Senior Airman Meagan Tavares, 59th Medical Wing radiology
technician, has a gift for seeing through people.
Her X-ray machine helps, but Tavares relies just as much on
her people skills.
“I get excited when I have a challenging patient that other
techs (think) is too difficult,” said Tavares, who works at Joint Base San
Antonio-Lackland’s Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center. If I can help that
person – if I can get that image that other people think is impossible – if I
can do that exam that other people think is too hard, that really gets me fired
up.”
Starting at 7 a.m., Tavares takes X-rays of patients ranging
from active-duty Airmen and their families to retirees. Beyond these basic
procedures, she also administers steroid injections for patients with joint
pain and fluoroscopy exams for those with digestive tract problems.
“When I can help a patient walk out of our clinic feeling
better than they did when they came in, and they walk out in a better mood,
there’s nothing that’s more satisfying,” said Tavares, who also loves working
with pediatric patients. “You think kids and X-rays don’t mix – you have to get
them to hold still, and some of them are afraid of the doctor – but they’re actually
the most fun patients to work with.”
These services, Tavares noted, are vital to the 59th Medical
Wing’s mission.
“Without X-ray imaging in general, most doctors would be
operating blind,” Tavares said. “If doctors are unable to see the body part or
issue they’re looking for, it’s really hard for them to get an accurate
diagnosis.”
Caring for the families of servicemen and women can be just
as important, Tavares added.
“We make sure our forces get to fight, but they’re not
worrying about their families,” she explained.
“If they know their families are in good hands, that takes a
huge weight off the shoulders of people who are deployed or who are working on
training for long hours. That way they’re focused on their mission.”
Tavares knows a thing or two about working long hours. Tech
school for most jobs is under three months, but lasts about 13 months for
radiologic technicians. That’s the longest-running medical tech school in the
Air Force, and one of the longest in the entire armed services, according to
the Air Force website.
“This is not just button pushing,” noted Tavares, who spent
hours learning the complete human anatomy. “We also learn about physics so we
can ... minimize the radiation exposure to our patients. This is so much more
than standing behind a wall and pushing a button.”
Tavares is aiming to become a physician’s assistant after
leaving the Air Force. She’s taking pre-requisite classes at a local college
and said she plans on applying to the Inter-Service Physician’s Assistant
program at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston later this year.
“I never thought the military was going to be an option for
me, but the Air Force has just opened so many doors,” said Tavares, who noted
that she’s not just making money at a job she loves, but is also going to school
for free thanks to the Air Force’s tuition assistance. “I’m just very fortunate
to have been given these opportunities.”
Even after several years of training, Tavares’s endless
fascination with the human body keeps her fresh and engaged at work.
“To be able to watch even something as simple as somebody
swallowing – to watch that process and see how the esophagus has this motion
called ‘peristalsis’ – to watch that in motion is the coolest thing to me,”
Tavares said. “The human body is so much more complicated than we give it
credit for. It blows my mind every time I see it- it never gets old.”
Keeping that enthusiasm is important, because the patients
at Wilford Hall keep Tavares and the rest of the radiology department on their
toes, Tavares said.
“Every morning when I get to work, I’m so excited,” she
explained. “No two days are exactly the same. Every patient is different – you
never know what you’re going to get. Even after two years, I’m learning new
things every day.”