Q&A: How Empathy and Compassion Benefit Patients and Clinicians Alike

When visiting a hospital, there’s a significant amount of trust required: trust that you’ll be seen quickly, trust in the specialists and physicians, and trust that you’ll receive top-notch care. Tasked with ensuring this trust is Lauren Romano, a radiologic technologist at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, who makes a point to treat patients with empathy and support while they undergo exams.

This trust extends beyond hospital walls to her vehicle, too. When there was an inopportune snowstorm this past winter, Romano, a new owner of a 2015 Subaru Legacy at the time, and her husband were able to quickly and safely navigate the snowy streets to deliver her daughter at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery.

Here, she divulges the most promising advancement in radiologic technology, and how Subaru has made her life easier.

What does being a radiologic technologist entail?

To be a radiologic technologist, you need empathy and compassion. We see patients in many different capacities. We work in the emergency room, operating room, as well as with outpatients and house patients. In order for us to perform our exams we sometimes have to put our patients in difficult positions when they are scared and in a lot of pain. We must be able to empathize with them when we are performing their exam.

What has been the most exciting advancement you’ve observed in radiologic technology?

The most exciting advancement that I have observed in radiologic technology is the transition from film screen technology to digital radiography. When I was in college, I learned both film screen and digital. When I graduated and started working as a technologist, we were making the transition at that hospital to completely digital. Now, almost all hospitals are digital and it is amazing what we can do with the films now. The speed that we can perform our exams and the image quality that we have is the best there is.

Do you have a specialty as a radiologic technologist?

There are many opportunities in this field to specialize. I am [a] clinical instructor for Montgomery County Community College, and I am also one of the main fluoroscopy technologists here at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery.

What kind of team do you work with to aid your patients?

I work with a great group of people here atEinstein Medical Center Montgomery. My direct team members who I work with are my fellow technologists, radiologists, my manager and director. But I also work with nurses, surgeons and speech pathologists on more specialized exams in fluoroscopy.

What model Subaru do you drive?

I drive a 2015 Legacy.

Has there been a moment where your career in healthcare and being an owner of a Subaru has intersected?

Along with getting me to and from work in bad weather, I can say that my Subaru has intersected with my career by getting my husband and I to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery when I was in labor with our daughter. We had just bought the Legacy a few weeks before my due date. I had never used it in the snow, and as luck would have it, I went into labor at night during a snowstorm. We had six inches of snow on the ground and we had to make it. Thankfully, we made it just in time, and the Subaru did awesome. We had no trouble getting toEinstein Medical Center Montgomery.

From which dealer did you purchase your Subaru?

Fred Beans Subaru in Doylestown.

How has your Subaru made your life easier?

My Legacy has made my life easier by taking away the stress of driving to work during the winter months in snow. The AWD and the eyesight technology as well as all the safety features make me feel safe driving myself and — most importantly — my family in my car.

Subaru supports and thanks the entire medical community in the Greater Philadelphia area. Read more about their Subaru love stories. For more information about finding the right ride for you, click here.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.