Leighton King is the epitome of success, from a true high achiever throughout his schooling life to finding himself a career which is all about helping others, Mr King has a heartwarming story to tell.
From humble beginnings as a Student Environmental Council (SEC) representative at Burke Ward Primary School in 2006 and 2007, he then became School Captain in 2010.
Mr King is now currently employed full-time at the Broken Hill Hospital as a Medical Sonographer; his core responsibilities mostly involve “providing diagnostic ultrasound imaging that aids in patient diagnosis.”
“These ultrasound scans can involve general ultrasound applications, musculoskeletal imaging, obstetrics and gynaecology applications, superficial parts imaging, and vascular ultrasound,” Mr King added.
He noted that his department also works with radiologists to perform interventional procedures such as muscle/joint injections, diagnostic and therapeutic drainages/aspirations, fine needle aspirations (FNA), and core biopsies.
Leighton worked nightfill at Big W during his later years at Broken Hill High School and throughout his first two years of University, where he studied a Bachelor of Medical Science at the University of South Australia.
In an interview with the Barrier Truth, he mused that “after I finished year 12 in late 2016 I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what I wanted to do, but I was pretty certain it was in Medical Imaging.”
He left Big W to focus on the third year of studies, and concurrently completed a High Achiever Vocational Research Scholarship at the University of South Australia’s Cancer Research Institute (Centre for Cancer Biology) in late 2019 and early 2020.
“This was such an insightful position that taught me so much about medical research, we were investigating pancreatic cancer cell lines in mice models, attempting to learn more information about the terrible nature of pancreatic cancer and its metastatic pathways,” Mr King noted.
At the end of the scholarship in February 2020, he decided to undertake a Graduate Diploma in Medical Sonography (General) at the University of South Australia. At the same time, Mr King earned a Certificate of Completion in Bone Densitometry with the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS).
Recalling the completion of his tertiary studies, he said that “I moved back to Broken Hill where I completed my scanning hours practical training at North West Radiology. While I completed my placement at North West Radiology I also worked part time at the Super Clinic,” he recalled.
He later completed his placement at the Super Clinic and became a qualified somographer at the end of 2021. With his connection to Broken Hill front and centre, he then accepted a role at the Broken Hill Hospital in 2022, of which he maintains to this day.
Conceding that “my future plans and goals change about every five minutes,” he noted that “I would love to complete my Master’s in Medical Sonography and I would love to just keep furthering myself as a sonographer.”
“I would also love to learn MRI imaging if there is a learning pathway for me to do that, [but] otherwise I would love to do some travel in the very near future and see some parts of the world, particularly Europe if I can,” he added.
He concluded by mentioning that he would “love to buy a house obviously, (but it is) easier said than done in [the] post-COVID economy.”
Mr King is truly a Broken Hill success story, and the community is richer for his services as part of his employment with the health service.
So, his advice to those reaching for their goals is simple; “make sure you don’t leave any stone unturned, if you are thinking about going to university, I think go for it, you’ve got nothing to lose, [because] you can always come back to Broken Hill or do something else.”
