Learning While Receiving a Diagnostic Scan
When you are a Career and Job Search Strategy Coach, as I am, you develop a fascination in learning the intricacies of different jobs and careers. I get particularly attracted to hearing others speak about what happens in the day to day of their job. While some may think that crazy or unusual, I look at it from the following perspective. What type of skills and traits does the person doing the role need to have with those that the job role supports? While one may think they know most every type of job role that is out there, one learns of specific niches that individuals may support in the work they do. And, as I learned most recently with having a diagnostic scan on my lower extremities as part of my semi-annual heart check-up, I got introduced to a whole new way to seeing how technicians conduct diagnostic tests.
I have been a heart patient as we go into 2026 for 27 years. As such, I am continually monitored to ensure the plan of treatment that my doctors have for me is working. In the autumn of the year, that is completed through diagnostic scans of my heart, my carotid artery, and the blood lines in my legs and ankles. My role in the process is very straight forward, (lay on a medical table, lie still, and move accordingly into position as the technician requires). The tests usually take a few minutes to complete, as the technician, runs a medical wand over me, and captures images on the technology in front of them.
So, what was so different this time around? I was asked by the lead technician if I was OK if a student intern would administer the test on me for one of my legs, (under the oversite of the lead technician). As one always open to helping the development of others, I quickly said yes. While I have had the tests before and others like it, I never realized that there was an “art” to the process. To the uninitiated, they may figure that the technician is just passing the wand over them, and the imaging equipment is recording the results. However, I soon learned, that the technician was looking for different signs of possible issues that the doctor might want to see. The running of the wand over my leg was skillfully being done to see if from different angles, arteries, or veins, if the best picture could be gotten to display possible issues which might want to be explored. Additionally, there were the results of my previous scans available to the technician. Those results gave clues to items that should be checked out and followed up on.
The lead technician thanked me for my patience through the process, as the student intern was seeing things that she had learned in her text books and classes come to life in front of her. I indicated my fascination with the whole process, especially given my background as a Career and Job Search Coach. The experience, and another one I had a few days later opened me up to another reality. So much is said in today’s job search world about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the employment process. Individuals are told that many will lose their jobs due to the newer technologies. Still others are told, if they are not trained in Artificial Intelligence tools, they will fall behind others in the race for employment. And, though that certainly may be true in some professions, there are others where “the human touch,” will have a “difficult time” being replaced.
A couple of days later I was at the after services from my brother-in-law’s funeral. His two oldest grandchildren already know what types of careers they want to pursue. One is already in college studying physical therapy, (after working in her last high school year in a part-time job in such a firm). Her sister who is two years younger, knows she wants to be an occupational therapist. If ever two positions require “the personal touch,” with another human, (sometimes at one of the lowest moments of their life), these two career options do. And, there are several others that while “aided” by electronic tools, will continue to have the need for a “human touch.”
It can get frustrating many times to see the ever-changing face of employment. And, if you are already well along in your career path, one may just feel like giving up in adding new skills to their repertoire. However, analyze all the skills you have. Which ones are people centric. Which ones would be difficult to replace, or if possible are best done when there is a person-to-person interaction? What steps are you willing to take, to use those skills in your next job opportunity, if you find yourself being “replaced” by technology in a job that you do now?
