Different ventures 

Sophie is a newly qualified Diagnostic Radiographer at the ARI who always knew she’d end up working in the health sector. “I knew I wanted to get into healthcare, so I was just kind of looking at different ventures,” she says. “Then I saw radiography and was interested in it.

“After attending their open day at RGU [Robert Gordon University], I was more interested. I decided to apply, and since then I’ve just enjoyed the course. I’ve enjoyed working, too.”

Mike Hendry is an MRI lead superintendent radiographer at the University of Aberdeen. He qualified “back when everyone knew what a fast film speed combination was, and processing and a darkroom, way back when we used to set all our own exposure factors and technology was not what it is today”.

After taking some time in other modalities, Mike decided he wanted to pursue MRI as a specialism, eventually leading him into the research field. He says that the hospital’s tie with the University of Aberdeen (the Foresterhill campus is jointly owned by the university and NHS Grampian) made it the ideal setting to move from clinical MRI to research. “We’re here within Aberdeen Royal Infirmary because there’s a big association with the university, medical research and clinical work,” he explains. “That’s the research that most people see.”

Career development

Heather MacKenzie is an advanced practice radiographer at the ARI. She also runs a single X-ray room community department in Aberdeenshire as a specialist radiographer. At ARI, Heather works in GI fluoroscopy, primarily conducting barium swallow investigations and reporting on her findings. “I am 24 years qualified now,” she tells Synergy. 

“I studied at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh, then returned home to Aberdeen to work after I qualified. Through my role – the majority of which I’ve spent at the ARI – I progressed from a basic grade radiographer to a senior role, and then I applied for the opportunity to do fluoroscopy work.

“At the time it was barium enema examinations that I was trained to perform, which was back in 2005. Following on from that role, the barium enema examinations were replaced by CT colonography. Then I ventured into doing barium swallow investigations.”

In 2023, Heather undertook a project for NHS Grampian, looking into QSI (Quality Standards for Imaging) and figuring out how these would impact her department. This speaks to the opportunities available for research and career development within NHS Grampian, she says: “It was very interesting to learn more about the standards and how they would affect us all in radiography. I’m going to a meeting in a couple of weeks to give them a presentation of all my findings to share everything we learned and what we need to do going forward.”

Patient interaction

Megan Morrison moved to Dr Gray’s Hospital immediately after she graduated more than three years ago. There, she conducts generalised readings, CTs and DXA scans and sometimes works out in the local community. “When I started I was obviously just in general for a couple of years, kind of finding my feet there first,” she explains. “Then I was able to progress into CT where I just gradually built up my confidence. Then I got a job that entailed DXA scanning, so then I was able to do that.”

As for what she enjoys most about her role, Megan appreciates the opportunities to engage with patients. “I love meeting and chatting to patients,” she says. “It’s very interesting hearing about other people’s lives sometimes, especially when I do my DXA scanning and you actually get the chance to talk to people in-depth.

“It’s really lovely hearing about their lives, and their days, and what they’re up to.”

A thriving environment

One theme that comes through when speaking to radiographers at the ARI and Dr Gray’s is how much they champion NHS Grampian, the NHS trust that both hospitals fall under. Kelly Burns is a practice education radiographer based at the ARI, a job that sees her work in a clinical and a facilitative role. “I facilitate CPD activities and the training and induction of new staff, and I also support the superintendents developing and implementing policies and procedures,” she tells Synergy.

“As part of my role, I am not only able to maintain my clinical skills, I can also continue to develop my skills as a reporting radiographer, reporting MSK plain film examinations. I am also able to support student placements, engage with work experience pupils and actively promote radiography.”

Kelly says that, originally, there were only three practice educators on site through MRI, CT and herself in general. Now, there are five.

Following an endorsement by the NES (NHS Education for Scotland), the practice educators worked together to come up with a preceptorship programme for new members of staff. “We’ve worked a lot over the last year and a half developing our preceptorship programme because we knew that there was nothing out there for radiographers in Scotland,” Kelly explains. “So we researched what other professions and nations had in place to make up our own programme for all of our new recruits.

“We are just coming to the end of our first cohort of radiographers; we have learnt a lot from it and have made some changes to allow staff to get the most benefits from the programme.”

It won’t be a shock to learn that the radiographers unanimously recommend working within NHS Grampian. The opportunity to expand their careers, as well as the cooperation within teams, makes for an optimal environment to practise radiography. “Working here is lovely,” says Megan. “This was always where I wanted to work, so I did feel very fortunate when I was able to get a job here so soon after I graduated.

“And it’s such a lovely team here at Gray’s. They're a very close team.”