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Re: Stupid Questions
Andrew,
Finally some words of wisdom in the insane topic. We, the HP professionals,
have spent an untold amount of energy on this topic. If someone cannot come
to us and ask fundamental questions, whom are they to go to? Greenpeace??
Just my thoughts
James H. Reese
Health Physicist
(916) 689-2680 tel.
(916) 689-6270 fax
james.reese@worldnet.att.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Karam, Andrew <Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Friday, September 03, 1999 12:39 PM
Subject: RE: Stupid Questions
> I can teach someone to use a meter correctly, to perform unit conversions,
> to properly interpret results, and so forth. That's what we do with
junior
> techs without much work experience. I can't teach someone to show up to
> work on time, give me a full day's work, to take pride in their work, and
to
> want to do things correctly. That's what I base hiring decisions on for
> junior techs. I would rather hire someone with a good work ethic and no
> knowledge of radiation safety than a lazy genius. In the long run, I'll
> always come out ahead that way.
>
> With all due respect to those who feel that some questions are beneath our
> dignity to answer, we don't all have the luxury of hiring only personnel
> with previous experience. And, if we all did that, we would run out of
HPs,
> techs, and a profession within a few decades. New people have to learn
> somewhere, the same as we all did. Or is our profession undergoing
planned
> obsolescence as we gear up for a non-nuclear world?
>
> Even relatively senior personnel sometimes run into a "fundamental"
question
> for which they don't know the answer because of a lack of knowledge or
> experience in that specific area. This happens to me frequently because
my
> academic background is in geology but I find myself at an institution
doing
> a lot of medical research. So I spend a lot of time asking our
researchers
> things like "How does electrophoresis work?" or "What's a Dalton?" I
would
> like to hope that they view this as an honest attempt to improve my
> job-related knowledge and not as a sign of my incompetence.
>
> My understanding is that Radsafe is a resource for EVERYONE working in
> health physics, regardless of their standing and experience in the field.
I
> sincerely hope that the techs working for me will feel comfortable asking
me
> whatever questions they might have as they arise rather than trying to
> muddle through on their own. We should also hope that a junior HP tech
will
> feel comfortable asking relatively simple questions of more established
> peers, mentors, and leaders in our field.
>
> In an ideal world, I guess, we would all be born knowing fundamental
> concepts. I wasn't, and I needed a fairly large investment in training
> before I could view some questions as "stupid". If people new to our
field
> are now hesitant to ask questions on Radsafe because of the response this
> question received, you may feel free to contact me and I will try to help
> off-list and without making any inferences regarding your qualifications
to
> hold your job. Better to ask and KNOW than to assume and screw up.
>
> Andy
>
> Andrew Karam, CHP (716) 275-1473 (voice)
> Radiation Safety Officer (716) 275-3781 (office)
> University of Rochester (716) 256-0365 (fax)
> 601 Elmwood Ave. Box HPH Rochester, NY 14642
>
> Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
> http://Intranet.urmc.rochester.edu/RadiationSafety
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