Mohammed Ali
Who am I? Mohammed Ali
What do I do? 2nd Year Diagnostic Radiography student at the University of Leeds
What did I study at school before starting university?
I went to Heckmondwike Grammar School and studied:
GCSE: Biology, Business, Chemistry, Computer Science, English Language, English Literature, History, Mathematics, Physics, Religious Studies, Spanish and Statistics
A Level: Biology, Chemistry, EPQ (Extended project) and Religious Studies
I was unsure on what I wanted to study at university and so decided to spend a year in De Montfort University, Leicester and get on to the course Pharmacy with a foundation year. This foundation year allowed me to work on skills, where I felt I lacked and using this I got on to Diagnostic Radiography (BSc) the following year at the University of Leeds.
I extremely enjoyed Pharmacy, but quickly realised I did want to work more towards medical technology rather than in Pharmacology and dealing with drugs for most of the time. I understood getting to Leeds would be difficult, as it is competitive, but if one can show their passion and determination for the course, there should be no issue in terms of doing Diagnostic Radiography.
With Radiography, there are so many areas where someone can focus on such as: General x-ray, CT, MRI, Fluoroscopy, Endoscopy, Reporting, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, DEXA and even Artificial intelligence, with all these modalities varying from one another. One can learn quickly how important a Radiographer is in the hospital, as physicians rely on radiographers to produce high quality images using radiation, for a patient to be analysed and diagnosed. This would eventually help one in the therapeutic aspect and without this one may not know what is wrong with the patient. This does illustrate why Radiography is such an attractive career.
I think one of the lightbulb moments I had on placement was radiographers demonstrating their breadth of knowledge and using this to help diagnose patients
There were many courses I looked at during my school and 6th form. I have already spoke about Pharmacy, there were other courses such as Optometry, as this is extremely interesting to learn about diseases and pathology, such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, which is linked to the eye. I realised very quickly, I would like to extend my knowledge across the entire body, and this is what enticed me to Diagnostic Radiography.
What does your current role looks like day to day?
During University this would be lectures starting in the morning (9AM/10AM) until approximately afternoon, which could be (3PM, 4PM, 5PM), with breaks in-between, however the hours would depend on the year one would be in and the day, as Wednesday afternoons are available for sporting and extracurricular activities.
However, in comparison to placement, where there may be 3, 12-hour shifts or 4.5, 8-hour shifts, which would depend on the department would be in. This would allow one to gain the necessary experience to move forward throughout the years and have the necessary competence to practice, by the end of the degree. Some may even have a night shift or evening shifts to understand what the unsociable hours entails. There are also a few hours of study time given every week for all students and this would allow one to get any extra work done within this period.