. Now promoted to Clinical Lead, she is still as interested in her job as when she first started considering it. 'It's good to know I've enhanced the department and contributed to the Trust,' says Eppie. 'During my interview one manager said, 'You're a positive influence){kind=link}
Originally from Zimbabwe, Eppie Muranda, 48, came to the UK in 1995, where she worked as a carer before training to be a radiographer
While growing up, Eppie Muranda never imagined leaving her home village, so moving to the UK as a teenager came as a surprise to her. “The homesickness and cultural shock were both really hard,” she says. “When I first discovered the role of radiographer my own mother didn’t believe someone like me could do it. I went to hospital with her in 1984 when she broke her leg and was fascinated by the radiographers positioning her and then going behind the screen to take pictures.
“When I told my mother I’d like to do this, she wasn’t sure because at the time there was a misconception that you needed financial backing to have a career like that, but I always dreamt that I would become a radiographer.”
When Eppie left school at 18 she studied data processing management for two years and went on to work in hospitality, but didn’t find the job satisfaction she craved. She also tried dressmaking and designing but found it exhausting.
Changing jobs to be a healthcare assistant in nursing homes and hospital settings revived her earlier dream to be a diagnostic radiographer, due to being in a healthcare environment and because during this time she read a lot about radiography and physics. Some 22 years after that first experience, Eppie began studying Diagnostic Radiography and graduated with honours in 2009 from Salford University.