Look down and examine your fingers. Do you see white half moons next to
your cuticle on each nail? Many years ago, people who lacked scientific knowledge
believed this meant you would eventually have heart problems. Today we know
this is just plain silliness mixed with a pinch of superstition.
To replace these old wives' tales about the heart, hospitals around North
America are using new technology to detect heart problems, deformities or
disease. They use ultrasound, transducers, Doppler technology, echocardiograms
and other sophisticated tests and equipment. The person who operates these
machines is an echocardiography technologist.
Being an echocardiography technologist is very rewarding, says Margaret
Corbett. It is different than many other medical professions, such as nursing,
for example. This is because the echocardiography technologist in essence
has their own patient cases, Corbett says.
A nurse is a caretaker. A technologist actually has an opportunity to find
and diagnose heart disorders. A nurse usually follows doctor's orders, but
a technologist reports their findings to the doctor.
"I like the challenge of it. It's like being a detective, trying to figure
out what's wrong," says Corbett. "Nursing never appealed to me. Echo technologists
get far more respect and interaction with the doctors. They depend on you
because you have to find the problem for them [the doctors]," she says.
Ultrasound is a neat way to look at the inside of a body, says Corbett.
The transducer is like a flashlight. "You have to find the problem using the
transducer," she says. You can see the heart right on the television screen
and you poke around -- the procedure is painless -- until you find what you
are looking for.
This is much different than an MRI, where a computer just takes a picture
of the patient's whole organ. The MRI technician just hits a button.
Doppler technology is also used in an echocardiogram, Corbett says. You
may have heard the term Doppler on the news. Meteorologists use it to pinpoint
thunderstorms, snowstorms and other weather conditions.
Echocardiographers have been using Doppler to measure blood flow and direction
of blood flow much longer than meteorologists, she says. Doppler also makes
sounds, so you can actually hear the heart.
There are always new procedures to learn and areas to specialize in, says
Corbett. For example, stress echoes and trans-oesophageal echoes are now being
used in hospitals more often. There are always opportunities for continuing
education and training, says Corbett.
Corbett also likes the short-term but intense relationships that echocardiography
technologists form with their heart patients. In nursing, she says, relationships
are long term. As a radiologist technician (her former position), the relationships
were brief. Echocardiography is a nice in-between.
Corbett also says doctors and technologists respect each other. "If you
have a lot of experience, the doctor will read your report and rely on your
word. If there is anything significant, he or she might review the tape further.
It depends on the level of trust you have with the doctor," she says.
Also, a technologist's autonomy will depend on where she works. Corbett
currently works in a clinic. She says these cases are not typically as life-threatening
as the acute cases in a hospital. Therefore, doctors may be more closely involved
with patient diagnoses at a hospital.
Echocardiography has its challenges as well as rewards. One annoyance is
that some patients continue to smoke and eat unhealthy things even though
they know better, says Brad Ferguson. He works as a technologist in South
Carolina.
"Heart disease is the number one killer in North America, yet so many people
take it for granted. Smoking is a leading cause. Yet people will continue
to smoke even after a bypass, and then wonder why we can't cure them," he
says.
"With everything that we can do, and all the money that is spent to do
it, we can only treat the disease. There is no cure other than prevention."
Corbett acknowledges that, besides being unhealthy, "really large people
are hard to scan. Your heart drops a little when someone who is 350 pounds
walks in the room." Patients who are still smoking after the third heart attack
are a pet peeve of Corbett's as well.
All and all, Ferguson and Corbett love their jobs. Ferguson enjoys taking
care of one of the most important organs in the body.
There are many emergency situations where you have to think on your feet.
The fast pace is a plus for Ferguson. He also enjoys the variety in his job.
"Although we deal with the heart, every case is different and challenging,"
says Ferguson.
Before coming into the field, Ferguson was an emergency medical technician
for an ambulance service. There, he became interested in the heart.
Similarly, Corbett was a radiologist first. "That's the way it usually
happens," she says. "Another technologist teaches you scanning while you are
working in another field. Most people are trained on the job."
Janel Mays, too, was working in the health field before she became an echocardiography
technologist. Mays was first a registered nurse in the coronary care unit
at a hospital in Minnesota. She enjoys the different responsibilities of being
a technologist.
She also likes the non-invasive (not traumatic to the body) nature of the
work she does. With a transducer in hand, it is up to Mays and other technologists
to find out what is bothering a patient. "Identifying a disease process that
is life-threatening for the patient is rewarding," says Mays.
According to Corbett, many patients are surprised to learn that ultrasound
is not just used in obstetrics (on pregnant women). Ultrasound is traditionally
thought of as a tool for women. Men who are told to report to the clinic for
an ultrasound always seem to experience a moment of shock and panic, says
Corbett. But an ultrasound can explore just about any part of the body.