#IamMGH – Meet Cheston Marimon

#IamMGH tells the stories of our people. In honour of Medical Radiation Technologists Week (MRT), meet Cheston Marimon, a Medical Radiation Technologist at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH).

“I’m from the Philippines. Years ago when I lived there, I began studying nursing, but midway I realized it wasn’t my passion. I was looking for another area to study, and my brother suggested a medical radiation technology program. It seemed interesting to me: medical radiation technologists (MRTs) take images of the body based on what a doctor requests, helping the doctor diagnose and treat the injury or disease.

Once I started the program, I loved it and knew being a MRT was the career for me. Specifically, I wanted to work in X-ray. I’ve always been interested in machines and technology and how they evolve over time, and I do photography in my spare time – mainly photos of wildlife – so it was a perfect match.

In 2011, I immigrated to Canada as a new graduate of the program, looking to get a job as an X-ray technologist. The first few years were tough. Like most immigrants, my family started from scratch. I worked some minimum wage jobs while getting my MRT license. When I passed my exam, I tried to look for jobs, but most employers wanted Canadian experience. For a few years, it was a bumpy ride.

Because of my perseverance, eventually I landed a job at an X-ray clinic. I worked there for more than a year and then pursued my dream of working at a hospital. Even though I didn’t have previous hospital experience or many connections in the healthcare world, I was hired at MGH in 2017.

Today, I work on the overnight shift at MGH, usually midnight until 8 a.m. I work all over the hospital – we X-ray technologists are not limited to just one location. I usually work in the Emergency Department, but occasionally I go to the operating rooms to assist surgeons, and do portable X-ray exams in different parts of the hospital such as the ICU and patient rooms. While X-ray is my area of expertise, some of my MGH colleagues work in other areas of MRT, conducting computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), breast imaging, ultrasounds, bone mineral density tests, cardiac imaging and more.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, work has become more difficult for MRTs. Doctors often use CT imaging and chest X-rays to determine if a patient is COVID-positive. They also use imaging to determine the exact location of a patients’ ventilator or feeding tube.

I love my job, and I’m truly grateful that I was given the opportunity to work here. MGH is one of the best hospitals here in Toronto, and I’m proud to be a part of the MRT team.”