Gratitude and grit at the core of MRT alum’s success
On the big stage, the moment was not too big for Julie Sundara.
Weeks after being one of the alumni guest speakers at RRC Polytech’s Spring Convocation, the Medical Radiologic Technology (MRT) alum and now clinical instructor for MRT students recounted the emotional experience.
“I was terrified beforehand,” she said, laughing. “I walked into the room early and I saw all these empty seats and felt the pit in my stomach. If you know the Eminem song ‘Lose Yourself’, that’s how I felt. This was my moment to step up.”
The nerves went away as Sundara shared hard-earned wisdom as the daughter of Laotian immigrants, as a student who struggled at times, and as an MRT professional.
“Your careers and your achievements are not only for you,” Sundara said at the convocation ceremony, speaking to a huge audience that included the graduating students of health sciences and information systems programs. “They’re a tribute to those who supported, encouraged, and mentored you. Honour your teachers, friends, and family by finding joy in your careers.”
After completing the two-year MRT program in 2008, Sundara began working with Shared Health at Health Sciences Centre (HSC). As a frontline radiologic technologist at Manitoba’s busiest trauma hospital, she gained experience ranging from in-patient treatment and the emergency department to the operating room and the morgue. Day shifts, night shifts, and double shifts were all part of the mix.
It’s a challenging field and there’s more to taking an X-ray than many people know, Sundara said.
“There’s an art,” she explained. “It’s not just pushing buttons. It’s like shooting pool – you think about the angles to shoot. Since bones are not square – they’re round, curved, sharp – you have to demonstrate the bones with different views. It takes proper positioning and an understanding of pathology, diseases, and what that looks like on an X-ray. You need to determine how strong and how many X-rays are necessary.”
Sundara loved the hands-on, technical work and interacting with patients. She took on extra responsibilities, building skills and demonstrating her competence.
Feeling she’d reached her potential in the field, though, Sundara was set to return to school to become an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) technologist when an opportunity arrived.
She moved into a .7 part-time position as a clinical instructor.
The part-time position had her working alongside then full-time instructor Christine Preachuk, whose support Sundara remains grateful for.
Read More →