Why did you choose your specific health professional career?
I knew when I was in the seventh grade what I wanted to do. I just happened to see a TV show about X-Rays and it caught my interest, so I asked my mother about the field of radiology since she worked in the medical field as a nurse. She explained what little she knew and what work she saw her co-workers do. I knew what I was going to do and I knew where I wanted to go to school. I knew that there was a program at NAU. This was what I had always wanted to do.
What experiences did you have to make sure this profession was right for you?
Like I said, I just knew what I wanted to do even before I was accepted into the program at NAU. Not everybody knows what they want to do for a career. Some people don’t decide until later on. By talking with people in the field, and going on career field trips to visit the hospital I learned about healthcare careers. We always toured the radiology department and talked with any staff members available. This was how I learned that there were many different modalities in the field of radiology.
Describe any obstacles or barriers to success that you encountered along your health professional career path and how did you overcome them?
I don’t really think I had any. There were a lot of good people where I worked. I think the most challenging aspect was stepping into a large classroom, but I soon overcame this when I started to meet others who had the same interest in the radiology field. I came from a small town with a small school, and suddenly I was faced with walking around a large university campus. There are so many different people, but once I was into the radiology program, I was always with the same group of people in all my classes. In the program, you get to know each as you spend your two years with each other. You become very close whether you live together, or you work together. I would have to add that having a lot of support from my family kept me going through the years as I worked on reaching my goal.
What do you do in your current job?
In my current job, I do at least 90 percent of the mammograms here at Phoenix Indian Medical Center (PIMC). There are many other things that I do in the mammogram office besides exams. My job requires that I keep abreast of the changes that are made through the FDA and ACR. In addition, there are yearly inspections by the FDA which include being accredited by the ACR every three years. I’ve been doing mammograms for about 17 years out of my 30 year career. I was cross trained to get mammograms because one of my supervisors told me, "You are going to learn how to do mammograms.” I said “okay.” This wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I really wanted to do CT (Computed Tomography) or ultrasound.
What advice do you have for American Indian/Alaska Native students who are interested in health careers?
It doesn’t matter what kind of career you pick just show an interest and you can make a difference in someone’s life and in their health. Believe in yourself and others will believe in you and your abilities as a person. One of the things I tell my children is, “You can do anything you want. You can choose anything you want to be.” But whatever you do, do it to the best of your abilities and you will be the person that everyone comes to when they need the job done right.