On Tuesday, I went for my first-ever MRI. For those of you who have had the pleasure, you’ll know that an MRI can be stressful. The machinery is loud and confining, and the feeling of lying motionless in a metal tube can be claustrophobic and stressful – not to mention general anxiety about what the scan will reveal.
As I lay in the scanner, I thought about how far we have come, technologically, in medicine. The MRI is a remarkable machine that can create a detailed picture of the inside of your body without using dangerous radiation. It can help map injuries and diagnose problems with organs with great specificity.
But the MRI also shows how important it is that new technologies be blended with the most old-fashioned kind of healthcare – kindness.
The technicians and radiologists who managed my scan were fantastic. They were patient with my questions and regularly checked in with me to make sure I wasn’t stressed or panicked by the experience. They even laughed at my jokes and worked hard to put me at my ease. Thanks to their kindness, what could have been a stressful and confusing process was almost enjoyable.
As technology advances and becomes ever-more embedded in our healthcare, let’s hope that those responsible for training healthcare workers never lose sight of the importance of the human touch.