News about Radiography

The first of this month’s three Spring Visit Days was held Saturday, giving prospective students a comprehensive peek at Penn College while adhering to pandemic-imposed limitations on attendance. (The Admissions Office will host additional visitation events on Saturday and Sunday, April 24-25.) Attendees began their day with check-in and a presentation in the Klump Academic Center, followed by lab tours in selected academic areas. Optional activities added to participants’ feel for the breadth of life on the vibrant and verdant campus: housing, financial aid, tutoring and other academic support, athletics, placement testing, advisement and scheduling, student organizations, disability services, veterans benefits and dining options. More information about visiting campus is available by contacting Admissions.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Class of 2020 radiography graduates have achieved a 100% pass rate on the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists Radiography Examination.

The pass rate is calculated as the number of students who pass the exam on the first attempt within six months of graduation. All 26 of the Penn College students who took the exam passed. Nationally, the pass rate is 88% for 2020.

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Qiang Cao, assistant professor of radiography for Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently passed the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists exam to become certified and registered in MRI.

Cao, a registered radiologic technologist, also holds credentials in computed tomography and plans to become certified as a magnetic resonance safety officer.

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Georgia T. Grey, clinical director for Pennsylvania College of Technology’s radiography program, recently earned a Master of Education in higher education from Penn State.

Grey, a registered radiologic technologist, joined the Penn College radiography program as a clinical supervisor in 2015. She is also the radiation safety officer for the college.

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A Pennsylvania College of Technology alumnus, now senior clinical engineering director for UPMC in the Susquehanna region, collaborated with a DuBois-based provider of pre-owned medical equipment to place highly valued technology into the hands of health science students.

James R. Fedele facilitated the donation of a GE Medical Systems C-Arm and workstation through a partnership with KMA Remarketing Corp. The technology will afford students the opportunity to learn through hands-on, simulated experiences in the instructional setting, which will increase their efficiency in clinical operating rooms.

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Sisters Kierstin N. Bathurst, of Jersey Shore, and Marissa L. Bathurst, of Linden, shared yet another experience when they marched across the stage at a Pennsylvania College of Technology commencement ceremony on Aug. 7.

The Bathursts, both petitioning to receive associate degrees in radiography, have spent a great deal of time together over the past two years, motivating each other through their natural affinity for competition, helping each other via last-minute cram sessions before exams and supporting each other with pep talks before hands-on evaluations.

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered society, Career Services at Pennsylvania College of Technology has instilled a credo in students: “improvise, adapt and overcome.”

The department personifies that proactive mindset by serving students, alumni and employers virtually and by offering substantive online resources for the “tomorrow makers” enrolled in more than 100 fields of study.

“What we’ve done has worked out well for the students and is being embraced by employers,” said Shelley L. Moore, director of career services. “Most of the services we have offered in person we’ve been able to shift online for the benefit of our students.”

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Christine L. Eckenrod, radiography program director at Pennsylvania College of Technology, was recently elected to a two-year term as secretary on the Pennsylvania Society of Radiologic Technologists Board of Directors.

Eckenrod was elected by PSRT members. In addition to serving as board secretary, she is part of PSRT’s legislative committee and chairs its annual Techni-Bowl competition for college students.

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Penn College programs went pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On Oct. 9, radiography students dressed in pink. Potential workplaces for radiographers include mammography centers. The dental hygiene program held a “Pink Out” on Oct. 23. Throughout the day, students, faculty and dentists donned pink gowns during patient care activities in the Dental Hygiene Clinic. In addition, the dental hygiene student organization, SADHA, is making a monetary donation to a local cancer patient support charity.
Photos provided by program directors Christine L. Eckenrod (radiography) and Shawn A. Kiser (dental hygiene)

Career Day brought hundreds of ninth-12th graders to campus on Thursday to explore more than 30 activities offered by employees and students to help high-schoolers learn about the wide variety of career options available to them. The event is coordinated by the College Transitions and First Year Initiatives Office.

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The Medical Imaging Club has been reactivated this semester and is off to a good start after its first meeting attracted 53 radiography and pre-radiography students. The group elected officers and planned a variety of fun learning activities.

One of those is a “Case of the Week” contest that invites anyone on campus to participate. Organizers post an X-ray image on the club’s bulletin board, in the Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center’s second-floor, west-wing hallway, across from Room W232. All are invited to play along by identifying the body part and what is exceptional about the image.

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Christine L. Eckenrod has been appointed to lead the radiography program at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Eckenrod began her work as director of radiography at Penn College on Sept. 3.

She brings to the position more than 30 years of experience in the medical imaging field. Before joining Penn College, she was the radiography program director at JFK Muhlenberg Snyder School of Radiography in New Jersey, where she also served as a radiography instructor.

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State Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster), the second-highest ranking member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, visited Penn College on Thursday. Cutler, serving his first term as majority leader, was accompanied on the tour – which took in a number of instructional areas of main campus – by Jacob G. Smeltz, his chief of staff, as well as two members of the college’s board of directors: Sen. Gene Yaw, chair, and Rep. Garth Everett. President Davie Jane Gilmour and other members of the college administration (including Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Patrick Marty, chief of staff) welcomed the guests, and various deans and faculty members led Cutler through The Victorian House, welding and metal fabrication, advanced manufacturing, automotive restoration, culinary arts and hospitality, plastics and polymer engineering, and several majors in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences. Cutler started his career in radiography, earning a certificate from Lancaster General School of Radiology. He worked as an X-ray technologist before earning a health care management degree from Lebanon Valley College and working as an administrator in his local hospital’s radiology department. He later earned a law degree, focused on health care law, from Widener Law School and has served in the Legislature since 2007. The day’s itinerary also included lunch at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant and a chance to see the Gold Rush Excavator on a nearby parking lot.

A dozen residential Pre-College Programs and a daytime Creative Art Camp brought hundreds of young women and men to Penn College’s campuses in mid-June, providing hands-on entry to the myriad career opportunities reflected in the institution’s postsecondary curriculum. Keeping campers (and PCToday photographers) busy in recent days were these fun learning opportunities, some of which involved culminating projects: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience (ASPIE), Automotive Restoration, Aviation, Building Construction (new this year), Creative Art Camp, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs, Graphic Design Summer Studio, Grow & Design Horticulture, Health Careers, Information Technology and SMART (Science and Math in Real-world Technologies) Girls.

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Students from Penn College’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences and School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications joined area law enforcement, emergency management and health care professionals in a recent simulation at UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Regional Medical Center and a variety of other locations.

The college’s paramedic program has participated in the drill since its inception, and this year, the School of Nursing & Health Sciences decided to participate schoolwide to provide an interdisciplinary learning opportunity. The school had conducted its own Interdisciplinary Professional Experience on campus for several years.

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