Our Goals

One of our goals at Mammography Educators is to create a forum where you can receive accurate, practical and applicable education and information, support and encouragement.   Most of all, we want to appreciate you for all you do. This past year has been particularly challenging for everyone, especially those of you who are providing the best in healthcare but who also are experiencing challenging patients and your own heightened anxieties.

Last week I was putting together a lecture for a webinar (free!). The content was focused on trying to provide a different, more organized and simple method for approaching mammography positioning techniques and achieving the highest image quality with top tips and tricks.

Most of you know I am the type of person who likes to ”slice, dice and puree” just about everything, especially when teaching: How can I “re-package” or “re-do” this information? How can I explain things in a way that makes more sense? How can I get techs involved, interested and more excited about their work, which significantly impacts the lives of the patients they care for? I hate to admit I wake up at night exploring new ideas. I know, kind of pathetic.

Witnessing Mammography Sisterhood

But last week, at about 3am, I was surfing the internet for inspiration. I googled: “Thank You Healthcare Providers”, and I stumbled on the picture below. Subsequently, I did some “detective work” to find out who they are. Luckily, they responded and were happy to let me use the picture and provide their identities! I am super excited that they will be contributing to this BLOG in the future!

Left to right: Katelyn Martino Senior U/S Technologist; Lindsey Justynski Breast Health Navigator; unnamed foundation representative; Jill Cummings Senior Mammography Technologist; Angela Ayotte Clerical.
Peterborough Regional Health Centre Breast Assessment Centre. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

This is a TEAM! Can you see their pride? See their smiles? Feel their confidence? Witness their connection? Sense the appreciation for a fundraising event that helped fund their new tomo unit?

But probably best of all… can you see the sisterhood?

When I saw the tech on the right, with her arms around her co-worker/buddy/friend, my heart melted. THIS is how it should be.

Is Mammography Right for Everyone?

Now I know, although you can’t always ‘love’ or even like all your coworkers, we can work together towards a common goal. Those of you who are managers and recruit and hire new mammographers, I encourage you to “weed” out the techs who exhibit destain for mammography education (whether spoken or not).  Instead, focus efforts to build a new department of positive, energetic and eager technologists who WANT to be there.

A lot of us ‘old hens’ are ready to retire and with us will go a small minority of mammography techs who have spent years complaining bout their patients/jobs. Let’s not encourage any negativity to pass into the younger generation who will be taking care of us! For those of you who have just joined the “sisterhood” recently through a Mammography Initial Training course online  and may have young kids, with responsibilities and challenges of your own, we want to support and encourage you to experience the unbelievable gift of work that you love and that you now makes a difference in each patient’s life.

If, however, mammography is just a job to you, I hope that you can appreciate that mammography is not the right fit for you and move on.

Where Can Mammography Sisterhood Grow in Your Opinion?

So with that said, I would like to invite all of you to contribute your thoughts, stories, pictures and ideas about things that have helped you create or be part of what I see as a true “sisterhood”.

Please send your contributions to info@mammographyeducators.com or reach out to our Quality Imagers Facebook Group.

We will then put them together for future BLOG posts. Thanks again for all you do.

Warmly,
Louise