When Daniel Stovell first went to college he wanted to study veterinary medicine. He soon switched to human medicine but had to change his speciality more than ten times before he finally discovered radiology.

Today, he is chief of radiology at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, and the only Bermudian radiologist out of a staff of four.

The hospital, however, is trying to change all that.

During a diagnostic imaging week held between November 2 to 8 more than 160 Government and private secondary school students toured different areas of the diagnostic imaging department to find out about career opportunities in seven different radiology areas including mammography, bone density, x-ray, radioisotopes, MRI, CT scan and ultrasound.

Diagnostic Imaging Week in Bermuda was part of larger American celebration called National Radiologic Technology Week.

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists started this celebration in 1979 to recognise all imaging and radiation therapy professionals.

This was not the first time Bermuda had held a week devoted to radiologists, but it was the first time secondary school students were involved. The motto at the hospital was ?Exploring an Inner World?.

During an open house on Wednesday, November 3, large groups of students crammed into tiny rooms to see CT scans of a head injury or an x-ray of a swallowed rosary including beads and cross (don?t ask how).

Despite the lack of room, students were enthusiastic, interested and had many questions, particularly about what subjects they should study to go into radiology.

In addition to lecturing, radiology staff played little games with the students, posted pop quizzes like ?what does CAT stand for? and handed out prizes.

It quickly became apparent that radiology staff were using the open house to practice a little preventative medicine.

?This is what a head looks like after a bicycle accident where the rider wasn?t wearing a helmet,? said one staff member.

And moving on to the x-ray department, ?This is the part of the body where drugs are frequently stashed, while they are being illegally imported ... This is a hip replacement.?

From the wide-eyed looks from the students you got the feeling the message was getting through on more than a career level.

?I think it was excellent,? said S2 CedarBridge Academy student Samuel Lamb, 15. ?It is a good opening for students to learn more. I have never been here before.?

Guidance counsellor Donna Edwards said some of the students were a little squeamish, but most were very interested.

?This is the first time being in these departments for most of us,? she said. ?At school we put up a sign-up sheet for S1 to S4 students and about 23 students wanted to come.?

Event organiser and mammography and bone density technologist Lisa Woodley explained the philosophy behind the open house.

?If we show an image of a broken bone, they ask how that happened,? she said. ?We talk about not being careful. We tell them about what happens if you ride a bike without your helmet and fall off. This is probably the only time a lot of people will see us, unless something wrong happens. We are trying to get the message out about safety issues.

?With the female students, we take them to mammography and although they are young, they got to know a little bit about breast cancer awareness.?

Mrs. Woodley said the event had been so successful, that many of the students didn?t want to leave.

?They are getting to know that there is a lot more to radiology than just taking pictures,? she said. ?X-rays are not just a harmful thing. They see the ?radiation beware? sign and they think that we are all just running for our lives. We are all protected and very radiation conscious.?

Mrs. Woodley became interested in radiology as a summer student at the hospital.

?I worked in various departments in the hospital when I was in my late teens,? she said. ?I was always interested in what was behind the door that said ?danger radiation?. I would see people going in here on stretchers, but I wouldn?t know what took place. One day I asked if I could just spend a day to see what they do. I spent the day in barium enemas.?

She said her mentor at the time was a technologist, Venetta Symonds who just recently became the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) organisational review officer.

?It is just to show how far this career can take you,? said Mrs. Woodley. ?This can be a stepping stone for future things, and she is heading right up there.?

Mrs. Woodley said the visiting students appeared to be intrigued with radiology.

?It is about knowing that we are not just technicians who press buttons,? she said. ?We actually have one-on-one with patients. We are trying to give the students information about modality and the diversity that happens in this department.?

?When I first went to college I wanted to be a veterinarian,? said Dr. Stovell. ?I was in the liberal arts and I realised I was doing the same courses at that stage as the regular medical students. Something in me said you are really here for something different than what you thought you came for. During the first year I made the switch to human medicine.?

Dr. Stovell went to medical school, but it wasn?t until his third year that he even became aware of the radiology department.

?I bumped into radiology and never changed my mind again,? he said. ?It is an exciting field. It is highly technical and it never stays the same because there is always new, different and better equipment. You get new technology, or the same technology but the information has advanced so that you are always learning something new every day.?

He said being a radiologist is like being a detective.

?Other doctors will send you a patient, and say ?this and this is going on; what is happening here?? We will do some pictures and try to help them, not only looking at the pictures, but thinking about the whole patient. We will look at what is going on with this person.

?Each person is a little bit different. That makes it a challenge but it also makes it exciting.?

At the end of the tour, students were given addresses of websites with more information about radiology, and also contact numbers if they were serious about pursuing a radiology career.

Dr. George McInnes, consultant radiologist said, ?I think we are very fortunate here. We have a good spectrum of skills among the radiologists. We have very well-trained radiologists from different countries as well. We offer a service that is as good as any other radiology department.

?When our jobs are advertised, unfortunately there haven?t been any Bermudian applicants. If someone from Bermuda wants to become a radiologist, they have to train to become a doctor first of all. ?Depending on what country you are in the training scheme for radiology can be at least five years. We have to sit a number of different exams. Many of them have at least one or two post graduate qualifications to do radiology.?

He said it is a field within medicine that does require training as much as a surgeon, an internist or an anaesthetist.

?There is a lot of investment in it,? he said, ?But the BHB does currently employ four radiologists. It is an expanding field using modern high-tech equipment. There is great demand for radiology here. It certainly would be an interesting and valuable career for an aspiring Bermudian to follow.?

He said there is a shortage of radiologist world-wide.

Dr. Stephen Winchell, clinical director of MRI radiology, said, ?I think it is clear that attracting Bermudians to career opportunities in health care is of key importance for King Edward and St. Brendan?s Hospital.? He said the day had been a rousing success.

?Everyone who worked to put on the day should be proud,? he said.

?Each group shown the department with an aim to interest the young people in a variety of careers or from administration to nursing to medical technology. All the students had smiles and seemed interested and happy.?