Job Spotlight: Kelly Hunt, radiologic technologist and mammographer

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so naturally business picks up for Kelly Hunt and her colleagues at the Columbus Regional Breast Care Center on Hamilton Road.

But they wouldn't have it any other way, with the message being reinforced each year that regular breast exams -- both for women and men -- really does save lives.

Still, it goes beyond a mere month, said Hunt, 46, who became a radiologic technologist in 1989 and has been a mammographer since 1991. It's all she knows in her professional life, and she's absolutely happy with that.

"Usually, starting in October through the end of the year, we'll be busier," said the Columbus native and Fortson resident of the October media blitz. "Hopefully, everybody will come in and get their breast exams ... But it's breast awareness all of the time around here. We kind of promote it year round."

The facts are stark. The American Cancer Society estimates 232,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2014. Another 62,570 cases of "carcinoma in situ" -- an early form of non-invasive cancer -- will be diagnosed. About 40,000 women will die this year from the most prevalent type of cancer in females behind lung cancer.

Think you're safe as a male? Think again. It is much more rare than in women, but there will be 2,360 cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in men this year, with roughly 430 males dying from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

The takeaway from the statistics is everyone should learn their family history for cancer, do self exams, get regular physicals and, as they get older, become even more diligent with their health. It is recommended that women get professional routine breast exams each year starting at age 40 unless a family history or genetics suggest they start sooner.

That's where Hunt and other mammographers in Columbus and beyond come in. They are the ones using high-tech tech equipment to take digital images of breasts to find any unusual spots, lumps or other signs that something is amiss.

The seven mammographers at the Breast Care Center see an average of 70 patients per day, or about 10 each. A simple mammogram can take a few minutes, while someone with diagnosed problems could be in the office up to a couple of hours.

And there is a need for more radiologic technologists and mammographers across the U.S. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are just under 230,000 people in the profession today, with a need for 48,600 more by the year 2022, "much faster than average" growth. They make a national median salary of $55,910 per year, or $26.88 per hour.

The Ledger-Enquirer visited with Hunt recently to discuss her job, why she does it and the emotional roller-coaster it can be. This interview is edited a bit for length and clarity.

How did you decide to become a mammographer?

When I was in high school, the assistant program director (from The Medical Center School of Radiology) came to the school (Carver High) and I just got interested in it somehow.

Did you want to be anything else?

Actually I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I do teach a course at Columbus Tech. I'm an adjunct teacher and I teach the mammography course there. It's a semester course every two years. The first (mammography) course they ever had was in 2012.

There wasn't a mammography course locally until then?

They just were self study, just on your own.

(Even today) you have to work with a facility to get your hours and do mammograms. You have to go to an accredited facility that will let you do it on the side. A lot of places, if you're already working there, they'll let you do on-the-job training. But, starting in 2016, the American College of Radiology will require that you go to an established course, to be able to take your certification. I took my mammography boards in 1991.

But you are a radiologic technologist, which trains you for doing X-rays?

You have to be an RT before being a mammographer, and all of the RT programs are associate degrees. Columbus Tech has had an RT program for several years. Mammography is like an extension of RT. You can also go into CT (computerized tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and different areas of radiology.

Why do you enjoy doing mammograms?

Once I started doing it, it was something I really liked. I felt like I was really making a difference. And the more I learned about it, the more it became a passion. I feel like I'm making a difference in women's lives. It's just like you get a desire to do it.

You're saving women's lives, and the earlier we can find these cancers, the more lives we're saving. And the technology is amazing. We've started doing 3D mammograms now, with the new machines we have, and we've started seeing cancers now that we wouldn't see before. It's amazing.

I know I sound like I'm doing a commercial for them, but it is just amazing. We started doing those in February ... We do (3D mammograms) on every patient that walks through our door. And it's just amazing the technology. We've come such a long way since 1991.

Did you have a personal or family experience with cancer that motivated you?

My grandmother had breast cancer, but she didn't have it until she was like 84. I had been doing mammograms for 15 years before my grandmother had breast cancer. So it wasn't anything like that for me.

Describe a typical mammogram session?

They'll come in and we get them in and change them. We make sure they don't have any deodorant on because that can show up on the image. We have them come into the tech room and remove the gown, usually just one side, and move up to the machine. We do one arm at a time, and position them ... That's what they don't like.

There is discomfort from being squeezed by the imaging machine?

Every woman's different. Some of them are more sensitive than others and that's just a part of life. Some women say it doesn't bother them at all, and there are some that can tolerate little to no compression.

We take four pictures, two from top to bottom and two from the side, and that's a normal routine exam. It usually takes five to 10 minutes. The paperwork can take longer than the exam. The image pops up within seconds of the exposure.

Do you show the patient the image right away?

No. We tell them we'll give them results within 24 hours. We're required to give them results within 30 days, but it's within a week they get a letter. But since October of last year they can call and get the results the same day ... If the exam is after 3 p.m., by 9 o'clock the next morning they can call and get the results.

Why are people referred to you by a doctor and what is the mix of routine and prescribed exams?

If they come in with a problem, such as local pain, discharge, lumps, anything other than a routine screening ... they are looked at that day. Or if they're a breast cancer survivor in the last five years, the doctor looks at the films that day and they get the results that day. We do probably 70 patients a day in our office, and probably 85 percent of our patients are screening for problems.

There are exceptions for the age 40 recommendation to begin getting exams?

If someone has a first-order relative who has had breast cancer at age 30, we can theoretically being doing screenings on them at age 20 ... or 10 years prior to that age of their first-order relative getting cancer.

Some mammograms can take longer than others?

You can do a screening mammogram in 10 to 15 minutes. But if you get a diagnostic (case), you can be with a patient an hour or hour and a half, because you have to do the work-up on them and that can take longer. You might end up doing an ultrasound on that patient, or you might end up with a biopsy that can take an hour or two hours ... The doctor actually does the biopsy (with a needle), but we do all of the set-up and handling of the specimen ... We have a radiologist on site.

Do you have to calm people down sometime?

There's a wide range of emotions that you see, and that's even with patients who are coming in for their first mammogram. They come in nervous; they might be giggling; they might be crying; they might not want you to touch them. You see a variety of emotions. Some of them are angry and they're mad at you. If we see something on their mammogram, we have to call them up to do a another work-up on them for whatever the reason, and their anger is directed at whoever is dealing with them. So you have to deal with that.

How do you calm people down? Are you trained for that?

I don't know that you can be trained to do that. You have to deal with each person differently. With some people you just have to work through it and play it by ear and see how they're going to respond. Sometimes you can joke around with them and get them to lighten up, and some people you have to say, I know, I understand. But some people, if you tell them you understand, they (respond angrily) 'You don't understand what I'm going through.'

Do you as mammographers get caught up in the emotion?

Sometimes you can. But maybe it's just whatever you're going through at that time, and maybe you're already emotional about something. And there have been times with each of us when we just have to step out of the situation and let someone else take over, depending on the patient or the situation.

When you take an image, can you see if there are problems?

Can I? Yeah. Will I tell the patients? No. The doctor has to do that.

What skills do you need to be an effective mammographer?

You really do need a passion for it. You don't want to just need a job, because it's more than just taking a chest X-ray of the breast. And you do have to interact with a lot of people.

Do you need to be a technical whiz?

No more than any X-ray tech.

What's the biggest challenge you face?

I guess with the technology changing, there's always something to learn. You have to be very versatile. And I guess there's always going to be a patient that challenges you.

What's the most rewarding aspect of your job?

It's going to be the patient, and seeing the success of your patients. My co-workers also are awesome. We have a group of the best technologists, probably in the state of Georgia. They're awesome. We're like a family here. We don't have turnover. We've raised our kids together, and are starting on grandkids now. My kids won't cooperate (laughs).

Is there anything else you would like to do career-wise?

I see me being in mammography forever. I like mammography.

This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Job Spotlight: Kelly Hunt, radiologic technologist and mammographer."