The beginning of it all.

Life hits you in the face when you graduate high school. It's all about figuring yourself out, finding answers to all these questions that are always on our mind, one of them being the difficult choice between studying to get a dream-career and enjoy life or working at a dead-end job only to survive.

Choice 1 : The dream-career.

Choice 2 : The dead-end job.

The dream-career.

My dream-career has to be related to the medical field. I love biology, bio-chemistry, and physics. Medical imaging combines all of these three subjects. Instead of studying plenty of years at the university in General Medicine, I found two programs at Ahuntsic College that offer everything I love.

Choice 1 : Diagnostic Imaging

Choice 2 : Radiation Oncology

The need for money!

The need for money is a really challenging one because working is the only way to earn some. Working is tiring, and it can become quickly boring and redundant. Being a bilingual speaker, I know that I will be given a premium wage. That could be great! But, I am still in search for something invaluable that would give me an in-depth experience, maybe something like volunteering abroad? I am skeptical, I have to think about both the disadvantages and the advantages that this experience would bring me. What should I do?

Choice 1 : Let's work!

Choice 2 : Let's pack!

The Customer Service Department.

I got a call from HR to work at this restaurant to replace an employee that had taken a leave of absence for her pregnancy. The Customer Service Department was searching for someone to fill this vacant position. But I also got an answer from HR to work at this library where I also submitted my CV. They both want me! Before accepting their job offer, I discussed with them about my compensation package, about all the benefits I would be receiving including health insurance, vacations, and pension. We obviously talked about the salary. They told me how tiring it was to do all the leg work to find someone that presented all the qualities they were searching for. Both jobs seem equally interesting. Where should I work?

Choice 1 : A restaurant.

Choice 2 : A library.

Aren't you funny Pam?

Well, knowing that traveling and living in another country would cost me a good amount of money, I will obviously have to work to actually collect some. Get yourself a job Pam, and then go travel and help others!

Choice 1 : The need for money!

Serving people food can be maddening!

Serving people food is quite a challenge because people get mad at you for not getting their order right, but they forget that you are not the cook, you just pass along the order. Therefore, you are not the one executing it. Moreover, I know that despite me, I will more often than not find myself getting sucked up in office politics : gossiping, manipulations, jealousy. Colleagues undermining other colleagues. It really hinders the synergy as a team when one person decides to withhold important information that could benefit us all or when one person tries to exclude another person, especially in the Customer Service Department of a restaurant. I will back out on this job offer. Let's serve books to people, they cannot get mad at me, I am not the one writing them!

Choice 1 : Back to books!

Books are the food of the mind!

By suggesting people books and helping them to find what they need, I also evolve as a reader and I love that. I am always open to learning more about everything, and what a way to do so by working at a library. However, I know that one day I would want to quit to volunteer abroad. Working at a library is enough though for the purposes of collecting money and learning about traveling, such as touristy activities I could do while volunteering!

Choice 1 : It is all about learning!

Stu-DYING no more!

Volunteering is all about adapting myself to a new and different environment, and it won't be easy. This whole new world would be mine to create. I would meet new people, create new memories, and new skills. I would most importantly help others, and at the end, that is all I want. However, I know another way to achieve my fulfillment of helping others, and that would be studying in a medical field. Yes, studying is tiring, especially studying medicine. Nonetheless, always learning is always growing. Knowing more will allow you to do more! (Great observation Pam!).

Choice 1 : The beginning of it all.

Diagnosing is not treating. Buzzer sound : wrong exit !

A radiological technologist helps the radiologist with diagnosing the disease only by using equipment that produce images of the human body. Although they can operate different imaging equipment such as a scanner or an MRI, they do not actually administer a treatment to the patient. Therefore, that program is not for me. I want to be there for the patient all the way to their recovery. Only by becoming a radiation therapist, I can do that.

Choice 1 : Radiation Oncology it is!

The basics.

Radiation Oncology is the process of killing cancerous cells by using radiation. Operating with and under a radiation oncologist, the doctor who prescribes the needed amount of radiation to treat a certain type of cancer, are the radiation oncology technologists (also known as radiation therapists). Moreover, they can be given the choice of working in one of these three areas: simulation, planning, and treatment. Isn't that amazing?

Choice 1 : Simulation.

Choice 2 : Planning.

Choice 3 : Treatment.

Simulation.

Simulation is all about the acquisition of images with a CT-scan or a simulator in order to help to position the patient in a reproducible way. Radiation therapists have to immobilize the patient as much as possible using equipment such as masks that they mold onto the patient's face or cushions for the rest of the body. Tattoo dots are also drawn onto the patient so it is easier for the radiation therapist to replicate the position the day of the treatment. It is really fascinating, but I would only see and encounter these patients on the simulation day, so at the beginning of their journey. That is not enough helping for me!

Choice 1 : Next one!

Planning.

Planning is the process in which the radiation therapist plans the treatment: from the How to aim the radiation to the Where. The radiation oncologist gives the correct dose of radiation that must be administered to the patient. Radiation therapists then have to find the most effective way of aiming the radiation at the diseased area while keeping healthy organs and tissues safe from useless exposure. Everything is done on the computer. Staring at the computer all day doing math and physics can be overwhelming and become easily boring for my curious and active self.

Choice 1 : Next one!

Treatment is the one!

Radiation therapists ensure that the patient is positioned like it was planned, using the tattoo dots, the lasers lights, and the personalized equipment. They will operate a Linear Accelerator, that can be very loud and scary-looking when it moves. Therefore, the radiation therapist must reassure and comfort the patient, explaining everything and answering every question they have. Once the patient is immobilized, the Radiation therapist leaves the room, and launches the radiation while always keeping an eye on the patient. After each treatment, it is of the responsibility of the radiation therapist to give all the recommendations related to the side effects of radiotherapy, such as diarrhea or burns. Some patients might be going through chemotherapy also, and that could worsen them. Accompany the patient throughout everything, always be there for them, facilitate their journey to recovery: that is what I want to do! Which hospital has the best Radiation Oncology Department though?

Choice 1 : The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.

Choice 2 : The CHUM.

Choice 3 : The Healthy City of Laval.

Having a foot in the door!

I want to do my internships at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. Internships are important because that is how I can learn the ropes, slowly but surely. I think that internships are the most efficient way to test drive my love for this field of study. I know that they will come in handy once I graduate and face the real world. In fact, having a foot in the door will allow me to gain experience, and experience is the key to success. But what if I don't like it? What if the medical field is not for me? Oh, the what-ifs!

Choice 1 : What if?

Luminous and relaxing!

This is the hospital I dream to work at. The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital's Radiation Oncology Department is really great! It is open and luminous because of the huge windows. The treatment rooms are spacious, and that is comfortable for both the patients and the radiation therapists. There is also a yoga zone, and a piano for a musical kind of therapy! Being a pianist, and a yoga lover, this is definitely the hospital for me! Next step, internships!

Choice 1 : Internships!

4th basement!

The University of Montreal's Hospital is really innovative! They created a whole new world for the Radiation Oncology Department... in the 4th basement of the building. Let's say that Vitamin D supplements will be a must with no day light exposure at all. It is quite somber. Being a claustrophobic, I know that I won't enjoy working there, even though there are always the first to receive new equipment.

Choice 1 : Another one!

The Healthy City is far!

Even though the Radiation Oncology Department is well-equipped, it is located way too far for me! A typical day usually starts around 7 or 8 in the morning, I would have to wake up way too early only to get there tired! No thanks, Pam needs her beauty sleep time! (Do not want to look like that meme).

Choice 1 : Next option please!

What if?

Aren't these what-ifs the pain of our existence? Always wondering if we made the right choice. In my case, I am wondering if music was not the dream-career I always wanted secretly. The feeling I get after each piano concert is one I want to cherish forever. Should I study music to eventually become a concerto pianist? But is this feeling more important for me than the satisfaction of helping others? Can I achieve satisfaction doing both, piano and medicine?

Choice 1 : My passion.

Choice 2 : My profession.

Dreamer much Pam?

I have many dreams. One of them is to be a concerto pianist. Playing for Montreal's Symphony Orchestra. But, let's be real Pam, your love for music is not like your love for medicine. Music is a passion, not a profession!

Choice 1 : What if?

Passion and profession together, thanks to radiation!

Hello there, Pam! The Radiation Oncology Department of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital offers music as a kind of therapy! I can then play piano for my patients and treat them! I would be doing both! Helping others through my medical knowledge and my musical talent. Coincidence? No! You had it all figured out Pam, I am proud of you!

Choice 1 : The beginning of it all.