Adrienne Coya of Washington Township, N.J. attends CT scanning equipment training session

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Adrienne Coya

HAMDEN, CT (09/28/2010)(readMedia)-- Adrienne Coya of Washington Township, N.J., the first Quinnipiac University student to receive the prestigious Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. Student Sponsorship, recently returned from four days of intensive training on the use of CT scanning equipment.

Coya completed her bachelor's degree in diagnostic imaging at Quinnipiac. She is currently enrolled in Quinnipiac's graduate radiologist assistant program.

From Aug. 23-26, Coya attended an advanced training course at the Toshiba Educational Center in Irvine, Calif., where she learned applications for the Toshiba Aquilion CT scanning systems from the company's highly trained staff. Quinnipiac has a high-end model housed in the diagnostic imaging suite at the School of Health Science on the University's North Haven Campus.

Coya will now assist Jerry Conlogue, professor of diagnostic imaging, and other staff members with teaching undergraduates how to use the state-of-the-art equipment. She found out that she was chosen for the inaugural program last May.

"Adrienne was the most deserving student," said William Hennessy, associate professor and director of the diagnostic imaging program. "Since she started the program, she has been a superb student, capable of handling complex principles, especially in CT. Having 40 hours in CT education, in addition to more than 700 academic and clinical hours in CT as part of the Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Technology at Quinnipiac, is going to make her a more highly skilled and clinically competent practitioner in the field."

The course, which has been held since 2005, taught techniques on how to capture and manipulate raw data from the scans to create 3-D image reconstructions. For example, Coya was able to develop images that isolate certain areas of the body by digitally removing other organs from the image. In addition, she delved into the issues of patient dose reduction, in which the CT machine can calculate how much radiation to give to a particular body part.

"The main thing I can take away and can apply to working in the field would be to minimize radiation, but still obtaining the images that the doctors really need," Coya said. "It gave me a guideline of what's important. You have to have the balance of patient care and image quality."

The training session, which included students from across the country, marked the first time Coya had ever been to West Coast. "It was an eye-opening cultural experience as well," she said.

Toshiba America Medical Systems, an educational partner with Quinnipiac and the diagnostic imaging program, funded all costs associated with the training, including tuition, as well as transportation, lodging and meals. As part of an education agreement, Toshiba will fund the training for two Quinnipiac students each year. Hennessy said the goal is to have one student trained in CT scanning in the fall, and one student trained in MRI imaging in the spring.

The educational partnership also includes training for faculty at the Toshiba Educational Center. Conlogue and assistant professor Tania Blyth were the first faculty to attend.

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 5,900 full-time undergraduate and more than 2,000 graduate students in 52 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs of study in its School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac ranks among the top 10 universities with master's programs in the Northern region in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges. The 2009 issue of U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master's programs in the Northern Region. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review's The Best 371 Colleges. For more information, please visit http://www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quinnipiacuniversity and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.