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After 15 years working in the environmental consulting field, Laura Baird was ready for a change. 

“I worked with endangered species, wetland survey and bird surveys — with a lot of alone time and hiking, which I love,” she said. 

But as she began to grow her family, she wanted a career that required less travel and offered more human-to-human interaction. She researched health care careers and was preparing to enter nursing school when she learned about the Master of Science in Imaging Sciences program, which  prepares students to earn three American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) certifications in two years, including radiography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 

“You get to experience patient care and patient interaction,” she said of medical imaging. “I like the science behind it.”

Baird is a member of the program’s first cohort, which is set to graduate this year. In a season of firsts, she also was the first student in the program to have taken and passed the ARRT CT certification exam.

“She is an exceptionally intelligent and motivated student who not only has kept up with the academic rigors of the accelerated program but has excelled clinically as well,” said Assistant Professor and Program Director Jamie S. Tucker, EdD, RT(R)(CT)(ARRT), said of Baird.

Baird completed the first phase of the program in the summer of 2024 and began working as a radiographer in January. She began the program’s MRI clinical rotation in March.

“It’s very fascinating,” she said.

Baird’s advice to students entering the program?

“You have to go for it when you're at the clinical site and just take every second you're there to try to learn as much as you can,” she said. “And I would say having my job now is really, really helpful.”