Update

Failed the CAMRT exam by 8 questions.

Trying again in January. Taking an online course geared toward "internationally-educated" techs in the meantime.

Working my butt off. Still have not received my 90-day OR 1-year evaluations. Been here 16 months as of 9/19.

CAMRT Exam Completed!

Well, we made it back safely from the wilds of Vancouver BC. The CAMRT exam went well, I think...I should know whether I passed sometime between June 2nd-16th. I don't want to be TOO confident about how I think I did...I thought it was pretty easy, but usually when I think tests are "easy" I end up failing them miserably, although this exam is a test on what brand-new graduates are expected to know, and I've been a tech for going on 3 years now and actually TAUGHT this stuff last year so I SHOULD know what I'm doing, right? It was remarkably similar to the ARRT exam except there weren't as many math questions, but it had a lot of pathology questions asking about what I saw on various radiographs...we aren't allowed to diagnose although we should recognize the appearance of certain conditions. There's no standard pass/fail percentage mark either like on the ARRT (theirs is 75%), it's adjusted based on the number of people who get a particular question correct. AUGH. I'm going to be SO upset if I don't pass...I'd have to pay another $800 CAD to write the exam again in September.

I don't know if I can stand the wait! The suspense is nerve-wracking!

On a related note, I applied for an x-ray position at BC Children's Hospital and a CT position at the BC Cancer Agency. Wonder if I'll hear back from them.

GRRRR....

Paul and I each had to go to the ER for different reasons earlier this year, and of course we can't afford to pay the $600 in medical bills, so I applied for financial assistance through the hospital. They made me send in our tax returns, my pay stubs, and Paul's financial aid award letter. I got their determination letter yesterday. It appears that, despite the fact that I 'm the only person working and don't even get regular hours, they think I have enough money to pay 60% of this bill. Uh, news flash, dipshits: if I'm applying for financial assistance, it means I can't afford to pay ANYTHING, not "Oh, I can barely keep a roof over our heads, but SURE, $350 is mere pocket change." $350 is just as impossible for me to pay as $600. Assholes.

...And I WORK for this organization.

OMG SQUEE!

I just got off the phone with the certification coordinator at CAMRT.

My application was accepted and I am sitting for the exam on May 19th!

She also said the exam is pretty much the same one as the ARRT, and I passed that with an 88%.

Also, I got an interview at that hospital! We're driving up to Vancouver BC Sunday afternoon, doing touristy crap on Monday, and my interview is on Tuesday at 0930. We're heading back sometime after I've finished with that. I really hope we can figure out a way to get everything in place so we can get up there ASAP.

OMG CANADA!

I've been communicating regularly with the department manager at a hospital outside Vancouver BC.

I got an email from her today. She wants to interview me in the next couple weeks, so that when I pass the CAMRT exam in May, everything will be in place for me to start working ASAP!

This is rather convenient, since Paul will be on Spring Break, and I'll be off from the 22nd-27th.

Job Hunting

So, that full-time CT position I applied for at that other hospital? LOL, there's NO way I'm gonna get that job. I got an email from the hiring manager the other day: 23 people had applied for that job, and more were applying daily.

I'm done applying for jobs for the time being. I've got other things to concentrate on, now that I'm getting CT training.

Awesomeness

I did a CT scan tonight on a kid with abdomen pain, which was positive for appendicitis. There must be something in the water; this is the second appy this week for me! Of course, in the medical field, we get things in clusters. Like, one week it was old ladies who had fallen and broken their hips, and another week was people with renal cysts. Pretty weird, huh?

Not much going on as of yet. I start my "official" CT training on Monday. Paul's birthday is Sunday, and I still haven't gotten him a cake yet. I think I might go to the store tomorrow after I get off work and go take a look at their selection...or I suppose I could just bake one. I've got a KitchenAid stand mixer and chocolate and flour and sugar and butter and eggses. I just need powdered sugar for the frosting.

Yay for job security!

So my boss called me Thursday, to discuss the March schedule and the possibility of CT training.

Apparently she was rather confused/mistaken about the whole Canada thing, she thought we were moving like next month, LOL. I told her, "Oh no, I'm taking their x-ray registry but that's not until May, and I'm not sure how long the hiring process takes up there, so I won't be leaving for quite some time." Which is true. The relief in her voice was obvious. She said that they really wanted me to get up to speed on the CT scanner as quickly as possible, so she's scheduling me with WG and CV (our day shift CT techs) a couple days a week! *GLEE!* I'm sure I'll be paid for it, but even if I weren't, I wouldn't care.

Also, I am scheduled to work the nights of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and may get scheduled for some nights mid-month, because our other night CT tech is going to be out on medical leave, and they haven't hired that temp person to replace her. I am also scheduled for some nights toward the end of the month, but I'm not sure which ones yet, my boss said she'd email the schedule to me. I hope I don't have to work the night of the 27th. If I do, I'll ask KN if she can trade with me. I've got a badass party to attend that night.

Things That Piss Me Off #3288732

I take pride in the fact that as a citizen, I can make my voice heard in several ways, such as voting or serving on a jury. It utterly astounds and, frankly, infuriates me when I hear people talking about how they want to get out of jury duty, especially women. Less than 100 years ago in the state of Oregon, women could not vote, serve on juries, or even own property. They were effectively nothing more than property of their fathers, and after marriage, their husbands. We scoff at hardline fundamentalist countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Afghanistan for the barbaric and backwards way women are treated, and yet in our own country, people sit around and think of ways to get out of a duty that is our goddamn birthright. Abigail Scott Duniway and Dr. Marie Equi (among countless others) did NOT fuck around with getting the right to vote or serve on juries in this state just so we can slap them in their dead faces by trying to weasel out of our civic duty.

Happy fucking 150th birthday, Oregon.

Update

I still haven't heard back from that local clinic where my friend/coworker works. The last I heard from them, about a month ago, was that they were still checking my references, and not to worry. I've all but given up hope on getting that job. Oh well. My friend/coworker says they kinda suck anyway.

I didn't get that VA job in Oklahoma City, although I was one of the short-listed candidates. I guess they had enough local applicants who didn't require relocation assistance. Oh well. Oklahoma sucks anyway.

The CEO of a little hospital in Idaho called me a couple weeks ago...I'd applied for a job there back in November, it's a full-time, benefitted combined lab/x-ray position which means I'd be drawing blood AND taking x-rays. It's 7 days on, 7 days off, which is an interesting schedule. He said he's had a hard time finding people interested in the position because it's in a rather remote location, and that he wanted to do a face-to-face interview, but I'm not sure I feel like flying out to frickin' Boise and then renting a car and driving two hours just for an interview, when I've got plans to sit for the CAMRT in May. Oh well. Idaho sucks anyway.

I get to have a chat with my boss sometime this week regarding CT training. Apparently she doesn't want to give me official CT training because she isn't sure of my "commitment to this hospital". I kinda want to tell her, "Look, I've been at this hospital for the better part of a year, despite the fact that I had another unscheduled position that paid $5 more an hour and I quit after one day because I didn't feel comfortable there like I do here. You'll also notice that when I was teaching, I worked around my schedule here, instead of the other way around. How's THAT for commitment?" Besides, the only reason I'm even looking for another job is for healthcare benefits. I don't want to leave this place, I love it, the people are nice, and we have a really well-run department. But I just got a bill from the ER at my own hospital, and it was over $600, on top of the $400+ bill that Paul got when I had to take HIM to my hospital's ER last month. How the hell am I supposed to pay all that when I'm the only one working and I only get scheduled two or three days a week? All I really need is a part-time position WITH BENEFITS. Is that honestly too much to ask for?

On a related note, today I applied for a full-time, benefitted CT tech position at a hospital about half an hour away. They only require an associate's degree, and I not only have a bachelor's degree with an entire term of CT, I also have about 10 full months of CT experience. I interviewed there for a position in their cardiac cath lab last year, like 2 days after I applied, so I know those guys are on the ball when it comes to HR stuff.

I got all my CAMRT application materials together and mailed them in on Feb. 13th, they arrived in Ottawa on the 17th, a day before the deadline. Now comes the fun part: waiting. I hope they decide that my curriculum is substantially similar to a Canadian program. I wonder how long it takes. Maybe I'll call them in a couple hours, since they're on Eastern time and it's not like I'm even doing anything at work tonight. Good news, though: I've got a couple hospitals in the Vancouver, BC area already interested in hiring me once I pass the CAMRT exam, which I've found is similar to the ARRT exam that I passed with an 88%, two years ago. Woohoo!

I need to call the hospital business office when I get home from work, and see if we can qualify for financial assistance with those ER bills. The last thing I need on my credit record is YET ANOTHER blemish, it's utterly destroyed as it is. Ugh.

A Case for Voluntary Extinction

Port Angeles teen charged in infant's death.

Where is the self-righteous outrage over the fact that this 16-year-old girl was pregnant in the first place?

Do people honestly think that just because a woman becomes pregnant, regardless of her age, mental capacity, or financial status, it automatically imbues her with all the wisdom, compassion, and money required to raise a child?

We desperately need parenting classes taught in school from an early age, that focus on what an enormous responsibility it is to have a child, any support obligations to said child and/or its custodial parent, and how one can truly prepare for it emotionally, mentally, and physically. Comprehensive, fact-based education makes people much more likely to fully consider the consequences of their actions.

I would just like to say...

I hate when my friends start having kids.

It practically guarantees that they will never be fun again.

Interviews

I had an interview on Monday at a local clinic, where my friend/co-worker KN works. It's a part-time weekend position, and although they don't know if they'll be able to give it enough hours to get benefits, it'll be good to have a regular scheduled weekend position to count on when I'm not scheduled much at the hospital. It turns out I know another person who works there, too, who also worked at the clinic where I did my externship. She's in the mammography department. I hope she will put in a good word for me as well...she knows I'm a good tech, after all, and two recommendations from current employees would certainly convince ME to hire someone if I were a manager-type-person. I would like this job very much.

*sigh* Today I had a phone interview for an x-ray/CT position at the VA hospital...in Oklahoma City. It sounds like a fantastic opportunity, and one with absolutely no pediatrics. The starting pay and benefits are fantastic ($45k/year STARTING, with 4 hours each of sick time and vacation accrued every pay period and a raise after 6 months...FUCK YEAH), and working for the gubmint means that I can transfer damn near anywhere I want in the world if I get sick of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. I'm not sure I want to move all that way, though, especially when I'm planning to sit for the Canadian x-ray registry exam in Burnaby May 19th. I've got a good chance at this job though, as they are hiring four people. It's a night shift position with a Saturday to Wednesday schedule. It sounds awesome...but...MOVING SUCKS! And I don't know if they'd offer relocation assistance. *sigh*

Shedding my skin

With the rather alarming news that LiveJournal has axed 13 of its 30 employees without any advance warning or severance pay, I've decided that it might be prudent to archive my LJ and start up another blog over here. I'm a Permanent Account holder at LJ, and I've been very happy with their service in the 5.5 years that I've been with them, but I feel it's time to reinvent my presence on the Internet as I approach my "golden birthday" (I turn 31 on the 31st).