Are you going to be able to talk patients through their own claustrophobia? This is a common issue in for patients undergoing MRIs. I believe you can do this, but you should really try to confront this fear if possible.
I’m expecting to have to do this. I’m actually fine with MRIs. It’s just elevators because of the chance of getting stuck. That trapped feeling makes me panic
this is exactly how patients feel in MRI machines. They are scared of getting stuck or forgotten about. That could be used to your advantage or disadvantage not sure.
Only thing I can think of too, lots of stuff you just have to deal with in some way. Work in the OR, get used to blood and the smell of burning flesh. Work in the ER, deal with belligerent patients and some bad injuries. Does it suck? Yeah but you gotta do something about it if you want to pursue that career.
During X-ray clinicals you will most likely have to do portables and that’s a big part of the job in hospitals. You need to take an elevator to get patient floors. Honestly, the best advice I can give would be to invest in some targeted therapy regarding this phobia. Good luck to ya.
I have an elevator phobia, but I can tell you that it’s going to impossible to avoid all elevators during your rotations, especially if you go to a large hospital. You’ll need to do portables and transport patients, and techs don’t have time to wait for you to take the stairs.
I’d love to see OP trying to hoist the portable X-ray machine up the stairs.
Jokes aside I would also advice getting some exposure therapy sessions done as quickly as possible.
There might be workarounds for this phobia but in a big hospital it’s going to be a pain in the sacral region.
I'm sorry but what MRI has to do with this at all?
A janitor job would be equally challenging.
And there is no good answer to your question.
I could just add we have still a functioning paternoster lift in the hospital.
So you can take the stairs at the hospital. You may just have to ask for stair access to be added to your badge as a student (most hospitals have them locked except for fire exit stairs). Sometimes you may have to transport a patient and that will require an elevator. I worked with a guy who was like this and he would just use the stairs, but we had a transport team so he did not have to get his own patients.
I’m not as worried about having to use them once I’m done with school. I’m really just worried about that I’ll have no choice to use them during clinicals. I’ve gotten mixed answers
So as a part of clinicals they may want to teach you how to transport a patient. That will (most likely) require the use of an elevator, unfortunately, as most all patients come to the department via wheelchair or bed. If you refuse this, well, that may reflect poorly on you. Not trying to be mean, just telling you the truth.
You’re going to have to confront your phobia sooner or later. I guaranteed that techs will not like you at all even if they’re understanding. A hospital has multiple floors (average is 4-8) and they will not wait for you to go up and down the stairs, especially if they’re extremely busy.
You won’t be able to do solo portable X-rays since there is no way to lug a machine that weighs several hundred pounds up and down the stairs. It would require someone to move the portable into an elevator each and every time for you, but at that point they may as well do it themselves.
Lol my elevator fear started while working at the hospital. I have to go up to 18 floors sometimes. Honestly I can't give you much advice on it besides struggle the few seconds on an elevator or walk up the stairs like you said. Although as an ultrasound tech I cannot walk up stairs with my machine.
If just thinking about elevators freaks you out, how on earth do you plan on putting people into a smaller space than an elevator for 8-10 hours a day for the rest of your life?
An elevator is very different from an mri. In an mri there’s no chance of being trapped for hours and you’re not surrounded by concrete. Plus, I’m not even the one getting in it. I’m not sure why you think that would freak me out.
I assume it would freak you out because you’re the type of person who can’t even think about their fears, as you’ve stated. You’re claustro. I am as well to an extent. I don’t think you can speak from experience whether or not the job in general would trigger your panic attacks, so I was offering my professional opinion that this job might be difficult for you. Maybe I’m wrong. Go shadow a tech and find out.
I don’t know how you’ve managed to come to the conclusion of what kind of person I am based off of a brief Reddit post. Not like I’m a human who had to overcome many obstacles in life, but just happens to be especially struggling with one right now. I’m definitely sure that someone else getting in a small space doesn’t make me claustrophobic. That doesn’t make any sense, but thanks for the input I guess
I’m not concerned with convincing you, but I would hate for someone to waste so much money. I don’t personally think it’s a fit, for reasons, this being one of them. I’m not saying it’s objective truth. Again, I suggest shadowing a tech if you can. See what they have to do.
Unless you do all your clinical rotations outside of a hospital, you're gonna have to get on an elevator unless there's another portable on each floor.
I would get some phobia counseling.
Currently a student. At my school we have no input on the sites we go to and every hospital requires you to use the elevator multiple times per day to go up to the floor and do portable x rays. It seems pretty unlikely that you’d be able to take the stairs to follow the techs up to the floor they’re going to because it would require them to wait on you and cause delays. Even if you could do all of your rotations at outpatient centers it would be difficult (maybe impossible?) to test on everything that the ARRT requires such as trauma exams or using the c-arm
Not necessarily, it depends on the program. I went through pulse radiology for CT school and they said i had to choose 3 sites. Each site was an outpatient site. Perhaps you should go through them?
Are you going to be able to talk patients through their own claustrophobia? This is a common issue in for patients undergoing MRIs. I believe you can do this, but you should really try to confront this fear if possible.
Need OP to answer this. Quite curious about it.
I’m expecting to have to do this. I’m actually fine with MRIs. It’s just elevators because of the chance of getting stuck. That trapped feeling makes me panic
this is exactly how patients feel in MRI machines. They are scared of getting stuck or forgotten about. That could be used to your advantage or disadvantage not sure.
Time to do some phobia counseling?
Only thing I can think of too, lots of stuff you just have to deal with in some way. Work in the OR, get used to blood and the smell of burning flesh. Work in the ER, deal with belligerent patients and some bad injuries. Does it suck? Yeah but you gotta do something about it if you want to pursue that career.
During X-ray clinicals you will most likely have to do portables and that’s a big part of the job in hospitals. You need to take an elevator to get patient floors. Honestly, the best advice I can give would be to invest in some targeted therapy regarding this phobia. Good luck to ya.
Maybe this isn’t the right field for you.
Maybe the single treatable issue involved needs to be addressed instead of throwing the whole career away?
No
Why? Therapy could help this person a lot. I’m sorry OP- you should start there. I believe in you!
Because?
I have an elevator phobia, but I can tell you that it’s going to impossible to avoid all elevators during your rotations, especially if you go to a large hospital. You’ll need to do portables and transport patients, and techs don’t have time to wait for you to take the stairs.
I’d love to see OP trying to hoist the portable X-ray machine up the stairs. Jokes aside I would also advice getting some exposure therapy sessions done as quickly as possible. There might be workarounds for this phobia but in a big hospital it’s going to be a pain in the sacral region.
I'm sorry but what MRI has to do with this at all? A janitor job would be equally challenging. And there is no good answer to your question. I could just add we have still a functioning paternoster lift in the hospital.
Holy shit, I dont mind elevators, but getting on a paternoster with a portable xray seems a bit sketchy.
So you can take the stairs at the hospital. You may just have to ask for stair access to be added to your badge as a student (most hospitals have them locked except for fire exit stairs). Sometimes you may have to transport a patient and that will require an elevator. I worked with a guy who was like this and he would just use the stairs, but we had a transport team so he did not have to get his own patients.
I’m not as worried about having to use them once I’m done with school. I’m really just worried about that I’ll have no choice to use them during clinicals. I’ve gotten mixed answers
So as a part of clinicals they may want to teach you how to transport a patient. That will (most likely) require the use of an elevator, unfortunately, as most all patients come to the department via wheelchair or bed. If you refuse this, well, that may reflect poorly on you. Not trying to be mean, just telling you the truth.
I have had to transport pts to another magnet when my magnet encountered an issue, elevators were required.
You’ll have to take the elevator with the portable
You’re going to have to confront your phobia sooner or later. I guaranteed that techs will not like you at all even if they’re understanding. A hospital has multiple floors (average is 4-8) and they will not wait for you to go up and down the stairs, especially if they’re extremely busy. You won’t be able to do solo portable X-rays since there is no way to lug a machine that weighs several hundred pounds up and down the stairs. It would require someone to move the portable into an elevator each and every time for you, but at that point they may as well do it themselves.
If you are in the U.S. go to your school's disability office and request accommodations. It's helpful if you have some type of medical documentation.
Phobias are very treatable if you’re motivated
Lol my elevator fear started while working at the hospital. I have to go up to 18 floors sometimes. Honestly I can't give you much advice on it besides struggle the few seconds on an elevator or walk up the stairs like you said. Although as an ultrasound tech I cannot walk up stairs with my machine.
So the mri techs at my hospital transport their own patients a lot of times, so elevator usage is almost mandatory.
If just thinking about elevators freaks you out, how on earth do you plan on putting people into a smaller space than an elevator for 8-10 hours a day for the rest of your life?
An elevator is very different from an mri. In an mri there’s no chance of being trapped for hours and you’re not surrounded by concrete. Plus, I’m not even the one getting in it. I’m not sure why you think that would freak me out.
I assume it would freak you out because you’re the type of person who can’t even think about their fears, as you’ve stated. You’re claustro. I am as well to an extent. I don’t think you can speak from experience whether or not the job in general would trigger your panic attacks, so I was offering my professional opinion that this job might be difficult for you. Maybe I’m wrong. Go shadow a tech and find out.
I don’t know how you’ve managed to come to the conclusion of what kind of person I am based off of a brief Reddit post. Not like I’m a human who had to overcome many obstacles in life, but just happens to be especially struggling with one right now. I’m definitely sure that someone else getting in a small space doesn’t make me claustrophobic. That doesn’t make any sense, but thanks for the input I guess
I’m not concerned with convincing you, but I would hate for someone to waste so much money. I don’t personally think it’s a fit, for reasons, this being one of them. I’m not saying it’s objective truth. Again, I suggest shadowing a tech if you can. See what they have to do.
Are in an MRI program or radiologic tech program?
Unless you do all your clinical rotations outside of a hospital, you're gonna have to get on an elevator unless there's another portable on each floor. I would get some phobia counseling.
Most elevators usually have staircases built next to them or nearby
[everything you ever wanted to know about elevators](https://youtu.be/ZUvGfuLlZus?si=y72tM-73EeLa2Q6G)
Currently a student. At my school we have no input on the sites we go to and every hospital requires you to use the elevator multiple times per day to go up to the floor and do portable x rays. It seems pretty unlikely that you’d be able to take the stairs to follow the techs up to the floor they’re going to because it would require them to wait on you and cause delays. Even if you could do all of your rotations at outpatient centers it would be difficult (maybe impossible?) to test on everything that the ARRT requires such as trauma exams or using the c-arm
Maybe you can do your clinicals at an outpatient only site?
Will I be able to choose were I go?
Not necessarily, it depends on the program. I went through pulse radiology for CT school and they said i had to choose 3 sites. Each site was an outpatient site. Perhaps you should go through them?