SoR student observer Kris Owden with his survival tips for your first clinical placement...
1) Find out straight away what all the equipment in the room is used for and what it's called. If you become quickly familiar you can help the radiographers set up for procedures.
2) Become more familiar with exposure used in diagnostic imaging and the techniques used in radiotherapy.
3) If you don't know something then always ask for help. I try and push myself to undertake difficult examinations to increase my confidence, but sometimes I struggle and ask for help. At least I tried.
4) Try and muck in with some of the day to day tasks, such as cleaning. Apart from helping infection control it is everyone's responsibility and helps you be part of the team.
5) If you get the opportunity, try get involved in as much as you can. I wasn’t confident in trolley and bucky work but once I observed how radiographers coped with the situation, this increased my confidence and clinical skills.
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