Meet Ryan Hageman, BS, RT(R)(CT)

Tell us about your background: I was a lucky one and knew very early on that I wanted to work in radiology thanks to job shadowing while in high school. I obtained my Bachelor’s Degree in Radiation Sciences here at the University of Iowa in 2019. I cannot thank this program and its instructors enough for preparing me to work in this field. 

Why did you pick RT/CT as your career field: I chose CT as my career choice because I enjoy the fast pace environment, and I’ve always had interests in human anatomy and technology. This field allows me to combine those interests with my love for helping people and making a difference in their lives.

What’s your favorite exam? My favorite exams are anything involving either a code, stroke, or trauma. These are scans that need to be done extremely quickly to ensure that the patient is properly taken care of. The faster these scans are done, the better prognosis the patient will have.  It’s a very rewarding experience when you see these same patients progressing throughout the rest of their care at UIHC.

Advice for anyone interested in the RT career field? My advice is to always be ready for change. Our technologies are changing constantly, and in this field you have to be able to adapt quickly. Every day is different and that’s what makes this field so exciting. For example, in CT we are going to be receiving a new Photon Counting scanner that will be one of the first in the country. Also, a lot of people aren’t aware that we recently got a Portable CT scanner for the children’s hospital, which is also an amazing advancement in our field. When patients are too sick to be transported throughout the hospital we can bring the scanner to their room instead.