Radiographer Kirstie Gschmeissner says it’s a real gift to have a job you enjoy so much.
My day starts at…
around 6.30am. I have a shower and breakfast to set myself up for the day. I walk to the tube and listen to music and podcasts on the journey in.
My job involves…
CT scanning. A computerised tomography (CT) scanner is shaped like a Polo mint and uses X-rays to take detailed pictures of the body from lots of different angles. A computer then stitches them together to create a 3D image in shades of grey.
It’s beautiful, especially when you see the blood vessels in the lungs. It’s like looking at a tree which has lots of little branches with smaller branches growing out of them and even smaller branches growing out of them.
On a typical day I...
work on the preparations for the UK’s largest lung cancer screening study. Lung cancer is Britain’s biggest killer and most cases are symptomless at first and so are only detected at a late stage when they are much harder to treat.
How I become a radiographer…
I knew that I wanted to work in a hospital and a job that combined the medical side of things with the physics behind machines seemed really interesting.
I started at UCLH 18 years ago and have been here in different roles ever since, bar a year working and travelling in Australia.
The best thing about my job is…
In my role as a CT deputy superintendent, every day is different and I learn something new every day. I love being able to talk to patients, reassure them and help them through their recovery.
After work…
I’ll go to yoga, the gym or meet friends. I like thrillers and detective programmes and I have a post-graduate certificate in forensic radiography – using scans to identify a body or work out the path of a bullet!
If I could do something else…
I would be a fashion designer. I really love clothes and taking time to think about what I am going to wear. And I like going to Oxford Street for a bit of retail therapy!
