Radiography is my second career, my first was working as a industrial chemist for Amersham International in their manufacturing labs. My team made beta emitting radiolabelled (P32 / S35) nucleotides for the life science industry.
I took redundancy from that role after 10 years (6 in the labs and 4 in technical support) and went back to university to study radiography. I qualified in 2009 and have been a senior advanced practitioner radiographer and RPS at Luton & Dunstable hospital for the last 6 years.
I am the first and only radiographer at Luton to have completed the barium swallow advanced practice course, so I do my own screening lists independently of a radiologist. I also report my own studies as an autonomous practitioner.
Over the last 18 months, together with the speech & language therapists, I have pioneered the introduction of our joint video-fluoroscopy clinics.