TGH Talent Talks

Imaging Insights: Unveiling Career Pathways

• Andrea

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Join us for a captivating exploration into the world of medical imaging and the diverse career paths it offers. This episode features inspiring stories from Pedro and Joe—two seasoned imaging professionals at Tampa General Hospital—who reveal how their journeys into the healthcare field have shaped their lives and careers. With backgrounds ranging from direct patient care to business finance, they share unique insights into the opportunities for growth and development within the imaging sector.

Delve into discussions about the flexibility inherent in medical imaging roles and how such adaptability can harmonize with family life. Discover firsthand experiences of working within high-paced environments, especially in ER settings, as they illustrate the dynamic nature of healthcare. Pedro and Joe emphasize the importance of being open to various shifts and schedules, which has allowed them to thrive both professionally and personally.

What stands out in this episode is the commitment to ongoing learning and the nurturing culture at Tampa General, where education is encouraged and supported through various programs. Pedro and Joe's stories are a testament to the idea that it's never too late to pivot into a new career path or to further your education. Their insights offer a roadmap for those exploring a career in medical imaging or seeking to expand their knowledge in healthcare. 

We invite you to tune in, learn more about the exciting possibilities in imaging, and discover how you, too, can find a fulfilling career path in this essential sector of healthcare. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

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Andrea Cichon:

Well, welcome. Good morning. We are so excited to have you both on our TGH Talent Talk. So I'm Andrea Cichon. I'm the Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Tampa General Hospital. I've had the pleasure of leading our team for about 14 years and joining me this morning we have our imaging experts, so we'll introduce Pedro and Joe. Tell us a little bit about you, who you are, what role do you have at Tampa General, and then we'll introduce after you Pedro. We'll go over to Joe.

Pedro Torres:

Well, good morning. My name is Pedro Torres. I am the manager Imaging for for three different freestanding locations and I've been with Tampa General for 22 years now.

Andrea Cichon:

Amazing, Joe, welcome.

Speaker 3:

Hey, my name Joe and and I am a CT technologist with Tampa General and I've been here six years Six years. I've been in the field for about 20, but moved to Tampa six years ago.

Andrea Cichon:

Where did we recruit you from to Tampa six years ago? Where did we recruit you from?

Speaker 3:

Well, I am from North Carolina and I spent my career at Duke before moving here to Tampa. General, Excellent Welcome.

Andrea Cichon:

Thank you. So today we're really going to focus our conversation on the career path of imaging. I don't know if any of you have ever been out in the community and someone says my family member works at Tampa General. My husband, for example, will say I work at TGH and nine out of 10 times he has met with your wife must be a nurse. And he quickly corrects and says nope, this is the pathway that she's in within people and talent. So I'd be curious to hear from maybe you, Pedro, starting off 22 years at TGH, which is incredible.

Pedro Torres:

How did you decide, imaging was a pathway that you wanted to go down. Well, before I answer that, your scenario that you just brought up literally happened to me on Friday at a automotive place taking my car in. Somebody had asked where do you work?

Pedro Torres:

I told him Tampa General and immediately oh, are you a nurse or are you a physician? Immediately, oh, are you a nurse or are you a physician? So it's always interesting to hear what the what people think out there in the community who aren't familiar with the medical world. But anyways, I didn't know. I knew I always wanted to go into the medical field. I didn't know what right. So let's see I was.

Pedro Torres:

I graduated high school at 17 years old and went. I think what normally everyone else decides to do go to school, get your education. And at this time I had no idea what was even available right In the medical community. What motivated me to want to go into the medical field is because I had a family member who had spina bifida and he died at a young age, and so I thought you know what I enjoyed spending my time with him, with all his, the things that I saw him go through, and my family, how they helped him.

Pedro Torres:

I thought medical, I think that's what I want to do. I like helping people, I like being involved hands on. However, the question is, what do you do and what is a hospital or outpatient setting? What's available other than a doctor and a nurse? And so I went to school, thought maybe physical therapy would be something I'd enjoy. I see, I was at the local university for about two years and I still had no direction. And so then I decided let me look into Hillsborough Community College, so, which is one of our community colleges here in Tampa, and I walked into the counselor's office and asked them.

Pedro Torres:

What do you have? And this is back before Internet was readily available, right? So I walked in the counselor's office and they handed me a career book and said here you go, take all the time you need, sit down. And this was a two inch ring binder full full of programs that the community college offered, and so I'm sifting through it. I came across respiratory therapy, thought that was interesting, and I saw radiography. Read that and decided you know what, this is something I think I'd like to pursue. After looking at the course, seeing what the future job entails, and took that leap of faith and applied for it. About six to eight months later I got an acceptance letter and that's how it started.

Andrea Cichon:

How

Pedro Torres:

It's a two-year program and the structure was great. We had clinicals set several times a week, lots of class time, and I really enjoyed the layout of the program. It was well-organized, you knew in advance what to expect, what the next steps were, and you know. It was scary, first of all, when you don't know anything about that world. And then you see radiation physics and you see positioning and so on and so forth. This is foreign to me. However, I said why not? What's the worst that can happen? I don't. I don't make through. You know, I don't make it through. That's okay. That's life. We fail, get up and do something else. Fail, get up and do something else. Thankfully, once I got in there, I really liked it.

Andrea Cichon:

So, yeah, that's two years later, graduated and took the state boards and applied to Tampa General and you've been there ever since.

Pedro Torres:

I have, I have.

Andrea Cichon:

That's incredible. So we'll unpack a little bit about your career journey. I want to hear the growth that you've started off. Now you're the manager of the team, which is really incredible, jo, talk to us a little bit about your pathway. So how did you know you wanted a career in imaging and what was your journey to get there?

Speaker 3:

So I took the long way around. Same thing, kind of in high school you didn't know what you wanted to do. My mother told me I was going to be a nurse, so of course I went the opposite route. So I actually I've had several careers. I have a bachelor's degree in business administration, finance degree.

Speaker 3:

So I did that and was working in a bank, was bored out of my mind at the bank, not making very well at the bank. So my best friend from grade school she had gone to the local community college back home and had done radiography and she told me how much she was making honestly and I was like, well, this doesn't make financial sense, I'm not making that much with my four-year degree. So I applied and got into x-ray school. Still didn't want to be a nurse because my mother wanted me to. Still didn't want to be a nurse because my mother wanted me to. So I did x-ray school. It's a 21-month program back home in the Carolinas, same as HCC. It's a community college. They prepped us well, graduated, took the registry passed, started at a small-town hospital and in that small-town hospital they actually cross-trained me in CT as an x-ray tech and then I went back to CT school and that's a six-month certificate Passed that registry on Saturday and began a job at Duke on Monday and I stayed there until I moved to Tampa six years ago.

Andrea Cichon:

Do you remember your first week or two weeks on the job? What was that like?

Speaker 3:

Well, actually in the Carolinas you actually get to work as a student. They hire student techs. It was crazy. It was a weird feeling because you're under the watchful eye during clinicals of the other techs and then you're given this freedom. You're told to go out and do it. So it's kind of scary. Well, scary, yeah, but it was fun.

Andrea Cichon:

Pedro, how was your first two weeks on the job as a new grad?

Pedro Torres:

Again my path a little bit different. With going to a local school, we had opportunity to do clinicals and in my last rotation I chose to go to Tampa General cross-train in CT, or at least learn the modality, and so I had already dedicated six weeks to Tampa General, to the CT department, learning the team, learning the environment and the culture, when I graduated, or prior to graduating, there was something called co-opping. So what's co-opping? Co-opping means you are a student, you're still in school, however, you have completed X number of competencies, you've completed a certain percentage of your education or the program, and then you're allowed to work as an employee, a team member of Tampa General, as a student. Work as an employee, a team member of Tampa General, as a student. So I was doing clinicals, doing school, and Tampa General gave me the opportunity to be a team member, co-opping, and so you can only do that X number of hours, work the weekends, and from there developed a relationship with the team.

Pedro Torres:

When I was done, thankfully, there was an opportunity that opened TGH. was at a point where they could accept a student and so I asked if I could join the team and from there, after graduating and completing everything, there was another opportunity within CT and went from there. The team welcomed me with open arms and I learned a lot.

Andrea Cichon:

So take us through your journey from a new grad starting in a co-op to now the manager of the team. Talk to us a little bit about your journey 22 years at TGH, which is remarkable.

Pedro Torres:

Oh so, first of all, time's flown by.

Pedro Torres:

It's incredible uh when I first started. So I, when you graduate the program, you are graduating. I did the x-ray program. So radiography there are many, many radiology programs out there, different career paths. That's something I didn't realize until halfway through the program or even after when I started the career. And that is the pros of graduating from an x-ray school is that that license allows you to cross train into MRI, ct, interventional radiology. You can work in the OR, mamo, mamo, yep. Exactly what you cannot do is nuclear medicine, ultrasound. You know I learned that those have other programs, which was great, right, because now when we have students, now when we have family members that ask friends, I let them know. Hey, something I didn't know going into this is if you decide to want to learn nukes or ultrasound, those are totally different career paths. So if you're in the x-ray program, just know that that's something that you would have to go back to school for.

Pedro Torres:

So you had asked about my journey. I started off right out of school. Have an opportunity with Tampa General Hospital. It off right out of school. Have an opportunity with Tampa General Hospital, green as can be, and I'm learning CT. I picked up any shifts, any, you know I wanted the opportunity to just stay with Tampa General, to to grow with Tampa General, and so worked the weekends, worked overnights, picked up odd shifts and through that I think I developed trust with the leadership and within five years there was an opportunity to be a team lead with the department. So I thought that was fantastic.

Pedro Torres:

I was nervous, I felt like I was still. You're always learning when you get into this field. I think with any field you don't know everything right out of the gates, right? So with the support that I had around me, they were able to coach me and guide me to a place where, hey, and encourage me and say, hey, you can do this, you have what it takes. I didn't see it in myself and so I said that's fine, I know that my leaders are going to be there for me and went ahead and I think it was like year five became a weekend team lead.

Pedro Torres:

That was interesting. You know you start developing relationships with the other leaders and physicians. You're a liaison to the radiologist and that was really my first time kind of discovering how to build relationships with team members. That's different, right? Because you go into this field wanting to learn the modality, wanting to learn patient care. One of the things that I think is difficult for me anyways is which today I feel more comfortable with is that interaction with your peers and how do you help coach them and bring them up to speed and encourage them, versus knocking them down. So, anyways, team lead did that for 10 years, saw the hospital grow, we expanded the ct department and then saw what I'm 15 years in.

Pedro Torres:

All of a sudden there's an opportunity. I hear peter, there is a freestanding that just opened up in Brandon and we're looking for someone to be able to take the lead on this. And this is our first venture out in the freestanding ER environment. And outpatient imaging We've done outpatient imaging at Tampa General. This is just now a new facility, right, a new endeavor.

Pedro Torres:

I thought, well, as long as it's Tampa General, let me think it over. This is a hard decision. I've invested a lot of time here, built relationships and it's off the island, right, this is new. I still would have my support, but I would have to learn how to communicate in a different capacity, use different softwares and what have you Talked to my family, prayed about it and again decided let's take that leap of faith. I was told it is going to be Tampa General. I said, okay, let's go for it. So then interviewed for that. The interview process was crazy. I didn't realize how much was involved with going from a tech position, team lead position and then going into a manager role. One of the things that I'd like to point out. Don't know if you remember, but you were one of my interview.

Andrea Cichon:

I remember.

Pedro Torres:

So I had five interviews in one day what a day, so and one of them was with you, and it's just funny that here we are today, from that moment it's been. I've been in this role for seven years now as a leader, and I'm still learning so much Um.

Andrea Cichon:

I think that's such an important takeaway right, the culture of learning and growing you mentioned earlier. If we fail, fine, pick yourself up and move on and continue to learn. I think that's one of the greatest things about our organization is that, and growing you mentioned earlier. If we fail, fine, pick yourself up and move on and continue to learn. I think that's one of the greatest things about our organization is that it is such a culture for come. As you are, let us invest and learn and develop you.

Andrea Cichon:

You don't have to have all the answers right. A lot of times, we think, as leaders, your team's looking to you to have all the answers and it's okay to be vulnerable and say it's a great question, I don't know, let's research it together and figure this out. I think that's one of the most powerful things about TGH is again just creating that culture where our team members feel safe to say I don't have the answer, but I can find the people that will help me figure this piece out. That's it. That's incredible. Talk to us a little bit about your journey.

Speaker 3:

To the position I have now, because you don't just start as a tech for right? No, you don't Um. So. So I came from Duke level one trauma center. So when we moved to Tampa, that's what I was focused on. I wanted to land in a level one trauma center. So I Googled level one trauma Tampa and this pretty hospital by the water showed up and I was like that's where I want to be.

Speaker 3:

So I was determined to get there. It's the only place I applied to at the time and Keith now the director of imaging he called me interviewed me. I had just gotten off work from third shift. I was asleep, I had my two little ones running around the house and I remember I saw Tampa, florida, and I woke up and I answered the phone and Keith introduced himself and asked if I had time to talk and I said I do. I'm asleep, I just got off from third and I have two little ones, but if you're good, I'm good. So we chatted and it was February of 2018.

Speaker 3:

And my husband also is a CT tech. He works for the Jane Taley VA here, so he had gotten a transfer here. That's how we came here and the VA, if you know anything about it, it's a different time frame than anyone else, so he was scheduled to move here in June, and so at the time, keith said well, I can't hold the position that long, so why don't you just touch base when you get here? So I did and the position was filled. So he didn't have anything, but he told me he would get in touch with me when something popped up. So he um I got an email that summer. We had just moved moved it was in the first couple of weeks and he said I know you're looking for CT. He said I happen to have the manager in my office and the Brandon HealthPlex. They do x-ray and CT. Would you be interested in that? And so I jumped on it and that's how I came to Tampa. General Keith handed me over to Pedro so that's pretty awesome.

Speaker 3:

Yes, that's how I got there. And then, man, I've had many different shifts since we. Since I came here, I started out as PRN because that's all they had and before I could start, a full time position open up. So Pedro called and asked did I want that? And so I took that and started out on the weekend I believe my first shift was and then went to a second shift and then went to first shift. So the opportunity is there. You may not get what you want when you first walk in the door, but the opportunities are there.

Speaker 3:

The conversation came about. They were going to open another freestanding here in Tampa that Pedro was going to manage. So that's how the position of the team lead came about. They were hiring another team lead for the Kennedy ED, and so I applied to that and got that position. I sense evolved too. So I was supposed to be the team lead for the Kennedy ED and then we had someone depart, the Brandon, who was in that position over there. So then I kind of just became the team lead for both and then, well, pedro just took on a third location. So we're all over the place. Yeah, that's awesome.

Andrea Cichon:

Continue to grow. That's awesome when you think back to the shift that you've made. So I heard I worked first shift, I did second, I did weekends. Talk to us.

Speaker 3:

I've done. Third, Third.

Andrea Cichon:

So I want to hear both of your perspectives. As a healthcare professional, right, somebody's thinking about this as a career path. That is sometimes a sacrifice that we make working for an organization that runs 24-7, because our patients need us 24-7. So talk to us a little bit about what adjustments you had to navigate through when your schedule did change or you said, okay, it's a promotion opportunity, but it means I have to give up my weekends. Now I'd be curious. Just your thoughts, joe, and then maybe Pedro will go to you for that same question for that same question.

Speaker 3:

Honestly, I feel like the flexibility of being 24-7 and being staffed creates so much opportunity for your family, for your personal life. I have always worked well. I've done many different shifts, even at Duke. I started out mid-shift, second shift, went to weekend day shift and then ended out on third shift and I solely moved shifts based on my family needs. At the time it's always just been my husband and myself, no additional family. We have three kids, so him and I have always worked opposite shifts to keep our kids out of daycare, and this job has afforded us that ability.

Andrea Cichon:

So that's one of the reasons why I've been flipping all over the place with shifts, but it served our family needs I love that perspective because I feel like a lot of folks would think about first shift, second, third weekends and maybe see it as a downside to healthcare. Right, I have to give up my weekends, I have to give up my evenings, but it sounds like for your family lifestyle. It actually was an attractive piece about the job, which is that's fantastic.

Speaker 3:

And as our family dynamic has changed, I've changed shifts when the opportunity has presented itself. That's great. What about you, Pedro?

Pedro Torres:

You know I started off doing weekends early on. When I started, I was what was I 22, with Tampa General.

Andrea Cichon:

So the good years right the good years, right.

Pedro Torres:

So here I am, 22, giving up weekends, which I think for many people it would be tough to do, because that's whenever the nightlife is open, things are happening, family events. But for me my view on it was hey, number one, I'm getting my foot in the door and then I'm willing to do whatever it is I need to to, to to advance and to grow with Tampa general. But two Saturday, sunday, monday and you have four days off, it's not so bad. So I did have other hobbies at the time and it was. It was great. You know that's when I discovered. You know it's tough on the family, it's tough that you miss certain events occasionally, but the benefit or the pros is shopping is better. There's nobody at the stores.

Andrea Cichon:

So nice.

Pedro Torres:

I used to kayak fish Nobody's on the waters in the morning or the evenings, when you know, during normal workday hours. So that was great. Honestly, it never really bothered me to work any hours, any shifts. Is it hard at home?

Pedro Torres:

Sure, it can be right when it's unexpected, but you know, at the end of the day, tampa General is always taking care of me. The leaders that I have in place, they are phenomenal. I can call them, reach out to them at any time. If I have an issue or concern, they're always there to help me. They may not even have the answer, but they'll know somebody who will have the answer. And so you know, it's always been. I joke, some people call me that the yes man. Right, pedro, can you take care of this? Sure, but I take pride in that If I can't do something, I'll be honest with that individual and let them know it's not working at this time, for whatever reason. It may be, but for the most part I've never had an issue with evenings, nights, weekends. It may be, but for the most part I've never had an issue with evenings, nights, weekends.

Pedro Torres:

I actually enjoyed it because think about this the temperature was huge, right, and by working different shifts and working overnight. You get to meet people you've never met before and you develop developing relationships, and that's. That's great, especially if you want to continue to grow. You never know who you're going to meet on on what shift and what time. Also, when it comes to imaging things, there may be certain exams or certain traumas and things of that nature that will come at certain hours of the day and you get to see different things, right, and you'll learn about it, and you may not see it on another shift. So I don't know if that answered the question, but great answer. But yeah, it's never really bothered me. Is it hard? Sure, but it's okay.

Andrea Cichon:

So my next question is to both of you. We often hear in healthcare there's no such thing as a typical day. Right To your point, a trauma might come in and it completely changes what you thought you had planned next. So for anyone that is considering a pathway within imaging, what does a typical day look like? We know there's a lot of different modalities so you can share kind of globally or you can share specific to yours, but what is a typical day?

Speaker 3:

Well, I think that depends on what setting you're in first of all, right. So if you're in the outpatient setting, you have a schedule full of patients. If you're in the ER setting, you just got to be ready for whatever comes through the door. For myself, I love the level one ER crazy setting. I have always loved that. Coming from Duke the outpatient I feel like there's something for everyone, whether you like more slow or, if you like, that adrenaline rush of trauma pagers going off and be ready to jump in where needed. Right, Our focus is the patient.

Speaker 3:

When the orders come across, we work the patient up, make sure they're good to go from a lab standpoint, imaging standpoint, and then we just get their exam done. So it may also require jumping in and help the ED staff If they're short staff. We are very much a team unit. Especially at the freestandings, where resources are limited, We'll jump in and help them within our scope how we can, if a trauma rolls in or EMS doesn't bring them there. But they do walk in sometimes.

Andrea Cichon:

What about for you when you think back to your tech days and also to your leadership days For you?

Pedro Torres:

when you think back to your tech days and also to your leadership days, typical day probably looks a little bit different now, being in leadership as opposed to an individual contributor. It does so, ditto everything she just said as a technologist.

Pedro Torres:

You never know what you're going to walk into. You know your team is there for you and anything can walk through the door. Team is there for you and anything can walk through the door. You have to be ready to tackle whatever it is that presents that day. As a leader.

Pedro Torres:

It was took some time and adjustment period because you're no longer that, that guy, that point person. You're no longer. I mean, you still are. You're there for the team and to maintain my skills, my skill sets, I still jump in and help. But the difference is and I learned this early on you have to extend trust to the team, and it's it's one thing to say it, it's another thing to do it. So what do I mean by that?

Pedro Torres:

For 15 years I've, you know, learned a lot about my skill set, about the modality. I became a resource for the team and again a liaison to the radiologist. And then, when you become a manager, you have to step out of that. For me it was the comfort zone. Anything that came through the door, any research, any protocol, any critical patient for imaging I could do it in my sleep. It got to the point where I felt very confident. I knew how to troubleshoot anything. But now, as a leader, you have to trust your team. They are representing Tampa General, they represent you. You can't jump in and push them out of the way.

Andrea Cichon:

Think about moving into a leadership role. It's no longer about your individual contributions, it's how are you removing barriers for your team right? How are you making sure they have the resources that they need? How are you making sure you extend trust? You're there to catch them. If they do fail, fail fast, move on, but you're there to support them. So I think you're spot on that. The attributes in a typical day in life as a leader are completely different than when you are at the bedside providing that care.

Speaker 3:

That was hard for me. We've had that conversation, stepping away from being there all the time scanning to the role I'm in now. I told Pedro. I said it's hard to let go because I know I need to do things for him and stuff like that, but it's hard not to be that one constant that's there and then can scan anything that walks in the door. So we're just investing time and time to staff to get them in that same place as well.

Andrea Cichon:

You know, I had a leadership coach through TGH. Actually, it was an investment in my leadership journey and one of the things it was an incredible program. But one of the things that I walked away from is I remember sharing with her. I said, christy, I feel like when I pass a task to my team, I'm dumping work on them. And she said I want you to reframe your thought process on this. You are providing them an opportunity to learn and grow, because when you keep it all as a leader, they're not learning and growing and you're not investing in the next generation into the workforce. And I thought that is such powerful advice. Right, it's just reframing how we think about distributing work, delegating. Right, that's a task you have to learn as a leader and it feels awkward at first and then, once you get comfortable with it, you say, okay, it's not so scary and the team's learning from this and they're sharing with me what they learned, how they grew, and you're investing in them. So I think that that's that's phenomenal.

Speaker 3:

And I truly believe we're only as strong as our team agree, agree.

Andrea Cichon:

So we live in beautiful tampa, florida. What do we do for fun? How do we unplug when we are not at tgh? What do you do for fun, pedro?

Pedro Torres:

so, I already mentioned, I used to fish, kayak fish, weight fishing in the flats, but today it's a little different. Um, for fun, I have nieces and nephews. It's a lot of family time Within the last couple of years. I'm an animal lover. We have three dogs at home. We got to ask what kind of dogs. So I have a 17-year-old corgi-beagle mix, 8-year-old Akita Staffordshire Terrier mix, so Pit Bull mix, and I have a purebred Golden Retriever that was a COVID puppy.

Pedro Torres:

So for that, that little guy which he's a big guy now, he's three old, but he is, um, a friend of ours got a dog during the COVID, you know, 2020, thought it'd be great for the family and the dog is very high energy, became, uh, it's a large breed and a little too much and he didn't have enough time. So, um, we had opportunity to to adopt him. So three dogs, yep, but what we do for fun I don't know if people think this is fun, but one of the things we like to do now is make our own dog food. So every couple of months, my wife and I will just pull out the meat grinder and start making dog food and did a lot of research on that. What else? I am very much interested in sporting clays, love sporting clays, anything outdoors.

Andrea Cichon:

That's awesome. I feel like I want to unpack the dog food making business with you on another episode. That's very fascinating, that's awesome. So, joe, I want to transition that question over to you. We live in sunny, beautiful Tampa Florida, so when you are not working, what are you doing to unplug and have fun?

Speaker 3:

So that's the reason we moved to Tampa was for the weather and the beaches. So any chance we get, we love as a family to go to the beach. We also moved here when my kids are smaller, so Disney was a big draw for us, so we spent time at the parks around here. We also have dogs at home, so just spending time with the family, the kids and the dogs and the beaches, do you?

Andrea Cichon:

have a favorite beach.

Speaker 3:

I would say anywhere that has the white sugar sand. Honestly, it's different from the shelly sand on the East Coast.

Andrea Cichon:

We are very fortunate to have some beautiful beaches right in our backyard, 20-minute drive away, which is awesome. Yes, love it here. So, from a career development perspective, a lot of times at DGH we're having conversations around what is your career development plan? So, understanding that we invest a lot in our team members. We want to help continue to grow and develop so that folks aren't staying stagnant in their roles. They're continuing to challenge themselves. So, joe, I'd be curious have you had opportunity to continue to challenge yourself, to grow and develop, and, if so, what has that looked like? And what is your future career journey look like?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. Since coming here to Tampa, I've had the opportunity to go to nursing school as well, so I was a COVID nurse. I went back during COVID to one of the local colleges here universities here, and so I'm also a registered nurse work with one of the local hospitals here universities here, and so I'm also a registered nurse work with one of the local hospitals here. When I went down that journey I thought I was just going to give up imaging and make the switch to nursing.

Andrea Cichon:

Honestly, we would never let that happen.

Speaker 3:

I thought I was going to, but at the end of the day for me personally, I went back to nursing for family reasons, honestly. My husband had a health scare and I realized during that time that although I had a nice job perfect hours finally was on a shift the hours I wanted I didn't think it was conducive to raising three small children by myself. So I explored the nursing route so I'd have more flexibility in my scheduling. So that's why I did that. And once I was done I found out it wasn't a lateral move because I had 20 years experience in imaging versus a new grad nurse. So I ultimately decided to stay in the imaging world here at Tampa General. I had no desire to leave that.

Speaker 3:

I actually struggled to find a job as a nurse because I was limited Because of my schedule. Here I could only work weekends and I needed first shift. So as a new grad nurse you're usually whatever they want and on night shift. So I struggled with that and, funny little story I graduated nursing school with a girl and I had applied. I interviewed at both of those places and their number one question was why aren't you a nurse at Tampa General? And I honestly didn't quite know how to answer that, because I knew nobody would give me a chance. Don't want to work a lot right? So I just told them that you know Tampa General had given me the opportunity put me through school. We were short-held because of COVID so I just wanted to stay on with them and just do nursing on the weekends so nobody gave me a chance.

Speaker 3:

I graduated with a girl who worked at St Joe's and she told me she said my aunt is a nurse on the floor because I did not want to do floor nursing, I wanted to do ER nursing and she said you want me to reach out to her?

Speaker 3:

and I said sure, I'll take anything at this point. So she did and she messaged me back and she said you'll be hearing from HR or her. Her name is Robin Aldejando. And the light bulb went off at that point and I said hey, any relation to Keith Aldejando? He's the big imaging director at TGH Maine. Super nice guy. And she was like shut up, that's her brother-in-law.

Andrea Cichon:

What a small world.

Speaker 3:

Very small world. So I texted Pedro that night. I was like you're not going to believe this. So we called Keith. In the morning he called Robin. Friday I had an interview and had a job offer. Same day.

Speaker 3:

So just a small little world, and my nursing world knows about my imaging world, my imaging world knows about my nursing world. They all work around it. So it's been great. And the first email I got from Robin, I saw her credentials and she is a vascular access nurse as well, even though she manages a med search floor, and I immediately responded back about that. Because since I've been here at Tampa General at the freestanding locations, we are having trouble with our outpatients and their vascular access. We would have to reschedule them at Maine, where there was a vascular access team, because we couldn't get them.

Speaker 3:

And we had. Several of us were really good at IVs and we just could not get them. So it was during COVID, I think about four years ago. We went to Pedro and we were like, can we learn vascular access, ultrasound IVs? And so he arranged that and I went through that class, went over to Maine. They checked me off. So I had been doing ultrasound IVs as a CT technologist for our outpatients at Tampa General and also for the ED. We have that tight team and when no one is there that can start IVs, they'll come grab us to start them or grab me.

Andrea Cichon:

I think that's so neat to hear your journey that it hasn't stopped right. A lot of people think you go to school, you get your technical degree, you get your bachelor's, associate's degree, or maybe you don't right. You finish high school and then get into a career path and that's the job we're going to do for the next 40 plus years of our lives, until retirement. But I think that's really neat that you've really taken opportunities to invest in yourself and say I'm not done learning. I'm not done learning, I'm going to continue to grow and develop.

Speaker 3:

Oh, I feel like, personally, I'm a lifelong learner. Tampa General paid for, with tuition reimbursement, my nursing degree, even though I'm not a nurse here at Tampa General. It was an ADM program, it was accelerated, so I think it was a 14-month program and I was able to maintain my full-time status. Pedro worked around my schedule to allow me to go to nursing school another flexibility we have with our schedule and I'm back in school getting my BSN, which Tampa General is. Also doing the tuition reimbursement, that's incredible, Wow.

Andrea Cichon:

What about your journey when you think of your career development plan? And started off 22 years ago as a new grad tech? Now you're the manager of a team of three locations. What is next for you?

Pedro Torres:

in. As a manager, you're always learning something, so I really just want to be able to do be the best at what I at my current role, right. So I look at what I did before and before moving on, I don't want to jump ahead. I want to learn more about what I'm currently doing. I want to learn more team member building, peer-to-peer building. I don't know what the future holds. I really like what I do.

Andrea Cichon:

I think what's so neat about your pathway. You think of 22 years at TGH. So one of my mentors that I've had at Tampa General is Adam Smith, who is the executive vice president of ambulatory and what I've enjoyed most is learning his career path. But he started off in imaging at a local hospital and he has assumed now his role, which he's leading a major function for the organization. Part of the reason that we've been able to grow and scale so fast when I think about when I started here we had 15 locations, we're now up to 150, plus A lot of that work is the relationships, the collaboration, the new build, the acquisitions, the partnerships that are all happening under Adam Smith's leadership. But I think that's really neat because you think about I bet you, if I asked him, did you think you'd have this role right now? The answer would be no. I started off in imaging and I never dreamt this would be a pathway. So I think it's really neat to hear both of your roles, just the journeys that you've been on moving into lead roles, moving into formal leadership roles and really just having that curious mindset to say I'm not done learning, I'm a lifelong learner and you know what's yet to come is what will come. So I think that's really neat.

Andrea Cichon:

My last question for both of you as we wrap up our time together today if you had to go back and give advice to your 20-something-year-old self reading that three-binder ring booklet of career paths, trying to figure out right Some of the research that we do at Tampa General is, you know, as our academic affiliation with the University of South Florida, one of the things that we've learned is, if I did not grow up in a household where my mom was a blank nurse, my dad was a CT tech, I might not know that that's a pathway available for me, right? So, as we think about those that are going to be watching this podcast and learning, these are so many different pathways outside of nursing and being a physician that work in healthcare. What advice would you give yourself, your 20 year old self, looking back now at your journey?

Pedro Torres:

So what would I tell my younger self or someone else who's getting into this field, or, in general Always be yourself. You're always on an interview. You don't know who's around you, you don't know where you're going to end up or where your path will go. Just be genuine, right. Don't put on a fake face.

Pedro Torres:

And if you don't know the answer, don't be prideful Just let that other person know hey, I don't know, I don't know the answer. Don't be prideful. Just let that other person know hey, I don't know, guess what. That's how you're going to grow and learn. The only other thing I would say is take advantage of looking at what the universities offer, look at their programs, look at what they have, because one thing I wasn't aware of going into graduating high school and trying to decide what I'm going to do is a lot of these universities have a program laid out and it shows you exactly what the what the courses are going to be, and that was a huge help for me, knowing that there's a start and end, knowing that it's organized and laid out. So take advantage of your local schools and just be yourself.

Andrea Cichon:

I love it. Great advice. What about for you, jo, if you can look back at your 20-year-old self and give her some advice?

Speaker 3:

It's never too late to go back to school. If you want to switch it up, do something different. When I got into this field, I thought I was just going to be taking pictures of bones. I had no clue what we could do within our scope. So definitely research the field you're applying to. There's so many opportunities within our small imaging world, so many different avenues.

Speaker 3:

I definitely reiterate the fact of when you're a student, once you get in that program and you're on site doing clinicals, treat it every day as a job interview. Do your very best. Show kindness to the patients above all. That's been the biggest thing for me. Coming from a different organization, working at several different of the local hospitals, you really do see a lot and just do the right thing by the patient. Treat the patient how you would want your family treated and if there comes a day when you just don't want to do it anymore, there's another opportunity, whether it's imaging nursing, we have IT within imaging. If you no longer want to be at the bedside caring for patients, there's other opportunities out there.

Andrea Cichon:

I think that's great advice. I actually recently had a scan and I was with one of your techs at the main hospital and I just curiously always ask you know where did we steal you from and how long have you been in this field? And she said I'm fresh out of school. I actually worked at a daycare during COVID and the daycare got shut down and she said and there was a TGH tech that used to come pick up her daughter every day and I saw the scrubs.

Andrea Cichon:

And I just got in a conversation and said what do you, what do you do? And she said let me tell you why a career in imaging is awesome. And she said I learned about the work-life balance I worked about the schedule, I learned about the relationships you form with the physicians and the care team and, most importantly, the patient outcomes. And so she went back to school. I think she's mid-20s, mid-30s went back to school from running a daycare to become an imaging professional, which I thought was really cool. So I think your advice of it's not too late to start you can always go back and learn something new wherever you are in your journey I think that's great advice.

Speaker 3:

Yes, like I said, I did my bachelor's degree straight out of high school and then mid-20s I was like, yeah, so I got into imaging and then I was in my 40s when I went back for nursing. So it's just not, it's never too late.

Pedro Torres:

That's awesome. You know it's interesting. She said something that reminded me of what we look for in people. You mentioned kindness.

Speaker 3:

Oh gosh, yes.

Pedro Torres:

It's huge. So I know today we're talking about the skill set and we're talking about schooling and the pathway, a few potential team members. There's something that I'd like we have these discussions that we look for in potential candidates. We could have two sets of people. One person who is, on paper, highly qualified has everything. They check the box right.

Speaker 3:

Been doing it for 20 years.

Pedro Torres:

Looks like it'll be a plug and play, right, the easy decision. But then we have another candidate that maybe is a new grad Comes to the table. All they have is their education, maybe some clinicals here and there. So then the question is who do you choose? Do you go with the one, the easy button, right, you just plug and play? Or do you give an opportunity because it was given to myself and you to a potential, to a new graduate who is ambitious, who's hungry to learn and shows kindness?

Pedro Torres:

One of the things that we look at is their how when the interview goes. Is their behavior, their personality, are they a good fit for the team? Would they fit the culture? So I guess I'm bringing this up because it's not always you have to know. The most it's again being yourself and showing the kindness and that willingness to learn, and so for me it can, as long as I know that our team, joe and the rest of the team will be available to provide support and train those team members. I prefer the new candidate. It was given to me at once upon a time and I mean it's just nice to watch people grow and then you can see the light in their eyes, you can see that they become passionate about it. We can teach anybody anything. We can't teach you behavior.

Speaker 3:

We just had a candidate, because usually when we hire new grads they're local. They've come to us and done clinicals with us, so we kind of get an idea about their personality and things. But we actually just onboarded a team member. He reached out to Tampa General recruitment and sent an email. He's a new grad or he hadn't graduated at that time. He just graduated in May. We got that maybe February, March. But he wanted an opportunity to learn CT. That's what he put in his email. He's from Virginia and we called him. We liked him on the phone. He had, he was easy to talk to. So we asked him you know, hey, do you have an opportunity to come out and see Tampa? We want, we want you to know what you're getting into right.

Pedro Torres:

So those nice beaches right Tampa.

Speaker 3:

We want. We want you to know what you're getting into, right. So those nice beaches, right. So he flew out here on his spring break and interviewed with us. We took him to all well, both of our sites at the time.

Speaker 3:

He met the team, he just he was a good fit, personality wise, and he he interviewed at uh, competitors in the area area too and we just had a good conversation. He just started two weeks ago and we had a good conversation friday and I was like, hey, what made you pick us? He said your interview was just different. He said I showed up, y'all were it. It just seemed natural, it flowed he, and we drove him from one site to the next.

Speaker 3:

We wanted him to meet the team and the other hospital he interviewed at. He said it was very like formal, it was with HR, they really didn't care, they didn't ask about me. So ultimately he chose us, which we're so thankful. But I was talking to our nurse manager at Kennedy just a couple weeks ago and I was like, hey, matt's going to start Monday, he's going to be great. And then I said, well, you know, honestly, I have no clue what his skill set is, but he has such a good personality to join our team. We can teach his skill set if it's lacking. But he's killing it, he's doing great.

Andrea Cichon:

I think that's awesome. I think that goes to the testament too. I think that goes to the testament to we are a teaching academic facility. So if you come with the right attributes you're kind, you're vulnerable, you're transparent, right we can teach you the skills needed to be successful in the job. So that's wonderful. Well, I have enjoyed my morning with both of you. It has been super powerful and impactful to hear your journeys, the advice you would give if you were 20 again, the lifelong learning. I think has been phenomenal to hear Never too late to go back to school and then really just what the excitement is for the future, right With our continued expansions and growth within the community, and that's going to mean more jobs in imaging and more youth and others that are maybe career changers looking to transfer into this pathway, opportunities to learn and grow at TGH. So thank you both for spending your mornings with us. This has been wonderful.

Pedro Torres:

Oh, thank you for the opportunity.

Andrea Cichon:

Thank you for having us.