SALT LAKE CITY - Radiology administrators know what a headache it can be to schedule technologists for a busy department. Staff shortages, illness, and personal crisis can make scheduling a perennial pain. At the Olympic Polyclinic, however, none of these issues concern Jeff Koford, x-ray staffing coordinator.
"The only difficulties I’ve encountered are turning down folks who want to work shifts beyond their scheduled seven maximum -- or who want to swap shifts with another tech because they’ve lucked into tickets for a hot event," Koford said.
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| Jeff Koford, x-ray staffing coordinator at the Olympic Polyclinic, is in charge of digital x-ray training for the technologist volunteers. |
Koford makes sure the technologists are able to work with the Polyclinic's radiology information system (IDXrad, IDX, Burlington, VT) , PACS (DirectView, Eastman Kodak Health Imaging, Rochester, NY) and digital x-ray system (DirectView DR 9000, Kodak) at the clinic. In general, his job can be described as making sure things go smoothly for the radiology component of the Polyclinic.
Koford received his training as a radiology technologist at Weber State University in Ogden, UT, and is currently supervisor of diagnostic radiology at the University of Utah Health Network Clinics in Salt Lake City. While working at UU, Koford also managed to earn a BS in business management, an MBA, and another BS in advanced radiography.
Volunteering at the Polyclinic has provided Koford with some unexpected professional benefits. "We work with a Fuji PACS system and CR equipment at the clinics, so having a chance to be exposed to another vendor’s PACS, as well as working with a DR system, has been great for broadening my career skills," he said.
But technology is just a piece of the puzzle. "The experience of working with people from different work environments, and learning the different ways they approach their jobs, has been one of the best things that I’ve gotten from being here," Koford said.
By Jonathan S. Batchelor
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
February 21, 2002
Copyright © 2002 AuntMinnie.com
