EMPLOYEE
SPOTLIGHT
Meet Christy Farmer, MAdm.,
R.T. (R)(T).
For Christy Farmer, MAdm., R.T. (R)(T), a job
opportunity offered to her while in school turned out to be
a fulfilling career opportunity.
“Shortly after starting college, I knew
I wanted to be in the medical field. I was lucky enough to
be healthy as a child, and had never actually been a patient
in a hospital so I had no idea what departments there were
within a hospital nor what choices I had in the health care
field,” she recalls. “When it came time for me
to declare a major, I told my advisor at Northeast Louisiana
University (NLU) that I was interested in medicine, but that
I knew I did not want to be a doctor or a nurse. My advisor
knew someone who had gone into Radiologic Technology and said
that would be a good field. I honestly had no idea what I
was getting myself into!”
While completing her Radiation Therapy degree
at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC), Christy
received a very intriguing offer. “OncoLogics, Inc.,
which at the time was Romagosa Radiation Oncology Center,
pursued me while I was UMC. They offered to pay me a stipend
while I was in school. In return, they asked me to sign a
contract to work for them for two years as a radiation therapist
after graduation.”
“As soon as I spent my first
day in a radiation oncology center, I knew I was where I belonged.
The way the radiation therapists interacted with and helped
the patients was so profound. Radiation Therapy was a field
I was drawn to, and what was a career suggestion from an advisor,
now is the ONLY career I can imagine myself a part of.”
It was in Radiologic Technology at NLU in her
radiation therapy rotation that Christy became certain about
the field that she ‘happened’ upon. “As
soon as I spent my first day in a radiation oncology center,
I knew I was where I belonged. The way the radiation therapists
interacted with and helped the patients was so profound. Radiation
Therapy was a field I was drawn to, and what was a career
suggestion from an advisor, now is the ONLY career I can imagine
myself a part of.”
A Masters Degree in Administration, with and
emphasis in Health Science, from Northern Arizona University
rounded out Farmer’s educational experience.
“Clinically, we give our cancer
patients hope and a positive outlook on life and their disease.
Personally, I try to make a difference in people’s lives
on a daily basis and I teach my students to have that same
impact. I find this very rewarding.”
Now, as the Director of Clinical Education
for Washburn University’s Radiation Therapy Curriculum
at OncoLogics, the first of its kind in Louisiana, Christy
engages radiation therapy students to become professional,
highly skilled, caring Radiation Therapists. “Clinically,
we give our cancer patients hope and a positive outlook on
life and their disease. Personally, I try to make a difference
in people’s lives on a daily basis and I teach my students
to have that same impact. I find this very rewarding.”
“Teaching students to go that extra mile
and to see how it feels to be such a source of reassurance
and comfort to patients is what I like most. I not only teach
my students to learn the clinical side of radiation therapy,
I also teach them to seek to understand, problem-solve and
ultimately help every patient that has a need that they come
in contact with. Often, positioning patients and turning the
radiation beam on effectively is not the most important thing
you can do for a patient.”
“Having been part of the OncoLogics family
since July 1994, I believe that OncoLogics truly cares about
their patients, and that’s what sets us apart from other
Radiation Oncology facilities. I like the company and our
‘family’ so much, that my two-year contract has
turned into 14 years with OncoLogics!”
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