WSCC Diagnostic Imaging students perform well at state convention
HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Students in Wallace State Community College’s Diagnostic Imaging program represented the college well when they attended the 70th annual meeting of the Alabama Society of Radiologic Technologists (ALSRT) in Tuscaloosa.
The group returned with two second-place finishes in the quiz bowl and scientific exhibit competitions. Two Wallace State students were also chosen to represent students across the state as student delegates to the ALSRT Board of Directors.
“I’m extremely proud of our students,” said James Malone, head of the Diagnostic Imaging program at Wallace State. “They were great representatives of Wallace State and our program. They had fun, were able to learn a lot from the speakers, and were able to network with other students and radiology professionals, all of which will benefit them as they continue their education and enter the workforce.”
Brooke Daniel of Mt. Hope and Montana Pounders of Corner, both said they appreciated the opportunity to network with other students, instructors, and professionals in attendance at the annual conference. They will get to build on those relationships as each were selected to serve as student delegates to the ALSRT Board of Directors. Normally only one student is chosen to be a delegate, but the two WSCC students were chosen based on the quality of their essays, GPA and recommendation from Malone.
“It’s very exciting because we get to represent all of the students in Alabama,” Daniel said. “It’s a great opportunity,” Pounders added.
Daniel and Pounders each said they are looking forward to serving as student delegates and being part of the ALSRT’s efforts toward establishing state licensure requirements for radiology technicians.
“I feel like that’s something really important and something I want to be a part of,” Daniel said.
“I wanted to be part of the licensing process,” Pounders added. “I thought that would be neat for me to actually help and have a voice with it.”
Emily Landin of Gadsden is one of the students who worked on the scientific project for the conference. As the subject of their project, they chose ankylosing spondylitis, which is a disease in the vertebrae of the spine, where the discs in between the vertebrae fuse together and cause pain and discomfort.
“They compare it to bamboo, so that’s what it looks like on an image,” Landin said, pointing to a photo used in the display that also included descriptions of symptoms and treatments.
Helping Landin on the exhibit were Mary Ellen Cook and Tori Speakman.
Whitney Gregg, of Florence, Wisc., served on the quiz bowl team that won second place. Wallace State was one of five schools fielding a four-person team. All of the questions were based on questions the students will have on their registry exam. Everyone was able to answer the questions and the winning team was chosen by which had the most points at the end. Wallace State’s team answered 40 of the questions, only 3 points behind the first-place team.
Gregg said the quiz bowl is a great help to students preparing for the registry exam to earn their certification.
“The quiz bowl in general didn’t just help our team, it helped everybody that was there because they are ART approved questions, so they could answer them in their head while they’re sitting behind us.”
Along with Gregg, other quiz bowl students were Ashley Butler, Loren Gilliam, and Kevin Matanich.
All of the students appreciated the chance to attend the conference.
“It was excellent,” Gregg said. “They had quite a few speakers. They reinforced everything to prepare us for the registry, but they also had lectures that we could sit and listen to, that were optional.”
“We learned a lot about what we’re about to take in our registry,” Landin said. “It was nice to able to do all that and represent our school.”
The Diagnostic Imaging program, like many of the Allied Health programs at Wallace State, is accepting applications for Fall 2017 through June 1. Call 256.352.8000 for information or visit www.wallacestate.edu and browse through the Health Programs section.
