Connecticut Speaker of the House Matthew Ritter appointed Bernadette Mele, clinical professor and chair of diagnostic imaging at Quinnipiac University, to a task force to investigate and address a shortage of radiologic technologists in the state.

Mele has spent her whole life in southern Connecticut. She earned her bachelor’s and masters at Quinnipiac, in diagnostic imaging and medical laboratory sciences, respectively. She’s also a lifelong Hamden resident and started her career as a radiologic technologist at the Saint Raphael branch of the Yale New Haven Hospital.

She transitioned into academia at Quinnipiac, working her way up from an assistant professor to the chairperson of the diagnostic imaging department.

Mele also was the head of the Quinnipiac faculty senate from 2018-2022, has served on multiple committees and still works at Yale New Haven hospital.

Growing up, Mele focused entirely on self-improvement and wanting to achieve more, but a change in her mindset prompted her to shift to selflessness.

“The way I was brought up was always do better, do better, do better,” Mele said. “I obviously want to keep doing better, but now I don’t want to do better for me. I want to do better for other people.”

Specifically, for the students she teaches. Mele stressed the importance of making the next generation of radiology techs better than hers.

“I tell the (students) that graduate what I received when I sat for my registry … your goal is to beat me,” Mele said.

This comes amidst a shortage in radiologic technologists — who use radiation from different technologies like x-ray, MRI and CT machines to take images — largely due to the retirement of older technologists and a higher demand for services, Mele said.

Mele will sit on the committee investigating the shortage alongside five other radiology experts. The group is required to report their findings on the shortage by Jan. 1, 2024.

Ryan Vaitkus, a graduate student in the advanced medical imaging and leadership program, feels that another clear reason for the shortage is the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I remember when I was first starting right at the tail end of COVID and a lot of people were simply just overworked,” Vaitkus said. “They were dropping out of the profession.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, over 300,000 healthcare workers left the field, a report from Definitive Healthcare found. Specifically, 85% of healthcare organizations reported some concern over openings for radiologic technologists.

Kelly Chieffalo, a graduate student getting her masters in health sciences, said she saw firsthand the stress that the COVID-19 pandemic put the radiology field under.

“With COVID, everybody was getting a chest x-ray because they were intubated and they wanted to diagnose it,” Chieffalo said. “People were doing like hundreds of exams in a couple hours.”

However, Chieffalo also said she views the shortage as a positive.

“I kind of like the shortage because there’s an opportunity to make so much more money,” Chieffalo said. “I love what I do.”

Chieffalo said she has felt the shortage while working clinically at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Connecticut. She works per diem, which means she gets paid by the day.

“You can see that there’s a shortage because if the next shift doesn’t come in … you have to work it,” Chieffalo said. “Since I’m per diem, I only have to work two shifts a month, but I’ve been working like eight to 10 (shifts) just because they can’t get people.”

The incoming class of radiologic technologists must fill the shoes of outgoing techs — and Quinnipiac’s program continues to grow.

“Our program is growing, especially after COVID,” Vaitkus said. “As a whole, diagnostic imaging graduated 18 people. I know the class under us there’s 20s and 30s, there’s these really big numbers.”

Vaitkus plans to go into MRI, which requires another certification to practice, although that hasn’t hindered the growth of diagnostic imaging as a whole.

“You need to be an x-ray tech first … (MRI) doesn’t usually have a staff as big as an x-ray department,” Vaitkus said. “I’m definitely seeing growth throughout (with the x-ray).”

This committee alone will not solve the shortage — and Mele acknowledged that — but she argued it is a good stepping stone.

“The shortage is not just specific to Connecticut,” Mele said. “It’s all over the place. It has to be a fix that’s sustainable and I think that is going to require many other bodies than us. We’re the first step.”