What puts a smile on your face? Me personally, a warm sunny day on the Loveland Bike Trail, riding my bike, is one of the activities that put a smile on my face. But, if you live in Cincinnati and it’s April 10th (or rather January 97th), waking up to snow in the morning, freezing temperatures, in what is suppose to be Spring time, there is not allot of things to put a smile on one’s face, but I digress. In February our Radiology Department was blessed to have another visitor from the Volunteer Dog Program. In January it was Mischief that paid us a visit, this time it was Macy. The first visit in January, people were almost running over each other just to see Mischief, the same could be said for Macy. Every person in our department that took the time to hold and pet Macy couldn’t help but have a smile on their face.
Working in Radiology can sometimes be a stressful job, deadlines have to be met, reports and diagnosis’s have to be on time and correct, outside referring physicians wanting to speak to our radiologists, technologists scanning anxious patients, business personnel contacting the insurance companies, our Informatics group keeping our PACS system up and running, and so on. It’s not surprising that interacting with dogs tends to produce positive emotional responses. As the volunteer walked around the department with Macy, our faculty and staff were given an excuse to just stop and take a brake from what they were doing. Macy was always meet with a smile and a temptation to pet and hold her.
Casual observation, one could conclude that seeing and interacting with a service pet aids in psychological therapy, in providing emotional support and comfort to people under stress. Watching Mischief and Macy socializing with our radiology faculty and staff certainly put a smile on their faces and maybe made the day less stressful.
Glenn Miñano is a media specialist in the Department of Radiology, providing graphic design, photography, printing, video services, and administration of the department’s online properties. His works have been published in several medical articles, such as the American Journal of Radiology and the American Institute of Ultrasound. He has been providing these services to the Radiology Department since 1996.
