UH St. John Medical Center Radiology Manager Jeremy “Jay” Tolaro, RT(N), CNMT, holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from Cleveland State University. He is currently pursuing an MBA in healthcare administration from CSU.
Originally born in Washington, D.C., Tolaro is a self-described “Army brat” who lived in several states before his family settled outside of Cleveland, Ohio when he was 8. ICE Magazine found out more about this rising star in a recent interview.
Q: Where did you receive your imaging training/education? What degrees/certifications do you have?
A: I attended Cleveland State University and the University of Findlay for my schooling. At Findlay, I studied nuclear medicine and did my clinical rotation at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center which helped me to get certified in NM by the ARRT and NMTCB. At CSU, I completed by bachelor’s degree in health sciences and am currently enrolled in the healthcare administration MBA program.
Q: How did you first decide to start working in imaging?
A: My mother worked in health care and my father was a police officer, so the idea of doing something to help people became important to me at a young age. In high school, I got my first hospital job working in a hospital cafeteria and roughly six months later, I transferred to the radiology file room. There, I filed and stored films in patient jackets and got my first taste of imaging and started to think about it as a career.
Q: Why did you choose to get into this field?
A: Around 2003, when I was an undergrad at CSU, I was speaking with the lead technologist about how I was thinking about applying to X-ray school. She suggested I visit the chief radiologist and have him explain nuclear medicine to me because she thought it better fit my personality and interests. I did and Dr. Konstan showed me a couple SPECT scans and how he could rotate, flip and scroll through the images to see what he needed. The idea that I could see how the body was working versus just what it looked like really appealed to me so I immediately applied to the Nuclear Medicine Institute at the University of Findlay.
Q: What do you like most about your position?
A: I like seeing how important radiology is to health care, both in relation to a patient’s individual care but also to supporting other operations in the hospital. I don’t think that many people outside of radiology or finance understand how truly important radiology is, not only to patient care but in supporting other processes and departments around the hospital. Being able to get involved in committees and projects that all aim to better the experience and/or outcomes for our patients is definitely interesting – especially since it also helps me to get a better understanding how all the different specialties interact.
Q: What interests you the most about the imaging field?
A: The advancing technologies in imaging and new imaging techniques are very interesting to me, especially multimodality imaging like PET/CT, PET/MR, X-ray/MR, photoacoustic tomography, and others. With these technologies combining the ability to see how the body works with one modality and the anatomic detail of another, the imaging field has an exciting future.
Q: What has been your greatest accomplishment in your field thus far?
A: I think my greatest accomplishment in the field is a tie between been getting named operations section chief for our hospital’s COVID Incident Command Team and being recognized by my leaders for my hard work by promoting me to manager. Being the COVID OSC gave me a whole new insight into leading within my department because it forced me to step outside of it to consider opportunities I would not have normally thought of. I got a chance to interact with others around the hospital that I typically had not had much contact with.
Q: What goals do you have for yourself in the next 5 years?
A: Within the next 5 years, I want to complete my MBA in healthcare administration, grow my department (staff, equipment and services), and continue to improve as a manager and leader. I don’t like to set a goal in terms of a position or title and instead prefer to focus my energy on where and how I can get better. I believe that keeps me from focusing only on what is needed for the next step and lets my work speak for itself. If done well enough, my peers and leaders will recognize it when the next step is available. •
