They Found Their Lifework & Life Partner at RIC

Jared Hughes, age 32, is a two-time RIC graduate. He earned his B.S. in biology in 2015 and his B.S. in medical technology in 2018.

Nicole (Proulx) Hughes, 31, spent three years in URI’s nursing program before transferring to RIC’s program in medical technology. She, too, earned her B.S. in 2018. 

Today they are MRI technologists at hospitals in Providence and Boston. They also know they beat the odds to get there.

According to Jared, “out of 60 or 70 applicants, only nine got into RIC’s medical imaging program when he applied.” Admission is competitive and not guaranteed. Applicants are required to have a minimum GPA of 2.7, a minimum grade of C in their prerequisite courses, score in the 60th percentile on their entrance exam, submit an essay and score successfully on their personal interview.

“I think it was the interview that got us in,” he says. “The job itself isn’t that hard, but it takes a certain personality to work in the medical field.”

“A lot of what we do is calm people down,” she says. “People are coming in really sick and really upset. No matter their personality, you have to be compassionate and patient-oriented.”

“I also think RIC has the best imaging program around,” Jared says. “In our jobs, we work with a lot of graduates from other imaging programs. Rhode Island College students are easily the most prepared.”

RIC works in partnership with Brown University Health’s School of Medical Imaging to run this program. All of the courses are RIC courses taught by RIC adjunct faculty; however, students attend classes at Brown University’s School of Medical of Imaging located on Prairie Avenue.

Nicole and Jared met on the shuttle to class. “He just sat down next to me,” she says.

When asked why he chose to sit next to Nicole, Jared answers, “Because she’s beautiful.”

They soon became platonic friends and would see each other during study groups with other classmates. However, most of their attention was taken up with school. For three semesters, it was like having a full-time job, Nicole says.

The first semester of the program consists of six-hour-days, five days a week in class. The second semester requires three days of clinicals and two days of classes. The third semester requires four days of clinicals and one day of class.

Clinicals are eight hours a day at either a hospital or an outpatient site. Jared and Nicole did their clinicals at Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island Medical Imaging and The Miriam Hospital.

Jared explains, “To be board-certified, you have to complete a certain amount of clinical hours. RIC students hit that quota well before they finish their degree, which is why they come to the job so well prepared. They’ve had a ton of clinical time.”

RIC students are also known for getting job placements before they graduate. Jared and Nicole were among those who did. They later transferred to Rhode Island Hospital where they worked in the same MRI unit.

“We spent a lot of time talking when we were working together and we’d do activities together outside of work,” Nicole says. “He’s a great listener; someone I’m always learning from.” “And she’s the most caring person I’ve ever met,” he says. Eventually they bought a house together in 2020, were engaged in 2022 and married in 2024.

“I proposed on the top of Mt. Townsend in Washington state,” says Jared. “We were on vacation, visiting her cousin. Her cousin told her it would be an easy hike up the mountain. It wasn’t an easy hike. We had to wear snow spikes on our shoes. It was about four-and-a-half hours to the top. She quit about 45 times on the way up.”

They’ve been climbing professional mountains ever since and supporting each other through the challenges. Nicole moved to Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston a year ago, while Jared has stayed with Rhode Island Hospital.

“I very rarely bring work home,” he says. “But there’s some tough situations you deal with on the job that not everyone is able to handle. It’s really nice to be able to talk to someone who knows exactly what you’re going through.

“I see adults and children with cancer, people with strokes, a lot of intensive care patients, people coming in from bad accidents with low-level trauma. If you work at Rhode Island Hospital, you can work anywhere because you get such a wide variety of patients, it’s a difficult environment, high stress, short staffed.”

“Yet we chose this work,” she says. “We have a duty to our patients to keep it together, to make them feel comfortable.”

“I’m reminded of the words of our MRI instructor, Randy Paquette,” Jared says. “Randy would tell us: ‘Nobody is getting an MRI because they want to. Nobody is there because they want to be there.’ I now tell the same thing to students coming in. Your patients will be people in their worst physical and mental states. You have to be the rock that helps them get through the exam.”

Ultimately, “Medical imaging is a great career,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s all about patient care.”

It’s even better when you get to share it with your best friend and life partner.

Learn more about RIC’s B.S. in medical imaging program.