The 50th graduating class members of the
North Oaks School of Radiologic Technology celebrated their accomplishments with a ceremony and reception June 27.
Graduates include: (seated, from left) London Raborn of Walker, Meghan
Matherne of Slidell, Brianna Foster of Albany, Jennifer Gresse of St.
Rose, Kristin Smith of Springfield, Taylor Miley of Denham Springs, (standing,
from left) Madeleine Duhon of Lafayette, Meggy Worth of Hammond, Stuart
Tournillon of Ponchatoula, Josh Maggio of Kentwood and Ashley Perrault
of New Roads.
Commencement was held in the E. Brent Dufreche Conference Center, located within
North Oaks Diagnostic Center.
North Oaks Health System’s Chief Human Resources Officer Jeff Jarreau
presided over the ceremony that concluded two years of study for the students
involving 2,000 clinical hours and more than 1,200 classroom hours and
400 exams and quizzes.
Sandy Miller, daughter of Dr. Red Stuart, spoke to the school’s 50-year
history. Stuart was North Oaks’ first and only radiologist for many
years and is considered the founding father of North Oaks School of Radiologic
Technology.
In the early 1960s, Stuart was finding it challenging to recruit radiologic
technologists to work on the Northshore. As Miller tells it, her father
approached the hospital administrator at the time, Sister Mary Aloysius,
with the idea of starting a school to address the shortage. She agreed,
provided that necessary applications were secured through the Joint Review
Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) and that Stuart
hold himself personally responsible for all costs associated with the
school, which he did for many years until the school found solid footing.
Over the course of its 50-year history, Miller recounted how the school
has evolved in tandem with the field of radiology by comparing and contrasting
the environment in which the first and current graduating classes trained.
In 1969, the first graduating class of three students trained in a 60-bed
hospital in one modality—X-rays. Films were developed by hand and
dried on clips then.
This year’s graduating class of 11 trained in a health system with
330 beds and eight diagnostic modalities—X-ray, Nuclear Medicine,
Ultrasound, Mammography, Interventional Radiology, CT, MRI and PET. Now,
images are digital, and they are viewed and shared via electronic health
record technology.
The commencement address was delivered by Sandy Miller’s husband,
Dr. J.P. Miller, who is a radiologist with North Oaks Imaging Associates.
“Your chosen field is the basis for all advancements in imaging,”
Miller affirms. “Just think. … Without world-class imaging,
medical teams would not have the internal information about their patients
needed to properly diagnose and treat them.”
He went on to encourage the graduates to always keep in mind the critical
role that life-long learning plays in their continued success and the
future of medicine.
“Life-long learning really is the ultimate sport,” he noted.
“Your knowledge and ideas are valuable, so make a promise to never
stop learning and always remember the ultimate mission – to keep
moving yourselves and health care ahead.”
As added motivation, Miller pointed to the age-old advice of St. Francis
of Assisi, “Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s
possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
Before the presentation of diplomas by Program Director Marsha J. Talbert,
outstanding achievement awards were given. The Academic Achievement Award
was presented to Worth for obtaining the highest overall scholastic average,
and the Performance and Attitude Award for exceptional performance in
the clinical setting was given to Foster. Dr. Rodney Taylor presented
the Dannye Young Taylor “Always Remembering Others Award,”
named in honor of his wife, to Miley in recognition of her outstanding
patient care skills. Taylor also delivered the invocation, while Lisa
Raney and Edith Slaton of the Auxiliary of Gideons International presented
Bibles for medical professionals to the graduates.
In addition, Duhon, Foster, Gresse, Maggio, Matherne, Perrault, Smith,
Tournillon and Worth were recognized as members of Lambda Nu, a national
honor society for the radiologic and imaging sciences. To become a member,
one must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average out of a possible 4.0.
Established in 1967, the
North Oaks School of Radiologic Technology is accredited by JRCERT. The school offers a comprehensive 24-month program
that provides classroom and clinical instruction to prepare students for
careers in the field of diagnostic imaging, which is used to diagnose
and treat diseases and injuries. Upon graduation, students are eligible
to take the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) National
Certification examination and apply for Louisiana state licensure.
Applications for the 2020-22 class will be accepted through June 1, 2020.
To request an application, call or write: Program Director, North Oaks
School of Radiologic Technology, P.O. Box 2668, Hammond, Louisiana, 70404,
(985) 230-7805.