The following information was provided by Southwest Texas College.
A Del Rio student won a $2,000 scholarship to pursue her radiologic technology degree from Southwest Texas College.
Southwest Texas College radiologic technology students Jessica Sandoval of Uvalde and Cheyenne Walling of Del Rio have been named the first recipients of the Ralph Gonzalez Scholarship, a new award created by Radiology Associates of Uvalde to honor longtime imaging leader Ralph “Freddie” Gonzalez.
The scholarship provides $2,000 awards to current students in the SWTX Radiologic Technology Program who show strong academic performance and professional promise. Gonzalez, a retired radiology director at Uvalde Memorial Hospital who now serves as the hospital’s radiation safety officer, helped build regional pathways for radiologic technologists and has served on the program’s clinical advisory board since its launch in 2007.
During a recent meeting in the college’s radiologic technology lab, Gonzalez thanked college and hospital leaders for their support of the program and encouraged students to see themselves as professionals from the moment they enter the clinic. He urged them to act as ambassadors for the program, saying that every patient encounter is an opportunity to exceed expectations and inspire future imaging professionals.
Program faculty and hospital representatives also praised the scholarship applicants, noting that many graduates now work in advanced imaging areas across Uvalde Memorial Hospital’s expanded department, which grew from a small diagnostic X-ray unit to a multimodality service under Gonzalez’s leadership.
Southwest Texas College’s radiologic technology program has graduated more than 120 radiographers and continues to partner with Uvalde Memorial Hospital to meet regional workforce needs in medical imaging.
