Growing STEM: Radiologic technologist discusses training at Rhodes State and career

LIMA, OH (WLIO) - There are many different careers and pathways that one can pursue in the healthcare industry.

Freedom Bell is a radiologic technologist with Mercy Health St. Rita's. She worked for St. Rita's back in 2021 with patient transport, and discovered that she loved the imaging field and wanted to know more. While attending Rhodes State College, she applied for their radiology program, and obtained clinical hours as a student. She also took advantage of another opportunity while earning her degree.

"I had the opportunity to apply for my GXMO (General X-ray Machine Operator) license as a student," says Bell. "You take a test to become certified as a student, you use that knowledge and you basically show them that you know what to do, and you work as a student and get really hands-on."

Now as a full on "Rad Tech" with the hospital, Bell performs medical exams with x-rays to create images of specific parts of the body, both in-patient and outpatient. Those images are then used by doctors to come up with a diagnosis or look for disease. Bell says that there are many departments in the hospital that her team works with every day.

"We assist in surgery cases up in the OR, so that’s really cool and not something that everybody knows that we do, and we also do fluoroscopy," Bell says.

Bell credits the experience that she received as a Rhodes State student to allow her to be prepared for the job.

"All the prep that you get is very helpful and you’re very hands-on, you’re not just in the books," says Bell. "We have great labs at campus, you get to learn everything there, and then you go to so many different clinical sites, so many different hospitals, so you learn how different people do things, different locations, different doctors, and you just become really experienced."

"Not everybody thinks of imaging - a lot of people think in the medical field of nurses or doctors, but we do a lot with imaging," Bell adds. "We help doctors with a bunch of procedures, we help with the OR, and I really just like helping people. We meet a lot of people in imaging and really help them, help with diagnoses, and help them get better so we can find a cure."