TECHNOLOGIST NEWS

SNM Mid-Winter Meeting Coming Up

This year’s SNM Mid-Winter Meeting and Educational Symposium will be held January 23 through 26 at the Westin Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, FL. The final two days of the meeting will be an educational event designed for nuclear medicine physicians, technologists, scientists, pharmacists, and industry leaders interested in current and emerging technical and clinical applications of nuclear medicine. The program has a strong emphasis on basic science related to current nuclear medicine standards of practice and emerging technologies used in providing optimal patient care. A faculty of experienced physicians, scientists, and technologists will provide insight on the rapidly emerging field of molecular imaging and the advancing role of nuclear medicine in diagnosis and therapy.

Preregistration is available online at www.snm.org at a discounted rate for members until December 20. Registrations will be accepted online until January 3; after that date, registration will be accepted only at the meeting.

More information on the symposia can be found in VOICE Box, page 206.

Fiftieth Anniversary Annual Meeting

New Orleans is a town that loves to party so what better place to hold SNM’s 50^th annual meeting than in the Big Easy?

“It’s just going to be one huge celebration,” is how Megan Schagrin, CMP, SNM’s exhibits/meetings manager, describes the plans for the society’s 50^th Annual Meeting next June 21 through 25 at New Orleans’ Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

The event is expected to draw more participants and more exhibitors than last year’s meeting in Los Angeles, and the Meeting Services Department is going all out to make the trip both memorable and worthwhile. Along with continuing education courses and opportunities for professional interaction, sheer fun, not normally a major focus of SNM Annual Meetings, is high on the meeting department’s list.

Activities planned include a parade, jazz bands, a gospel choir and other musical entertainments, jugglers, fire eaters, and a Mardi Gras party. A museum of nuclear medicine is also planned along with a gala after the opening reception. The Society’s Bourbon Street style booth will feature SNM Alley with live entertainment, and exhibitors are enthusiastically picking up on the Mardi Gras theme.

“I love New Orleans. It has world-class restaurants, fabulous music, and that wonderful French Quarter. It’s a perfect place for the Society to celebrate our 50^th Annual Meeting,” said Jane Day, CMP, SNM’s director of meeting services. A society only has one 50^th annual meeting, and this one is being celebrated in style.

Technologists Section Seeks Members for JRCNMT

The Academic Affairs Committee is seeking applications from Technologist Section members who would like to represent the section as members on the Joint Review Committee on Nuclear Medicine Technology (JRCNMT). The JRCNMT is composed of technologists and physicians from four professional organizations and helps establish and maintain quality standards for nuclear medicine technology programs.

The Academic Affairs Committee must receive applications by December 31, 2002. The member’s 3-year term will begin January 1, 2004, with the first JRCNMT meeting to take place in March 2004. Duties include attending JRCNMT meetings, submitting a written report to the Technologist Section president after each JRCNMT meeting, and submitting summaries to the section’s national council. The member serves without pay but is reimbursed for expenses incurred for attending official JRCNMT meetings.

To apply, submit a current curriculum vitae using the “Technologist Section Curriculum Vitae Form for Nominees for Elective Office” along with a letter demonstrating your knowledge of the philosophy, functions and duties of the JRCNMT and indicating your time availability and willingness to serve and travel as necessary. You must hold current certification or registration as a nuclear medicine technologist. Please include a statement disclosing any potential conflict of interest associated with your application; such a conflict does not preclude appointment.

Interested applicants should contact Sandra Fenton, SNM leadership manager, at (703) 708-9000 x1227 or sfenton{at}snm.org.

PET Learning Center Schedule

The PET Learning Center has scheduled a technologist training session for March 21 through 23 at the SNM’s Reston, VA, headquarters’ state-of-the-art computer workshop. These hands-on learning labs have been very popular and tend to fill up quickly.

Technologists interested in upgrading their PET skills can register online at www.snm.org (click Education and Professional Development, then PET Learning Center) or contact Shawneece Hennighan at shennighan{at}snm.org.

Radioimmunotherapy Project: An Educational Initiative for SNM Chapters

To address the need of providing information on radioimmunotherapy (RIT) in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), SNM is offering a comprehensive educational program for use at chapter, regional, and local meetings. The slide-based course is supported by an educational grant from IDEC Pharmaceuticals.

The content was designed primarily for nuclear medicine physicians and technologists. The program consists of four modules and is intended to serve as a resource for speakers. The curriculum was designed for a half-day (4-hour) lecture; however, the structure provides flexibility to allow speakers to create shorter, customized presentations.

Financial support to cover reasonable speaker honoraria, travel expenses, and handout materials is available. SNM encourages chapters to use speakers in their local area, and can recommend speakers to program organizers if needed.

SNM chapter presidents, continuing education liaisons, and program organizers can take advantage of this opportunity by contacting Jannine Jordan, SNM continuing education manager, at jjordan{at}snm.org or 703-708-9000 x1210.

New Chest Phantom Available

A new tool for the SNM Proficiency Testing Program was released in October. The Chest Tumor Phantom (medium energy planar, SPECT and high energy PET) is a three-dimensional simulated “chest” duplicating the size, structure, and density of a real organ that will test the nuclear medicine professional’s ability to detect the location, size, and significance of possible lesions.

The Chest Phantom demonstrates actual clinical problems in technique and diagnosis found in nuclear medicine practice. The participant acquires, processes, and analyzes the image and answers questions about the procedure, equipment, parameters used, and results. Working with the phantom can assess technologist proficiency, physician interpretive skills, camera systems, and other variables.

This quality assurance program, offered by the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s (SNM) Quality Assurance Committee, can help document qualitative and quantitative data demonstrating to regulatory agencies and third-party payers a practice’s efforts toward quality assurance in patient care. Most importantly, it ensures that patients receive the best care.

Each phantom comes with a set of instructions for preparing and scanning the device, reporting forms, CME and VOICE applications, test questions, and a subscriber feedback questionnaire. Other phantoms in the proficiency-testing program include the Lumbar Spine Bone Phantom (low-energy planar and SPECT), the Quantitative Cardiac Phantom, and the Perfusion Lung Phantom.

All phantom studies are approved by SNMTS for continuing education credit and were planned and implemented in accordance with the Essentials and Standards of the ACCME. The SNM designates these educational activities for a maximum of 3 hours of category 1 credit toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition award.

Phantoms from an earlier American College of Nuclear Physicians (ACNP) program are also available. Order forms are available at www.snm.org in the Policy and Practice area from the SNM Service Center, 800-513-6853 or 703-326-1186, or servicecenter@snm.org.

For questions contact Louis N. Morgan, quality assurance program coordinator, at 703-708-9000 x1321 or lmorgan{at}snm.org.

CHAPTER OFFICER UPDATE

PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATE

The Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence (CARE) Act (HR 1011) continues to gain support in the House of Representatives, with 55 representatives signed on as co-sponsors. Although a Senate version could be introduced soon, the SNM is also turning to individual states to urge enactment of CARE-compliant licensure laws without waiting for federal action. This approach has been successful in Arizona, which recently passed legislation requiring licensure for radiologic and nuclear medicine technicians that will take effect January 1, 2004.

The CARE Act would make state licensure of all radiologic and nuclear medicine technologists, except ultrasound technologists, mandatory by denying Medicaid reimbursement for radiologic and nuclear medicine procedures performed by unlicensed personnel. It stipulates that states implement a minimum education standard for entry into the radiologic professions, set standard requirements for initial certification, and require continuing education for continued certification.

—William Uffelman

Director of Public Affairs

General Council, SNM

VOICE BOX

Make your plans now to attend the 2003 Mid-Winter Educational Symposium, January 25 to 26, at the Westin Diplomat Resort, Hollywood, Florida. The December 20 preregistration deadline is approaching fast. This symposium features more continuing education classes than ever before planned for a midwinter meeting including a full day session for technologists on Saturday.