Radiologic Technologists Change Lives Behind the Scenes

According to the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, only 28% of the radiology profession is male. Peter Sheppard, a radiologic sciences junior at McNeese State University, recently participated in a virtual interview to promote nontraditional career and technical education options to high school students.

Sheppard was interviewed by Dr. Meagan Pollock, founder and chief inclusion engineer for Engineer Inclusion, an organization that helps people engineer equity and inclusion into their workplace. While the interviews were led by Pollock for Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico, the entire series is also available online.

“I came to McNeese as a nursing major, another predominately female profession,” says Sheppard. “However, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and seeing her imaging results sparked my interest in radiology.”

Radiographers may not provide direct care to patients every day, but their work, from ultrasounds to CAT scans, provide important information for physicians to create a treatment plan.

“The hands-on training we receive in the simulation labs and at our clinical sites is incredible,” he says. “It’s a lot of information but knowing how to position the patient and machinery is imperative to providing the best results to the physicians.”

McNeese’s radiologic sciences program is one of only four baccalaureate programs offered in Louisiana, and since the program’s inception in 1978, McNeese students have held a 98.4% first-time passage rate on the national certification exam. 

Sheppard plans to graduate in fall 2023 and says he feels fully prepared for everything to come in his studies and career.

“All of my professors have brought real-world examples to the classroom that have prepared me for clinicals,” he says. “With their knowledge and having the opportunity to enter clinicals so early, I know I will be successful wherever life takes me.”

For more information on the program, visit www.mcneese.edu/nursing/radiologic-and-medical-laboratory-sciences.