Valerie P. Cronin
The Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Annual Meeting took place in June in Toronto. As always, it went by quickly for me—but even more so this year, since I was inducted as president of the SNMTS. I was delighted by the warm response and support I received from everyone as I took on this new and exciting position. The only question I had was why I hadn’t considered doing it sooner.
A change of the guard is always rather emotional. A fond farewell was given to outgoing President Nanci Burchell, CNMT, FSNMTS, with acknowledgment of all she had accomplished on her watch. We also recognized Scott Holbrook, CNMT, FSNMTS, as the new president-elect of SNMTS. It’s great to see some young leaders in the organization.
Molecular imaging dominated the meeting. Excitement about this new, developing field was evident everywhere. SNM and SNMTS are the keepers of the field today, but we must be resourceful and act quickly in these changing times if we are to ensure that we continue to be the leaders in this area.
One way SNMTS is acting is by moving to ensure that technologists are trained on hybrid imaging equipment. Also, after many years of discussion, the concept of advanced practice has moved forward. The white paper developed at the educational summit early this year was approved by the National Council of Representatives and the SNM Board of Directors. We now have the crucial task of getting a CT curriculum into our current educational models and defining what a nuclear medicine technologist (NMT) will be in the future. Technologists may need additional education to meet the needs of fusion imaging. We have established an Advanced Practice Task Force, headed by Martha Pickett, CNMT, FSNMTS, and an Implementation of Entry level Requirements for NMTs Task Force, co-chaired by David Eve, CNMT, and Bill Hubble, MA, CNMT, RT(R,N) to take the next steps.
Another area of focus for SNMTS leadership at the Annual Meeting was to make sure CT and PET education is available to all who need it or want it. As a result, 2 task forces were created: the PET Task Force, which Nancy Swanston, CNMT, RT(N), will chair, and the CT Education Task Force, which Scott Holbrook has agreed to chair. They and their committee members will make sure that educational opportunities exist for our NMTs.
The last task force created was Patient Advocacy and Payer Relations to be chaired by Jennifer Keppler, CNMT. We know the success of reimbursement for current and future technologies relies on our relationships with payers, and we want to ensure that the patient comes out ahead.
These new task forces have replaced or eliminated others that have finished their tasks. We want to thank the members of these retiring task forces for all the help they have given us to get us to where we are today.
We have planned an educational summit for this fall to help us develop the NMT of the future. We have invited representatives from several agencies, along with our own leadership. I am planning to have a Gateway meeting in the spring to explore the principle of knowledge-based governance and help us develop a strategy that will take us into the future.
To say I am excited about this coming year would be an understatement! I look forward to working with the leadership of SNMTS and SNM to ensure that our actions in the coming year bring about strong, positive change for all of us in our professional lives. I am here to serve you, so please don’t hesitate to call or reach out to me. With your help I can be the leader who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
