By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – Kapi’olani CC Radiologic Technology program has a history of achievement and high performance. Early in the Program, two radiologic instructors developed a unique method for radiographing patients who have undergone total hip arthroplasty. This method was later published and is today known as the Clements Nakayama Projection.
The program continues to be one of the top radiography programs in the nation, as evidenced by the national certification examination statistics from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). In over 10 years, 99 percent of the graduates of the Radiologic Technology program have passed the national certification exam on their first try, which surpasses the national average first-time pass rate of 91 percent.
This February, a group of instructors and second-year students attended the Association of Collegiate Educators in Radiologic Technology (ACERT) conference in Las Vegas and again made history. One of the featured events during the conference is the ACERT Student Challenge, a single-elimination quiz competition in which student representatives from radiography schools across the nation respond to randomly-assigned knowledge questions. All of Kapi’olani CC’s students, who attended the conference, participated in the Student Challenge and many of them advanced to the final rounds of competition.
Kay Nguyen received first place honors in the ACERT Student Challenge.
During past conferences, Kapi’olani’s program has done well, with two students placing second in the final round. This year, however, one of Kapi’olani’s students achieved the highest honor by placing first in the competition, besting over 250 students across the nation.
Kay Nguyen’s exemplary performance has brought accolades to the Radiologic Technology program as well as to the College. When asked how he felt about his achievement, Nguyen humbly said, “I did not win this honor on my own. To pursue and succeed in a career in x-ray, one needs good classmates for collaboration, a good family for support, good energy and encouragement from teachers, and good hospitals and clinics to turn students into professionals.” Kay Nguyen will graduate this summer and hopes to pursue further studies in magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.