Q: What's a typical workday like for you?
A: I start at 7 a.m., checking in the radiopharmaceuticals and getting them ready for the day. I do quality control on the cameras. My first patient comes about 7:30. I have adult and pediatric patients throughout the day. I inject patients with radioactive materials and take pictures with cameras that pick up where the material travels in the body. The materials come with different media that allow them to tag onto the heart, bones, kidneys or thyroid. It usually takes a few hours for the body to take up the radioactive material before I can take the images. I also use a Positron Emission Tomography or PET CT machine that allows me to scan patients whom I inject with a very short-lived radioactive material. This is mainly for cancer patients.

Q: How does your role fit into the bigger health care picture?
A: My work helps physicians decide what to do next for the patient, whether that is surgery or using another modality to learn more about their conditions.

Q: Who do you interact with during the course of the day?
A: I interact with inpatients and outpatients, coordinate with physicians and nurses, and interact with other nuclear medicine technologists and radiologists.

Q: Why did you become a nuclear medicine technologist?
A: I always wanted to do something where I was helping someone. I considered pharmacy, but this was more hands-on.

Q: What do you like about your work?
A: I like working with patients, especially helping the anxious ones and comforting them like I would if they were my own family members. I also enjoy working with my co-workers.