Meet Bridgette Schares, RT(R)(M)

Tell us about your background: I graduated from Covenant School of Radiology in 2007.  I started my career here at UIHC in General Radiology in 2007, but transferred over to Breast Imaging in 2012.  I just celebrated my 15th year working here and accepted the position as Clinical Chief of Breast Imaging.

Why did you pick RT/BI as your career field? I have a cousin who is an x-ray tech and I always found her job interesting.  It’s a very hands on job, which I love.  In 2012, I was approached to learn how to do mammography and then from there learned how to do breast ultrasound.  I find it to be a very rewarding field for both the patient and myself.  Helping the Radiologist find and diagnosis a patient with breast cancer can be very difficult, but you have to look at the positive side of it also.  I absolutely love patient interaction and helping them in any way that I can.

What’s your favorite exam? I don’t have one exam that I love; however, I do find it rewarding to be able to follow a patient through from start to finish, from doing a diagnostic mammogram to ultrasound to a biopsy.  Many people don’t love to come have their mammogram, but I do know they feel comforted knowing they see familiar faces every time they come back.

Advice for anyone interested in the RT career field: My biggest advice is to come over and job shadow.  I think most people don’t realize what we actually do over here and what a huge impact we make on each patient.  It’s a very close knit group over here also and makes the work day fun every day!