic radiography: A survey of undergraduate students. Radiography. 2022

Themes:

T1: What has been influential in your career choices?

T2: Did you plan your career path?

T3: How do we better advise students and early career radiographers (or returners)

T4: What next for your career?

While you’re here pop over and read this month’s blog by Dr. Bev Snaith “Where did my career go?“

Chat times: Vancouver 1pm (23rd) , Edmonton 2pm (23rd), Toronto 4pm (23rd), London 9pm (23rd), Sydney & Brisbane 6am (24th), Auckland 8am (24th)

May 25th: Post pandemic recovery

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Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

It’s been almost two years since our COVID self-care check in. Join us this month as we share some insights and lessons learned, and talk about moving forward into post-pandemic recovery.

Our paper this month is Akudjedu et al’s “The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography practice: A systematic literature review and recommendations for future services planning“.

THEMES

T1. Let’s start with a self-care check-in: 2 years on, how are you feeling? (GIFs welcome!)

T2. What or who has been helping you through?

T3. “Post covid recovery” is the flavour of the season but what is does this look like in your workplace? Does it feel like recovery, or something different?

T4. What changes to practice over the last 2 years (as a result of the pandemic) do you think have made a positive difference to you / patients / the profession?

Related readings:

Times: Vancouver 1pm (25th) , Edmonton 2pm (25th), Toronto 4pm (25th), London 9pm (25th), Sydney & Brisbane 6am (26th), Auckland 8am (26th)

April 19th: Autism-friendly practice

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Image: Eric (last name unknown) (wikicommons)

April is World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month and this month’s paper explores the perspectives and experiences of radiographers/medical radiation technologists regarding MRI scanning of autistic individuals. Autism is part of the spectrum of neurodiversity that includes ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, learning disabilities and more.

We will discuss how neurodiversity impacts patient access and ability in terms of imaging and radiation therapy, and how to better support your neurodiverse patients and colleagues.

Stogiannos et al. Autism-friendly MRI: Improving radiography practice in the UK, a survey of radiographer practitioners. Radiography. 2021.

Themes:

  1. How might the process of imaging or radiotherapy be challenging for autistic individuals?
  2. 74% of respondents said the most helpful aspect was involving carers – what other practical ways can we improve the patient experience?
  3. Communication was identified as a key aspect of care. What does this look like in practice and how might we improve?
  4. The study identified limited practitioner awareness of guidelines and policies as well as a lack of education. What kind of education do you have in this area? Are you aware of local or national guidance?

Please also visit this month’s blog by Dr. Christina Malamateniou “Autism friendly MRI: Providing more accessible services, always“

Recommended reading/resources:

A Beginner’s Guide to Neurodiversity – Learning Disability Today (website)

Episode 25, Dr. Ben Potts – Neurodiversity – RadChat Podcast (audio)

A neurodivergent guide to your radiation treatments – Noncompliant – the podcast (audio and transcript)

Times: Vancouver 1pm (19th) , Edmonton 2pm (19th), Toronto 4pm (19th), London 9pm (19th), Sydney & Brisbane 6am (20th), Auckland 8am (20th)