Photo By Command Sgt. Maj. Adam Stone | Spc. Nick Cortez, 228th Combat Support Hospital, 807th Medical Command, sits at the...... read more read more
FORT MCCOY, Wisconsin - Its been said that the older one gets, the quicker time passes. Before he knew it, Spc. Nick Cortez was 28-years old and working as a bartender.
“I knew that I didn't want to tend bar when I was 40,” said Cortez. “I was just tired of the bar scene. I wanted to pursue a career with greater profit potential, room for advancement and a retirement 401(k).”
He talked to an Army Reserve recruiter and took the ASVAB -- the Department of Defense entry test.
“When my scores came back, my recruiter was impressed and said, 'OK, what job do you want?' We went down the list and jobs like truck driver and laundry came up. When I looked further down the list I saw x-ray tech and told him, ‘This is the one I want.’”
At 28, he enlisted and was placed in the 228th Combat Support Hospital, 807th Medical Command in his hometown of San Antonio.
The Army sent him to basic training for 10 weeks and advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort Sam Houston for 24 weeks to be a 68P, radiology specialist.
When he was done with his training he got a job at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio.
“One of my instructors from AIT referred me to his friend who he had served with and who was a radiology manager at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. I gave him a call. I got an interview and a job as a PRN [temporary] for 5 months. They then offered me a full-time position [working] overnights. The condition for working overnight was I had to learn CT, and so there's my in.”
It just so happens that Cortez belongs to the 228th which has the one mobile CT scanner in the Army Reserve.
“The army taught me X-ray which got me a job, then my job taught me CT which I brought back to the army, so there's a bit of reciprocity there.”
During the 2015 Global Medic Exercise, Cortez is responsible for operating the portable X-ray, stationary X-ray machine, and CT scanner at the 228th.
“I met Spc. Cortez the first day we were out just to see how he was preparing for the U.K. soldiers,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col Lawrence Roberman, an observer-controller for 2015 Global Medic and a member of the 4005 U.S. Army Hospital, Medical Readiness Training Command, in Houston. “We measure some things differently, and even though things are in English the nomenclature is different. We sat down to make sure the SOPs were up to date.”
“He's a really enthused young man. He's trying to find some more soldiers to train, and he recognizes how valuable this opportunity is,” said Roberman.
The 2015 Global Medic Exercise, hosted annually by the Medical Readiness and Training Command at Fort McCoy, is the Army's premiere training event for military medical professionals. Global Medic is the only medical exercise accredited by the Pentagon for participation by all branches and both active-duty and reserve components.
The Army Reserve is only a small portion of a Soldier's income. Cortez is an Army Reserve Soldier that has the same job in the civilian sector as he does in the Army Reserve.
“I love my job. One thing that's always fascinated me about radiology is the science behind it. The fact that we do a job that is essential to patient care, we wouldn't be able to point out things like an aneurism or a AAA [abdominal aortic aneurism]. We can verify that the patient had a stroke that a doctor could miss. We get to see patients in a way that no one else does,” said Cortez.
“It's something that I'd recommend to anyone who likes science and medicine and wants a job in a comfortable environment.”
Cortez is currently working to earn his bachelors degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2015 23:14 |
| Story ID: | 167233 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Hometown: | SAN ANTONIO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 427 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Needing a Change: Radiology Tech, by CSM Adam Stone, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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