Radiology Graduate’s Career Coming Into Focus at Piedmont Henry Hospital
Genesis Horton’s (‘25) shift as an X-ray technologist at Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia, starts at noon. But the Georgia Southern University radiologic sciences and Honors College graduate says the real day begins the moment she sets her bag down on the floor of the radiology department.
“Typically, I walk into work for the day and see everybody running around,” Horton said, laughing. “But we train for things like this in school. So when I log on and see something like 20 pending X-ray requests, I don’t get nervous or start panicking — I get started.”
She’s just one of a team of imaging professionals spread out across Piedmont Henry. She estimates that she crosses the brown floors leading in and out of the radiography unit more than 100 times in a day.
“I like to call us the movement team,” she explained. “We’re in and out of the operating room, we’re up on the floors, we’re in the emergency department. So yeah, we’re kind of everywhere.”
Horton has been working at Piedmont Henry for a little under six months, but quickly found her place among the machine beeps and loudspeaker calls.
“I really like doing X-ray,” she said. “A lot of people don’t stay, as they want to start doing more complex imaging, like CT scans and MRI. But I really want to master one field before moving on to the next.”
She credits her time at Georgia Southern as the reason she can handle anything.
“There are other radiography programs, where you’ll start learning about the structure of the hand,” she said. “And then it’s immediately off to clinical. And it’s not helpful, because those students won’t have the opportunity to be graded on their work. And they’ll become good at doing hands, but then not be as familiar with knees.”
Horton says it’s not like that at Georgia Southern.
“I liked how my professors formatted their classes,” she explained. “The first two semesters covered book work, giving us a technical understanding of what we would be doing in imaging. So when we went to clinicals in the third semester, we were familiar with the processes and procedures we needed to follow.”
Horton’s efforts were rewarded with her appointment to participate in the prestigious American Society of Radiologic Technologists’ (ASRT) Student Leadership Development Program.
Radiography program director Sharon Gilliard-Smith, Ed.D., said she was proud of Horton’s participation in the ASRT.
“It provides an avenue with fellow students, technologists, and mentors across the country,” explained Gilliard-Smith. “This is something especially valuable if you plan to work outside the immediate region after graduation.”
But Horton says the society and faculty provided more than an education; the relationships she made with her professors became a much-needed support system.
“That first semester was a blur,” Horton admits. “Radiography physics, learning how the X-ray tube works, studying the effects of radiation, kilovoltage peaks and milliamperage per second…I was definitely in their offices whenever I could be.”
That’s what helped her become a radiographer adept at capturing accurate and detailed images. Which translates into a few extra minutes in the hospital break room come 7 p.m.
“We only get 30 minutes, so I have to make them count,” she said. “I just take advantage of any moment of silence I can find in the break room.”
Finally, the clock turns 11 p.m. Horton mulls over the events of the day as she heads back to her car.
“I’m usually thinking about my bed as I’m leaving,” Horton said. “But then I’m also thinking about what happened throughout the day and what I can do better in the future.”
She exits the parking lot and heads home, passing by construction sites dotting the campus grounds. The hospital is growing, just like her.
“I still have to remind myself that every day isn’t perfect,” Horton said. “But I went to Georgia Southern. I’m more than ready to face whatever comes my way.”
— Bradley Mullis