inPractice - Fall 2019 - 14

PA COLLEGE / EVENTS & ALUMNI NEWS

BUILDING ON EARLY INFLUENCES
CAREER STARTER

Photo by Eric Forberger

Max Becket, RAD '17
Radiology Technologist, Lancaster General Hospital
Medicine and technology have always been big parts of Max
Becket's life, thanks to his mom, a psych nurse, and his dad, a
software engineer. He liked how radiography combined these
two interests. "The technology is always changing in the field,
but you still get that patient care experience," he says.
Becket knew the Radiography Program at Pennsylvania
College of Health Sciences was the right fit when he learned
that students are sent to different clinical sites-a facet
of the program he hadn't seen at other schools. He had
rotations at several hospitals and offices, including an
outpatient site, where he worked with the Amish and
geriatric communities, and an orthopedic clinic.
During his clinical training, Becket-who was a competitive
swimmer for six years before enrolling in the Radiography
Program-also worked as an X-ray imaging assistant at
UPMC Memorial Hospital in York. Working while going to
school was a great experience for him, he says, but he was
often at the hospital for a combined 60 to 70 hours a week.
Then, during his second year, Becket received the Erin
McCartney Nusbaum Radiography Scholarship, which

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meant he didn't have to work as many hours to cover
his tuition. "One of the most pivotal points during my
education was when I got that scholarship," says Becket,
who received a PA College Academic Excellence award
for the highest academic achievement in the Radiography
Program. "It helped me concentrate a little more on my
schoolwork. I don't know if I would have made it
without that."
Today, Becket works as a CT technologist at Lancaster
General Hospital after earning his CAT scan certification last
year. He is also enrolled in PA College's Bachelor of Science in
Health Sciences Program, which he will complete
in December.
Becket stresses that the opportunity he had in the
Radiography Program to work in several clinical sites
is what prepared him best for working in the field.
"Going forward in my medical career, I will have this great
knowledge of what some other places have done," says
Becket, who hopes to continue his education in medical
school or a physician assistant program. "That foundation
of knowledge is really unique for PA College." n
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inPractice - Fall 2019

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