Kenna Burt knows that care often starts in the smallest moments. As a CT technologist at Lowell General Hospital, she spends her days helping patients through some of their most uncertain and stressful experiences. And when the shift is over, that same instinct to care for others follows her home.
After long days in the hospital, Kenna heads to her kitchen to bake—cookies, sourdough, whatever feels right. The next morning, those homemade treats often show up in the breakroom for coworkers who could use a lift after a difficult day.
It’s a simple gesture, but one that reflects the way Kenna approaches everything she does. Whether she’s caring for patients, supporting her teammates or quietly leaving behind a tray of fresh cookies, her goal is the same: help people feel seen, supported and cared for.
A career in healthcare wasn’t always part of Kenna’s plan. She began in culinary school, drawn to the idea of creating something that could bring comfort and connection. But growing up surrounded by nurses—her mother and both grandmothers—the pull toward healthcare was always there. Eventually, a conversation with a family friend in medical imaging shifted everything. She stepped into radiology, first in X-ray and then CT, where she’s now spent nearly a decade as part of Tufts Medicine.
Today, her work sits at the intersection of technology and trust.
There’s no predictable rhythm to her day. In the Emergency Department, patients arrive with urgent, often unclear symptoms. In outpatient imaging, schedules are full and steady. Inpatient needs shift by the hour. Across two campuses, the CT team may complete hundreds of scans in a single day—far more than most people would expect.
But for Kenna, it’s never just about the numbers. It’s about what those scans mean.
“I always say we’re the eyes of medicine,” she explains. “We get to see what’s going on inside.”
Each image offers a piece of the answer, helping physicians determine the cause of pain, identify disease or track how a treatment is working. It’s critical, precise work. But just as important is everything that happens before the scan even begins.
Before every scan, Kenna carefully reviews patient histories, checks for contraindications and makes sure everything is safe. But once she walks into the room, the focus shifts from the technical to the personal.
Patients are often anxious, unsure of why a scan has been ordered or what it might reveal. She takes the time to explain what the test is for, what the team is looking for and what to expect next.
“They’re not coming in on their best day,” she says. “If you can make it even a little bit easier, that matters.”
For some patients, especially those undergoing cancer treatment, those interactions aren’t one-time moments. They come back, again and again, for follow-up scans. Over time, familiar faces replace first introductions.
“You get to see them on their journey,” she says. “You just try to be there for them in that moment.”
That approach reflects one of the core values of Tufts Medicine—Heart: bringing compassion to healthcare. For her, it’s not a slogan; it’s the foundation of the job.
“If you don’t care about people, why are you in healthcare?” She says.
It’s a belief shaped not only by her work, but by her own experience as a patient. As a teenager, she was hospitalized with appendicitis after initially trying to fake sick to get out of a test. What stayed with her wasn’t just the diagnosis, but the way she was treated with patience, kindness and understanding.
Years later, Kenna carries that memory into every patient interaction. It’s a reminder of how much those small moments, tone of voice, a clear explanation or a little extra patience, can matter.
Inside the department, that same sense of care extends to her colleagues. The pace can be intense, the cases complex and not every day is easy. But there’s a shared understanding that no one is doing it alone.
“We all have each other’s backs,” she says.
It’s the essence of another Tufts Medicine value: One Team. A recognition that patient care depends on collaboration—on technologists, nurses, physicians and staff working together, supporting one another and listening to each other’s ideas to make things better.
Even in a field driven by advanced imaging and fast-moving workflows, it’s those human connections that define the experience.
At the end of the day, whether Kenna is explaining a scan to a nervous patient or leaving behind a tray of freshly baked cookies for her team, the goal is the same: Take care of people.
Interested in building a career rooted in compassion, teamwork and purpose? At Tufts Medicine, people like Kenna make a difference every day.
