Jeddah: Six Saudi female scholarship students, and four male students received US board certification in nuclear medicine technology. This is for the first time when a large number of Saudi students have graduated with this rare specialization.
Before obtaining US board certification, Sarah Yasir Farhood had graduated in nuclear medicine technology in Boston, she said. “I chose this field because it is rare in the Kingdom. I intend to pass the US test and register for a specialization in nuclear medicine.”
Sarah says nuclear medicine is a medical specialty involving the application of a radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of various disease.
This technology uses small doses of rays from the nucleus of an atom and usually administers them through an injection, orally or through inhaling it.
The radioactive material is concentrated in the afflicted organ, and releases invisible rays that are picked up by a special device called a Gama camera.
Radioactive material can be injected into an afflicted organ and destroys sick cells. She said nuclear medicine has many uses such as heart imaging, bone imaging to examine fractures, inflammations and tumors, kidney, gall bladder and stomach examinations, and examinations for the possibility of lung blockage.
She said that there is another part of nuclear medicine, which is the positron emission tomography, which is three-dimensional imaging. This imaging depends on injecting the patient with a radioactive solution that is linked to an active element such as sugar, to concentrate the solution in cancerous cells, allowing doctors to make an accurate diagnosis.
She said after finishing three years of study, she underwent training at one of the largest hospitals in Boston, and learned how to care for patients and deal quickly with emergencies, in addition to attending nuclear medicine conferences inside and outside the state.
She concluded by saying.“This was very good for us as students because it allowed us to build a social network of technicians from other countries.”