Radiological Sciences students earn awards at conference
This student research project about the bone disease Hypophosphatasia won the poster competition at the Pennsylvania Society of Radiological Technologists state conference.
Rad Sci project takes 1st place at PA state conference
Fourteen of our second-year radiological sciences (Rad Sci) students attended the annual Pennsylvania Society of Radiologic Technologists (PSRT) conference this year where they networked with soon-to-be colleagues and competed against other Rad Sci students from across the state.
The Penn State New Kensington Rad Sci students performed well in the competition, taking part in research presentations, the image analysis competition, and the Techni-Bowl quiz.
One group of Penn State New Kensington students, pictured above, won first place in the research competition. Their poster was titled “Hypophosphatasia: Have We Learned How to Grow Bones?”
Hypophosphatasia is a bone disease that causes deformity of the arms, legs and chest. The campus team, made up of students Terri Miller, Madison Graham, George Mitchell, Ashleigh Piper and Emily Hayes, suggested cultivating healthy bone to be transplanted in a patient as an alternative to bone rodding, which strengthens bones by connecting them with a metal rod.
Other Penn State New Kensington students won 2 out of the 3 rounds of the image analysis competition. For this event, students examined several images and then identified the pathology, or cause, for what they were seeing.
In one round, Bryan Bissell correctly identified Malroatation of the Intestine in the image, which is a twisting of the bowel that can cause obstruction. In another round, Bree Dudek identified Urethral Diverticuli, a condition where the urethra pushes into its connective tissue layers to form a pouch that can fill with urine and lead to infections.
In the Techni-Bowl competition, a quiz about radiological sciences, students Hannah Fugini and Allison Nicklas tied for third place. They lost the tiebreaker to students from Penn State Schuylkill, the only other Penn State campus to offer the radiological sciences major.
"The opportunity for our students not only to participate in the competition but also to attend the state meeting was invaluable," said Debra Majetic, coordinator of the campus radiological sciences program. "Imaging professionals recognize the importance of networking with others, sharing new technologies, promoting the profession and supporting education and new technologies entering the field."
More about Radiological Sciences:
Penn State New Kensington offers an associate degree in Radiological Sciences. Students begin the program in the fall semester and complete the program in 24 consecutive months (including summer sessions).
In addition to the in-class time on campus, our students begin rotations at local clinical affiliate sites during their first semester. After completing the degree program, graduates must pass the ARRT exam in order to be a registered radiologic technologist.
Radiologic technologists (also known as radiologists) are an integral part of the health care team at hospitals, outpatient facilities, urgent care and physicians offices. They must be knowledgeable about physics, human anatomy, physiology, equipment manipulation, patient care and patient positioning.
Many professionals enter the field with this degree, and some radiologists later choose to specialize in a certain kind of imaging. Penn State New Kensington alumni have gone on to specialize in a variety of imaging areas, such as MRI, CT, mammography, nuclear medicine, interventional radiology and cardiac catheterization.
