Abraham Carillo, RT Spotlight
November 10, 2021
An early inspiration for senior radiologic technologist Abraham (Abe) Carillo, RT, was his father who counseled Abe to “always make the choice to be the best version of yourself.” This approach to life and work has been especially helpful this past year as workloads have ticked up across all of our department modalities and sections. In the fast pace and sometimes high pressure of the imaging suites, Abe is known for being cheerful and polite, while also demonstrating professionalism and care for patients.
Alpana Patel Camilli, UCSF Health manager for diagnostic radiology, observed that “Abraham is respected by the entire medical staff. Abe’s role requires him to deftly use a variety of imaging modalities while remaining focused on providing top-notch patient care. In addition, he leads, trains and mentors our technologists.”
Abe believes that having compassion for each patient’s condition and exhibiting professionalism are key to providing outstanding care. “Whatever their situation, I consider each patient as a king or queen.” He values the days that he works in outpatient settings where he can often spend a few minutes talking with each patient. These moments of connection are “for the benefit of the patient – we need to be proactive when patients come to us for imaging services.” Because technologists are an important interface between patients and physicians in our imaging suites, being proactive contributes to excellent patient care. Abe puts it this way: “Both patients and physicians need our expertise. Techs need to be on time, otherwise we delay the work of the physicians. For example, if we are late with imaging for a surgical procedure it can cause the surgery to fall behind schedule. Physicians are relying on us.”
Before he arrived at UCSF around 15 years ago, Abe trained to become a radiologic technologist in the Philippines, where he was born and raised. Following his training – which was very similar to RT training in the US, even using the same textbooks – Abe began work as a general radiologic technologist then soon gained additional skills by cross-training in cardiac and interventional radiology. After working in the Philippines for over a decade, Abe was hired as a technologist at the Singapore University Hospital, an academic institution with a medical training program for physicians. He worked in Singapore until 2006 when his wife Lyn, an emergency room nurse, was recruited to UCSF. Abe also applied to UCSF and was hired, and the Carillo family came to the Bay Area in 2006.
As a lead technologist, Abe has a breadth of skills and knowledge. Principal technologists need to perform a range of imaging – in addition to general x-ray and fluoroscopy exams, Abe uses a variety of technology to image patients. He works closely with our radiologists to provide the images they need as well as imaging for orthopedists, spine and vascular surgeons and urologists. He is trained to work in a variety of different settings including emergency and operating rooms, as well as interventional and outpatient settings. Abe also oversees technologist operations under the direction of senior leadership. This work includes creating and managing staff schedules, training all newly hired technologists, and being available to other technologists when there are challenges or questions.
After 15 years here, Abe reports that “the Bay Area now feels like home,” although he misses the beautiful, warm beaches of the Philippines. He loves the diversity of the Bay Area and says that this helped him to adjust when he first came to California. Abe loves spending time with his family. His daughter is in high school and his twin sons are in college, one studying business and the other in general studies with plans to enter a nursing program following graduation.