NMTCB REPORT

LYNNETTE A. FULK, CNMT, FSNMTS, CHAIR

The year 2006 will be remembered as a year of accomplishments and change for the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board. Certainly, 2006 will be remembered as the year the NMTCB officially became landowners. On July 1, the board moved into their new offices, 3558 Haversham at Northlake, Building 1, Tucker, GA. The office phone number remains the same, 404-315-1739. The new building may be viewed on online at www.nmtcb.org. The NMTCB moved from a cramped 1,400 square foot rented office space into a 7,300 square foot, three story, brick office building. Chad Grant, CNMT, and members of the building taskforce worked diligently over the last 12 months to select the new building and to ensure that the present and future needs of the NMTCB would be met. That meant frequent trips to Atlanta, being available for conference calls, and answering e-mails from all the directors. It has been a time-consuming process, but we now have sufficient space for staff, certificant records, testing, a library, meeting rooms, and our new informatics system.

This year will also be remembered as the year the NMTCB lost a dear friend, Barbara Horton. As many of you might remember, Barbara was the first executive director of the NMTCB. For many years the name Barbara Horton was synonymous with NMTCB. Barbara had been ill for some time and lost the battle with her illness in the spring of this year. The NMTCB fall newsletter will have a special memorial to her, but the board wanted to do something more than just write about her. Consequently, the NMTCB will give a donation in Barbara's name to the SNMTS Paul Cole Scholarship Fund. The board believes the Paul Cole Scholarship Fund is appropriate because scholarships are awarded to students from all different types of nuclear medicine technology training programs, something that Barbara would certainly support.

The board also decided it would be helpful to employers and legislative offices to be able to ascertain the status of NMTCB certificants without having to wait for the office to provide this information. A page has been set up on the NMTCB Web site where the complete name of a certificant can be entered. If a match is found, the term “active” or “active in good standing” will appear. If a certificant is listed as “active in good standing,” this means that the certificant has no judgment against them. If “active” appears, this designates a certificant on probation. Probation allows a technologist to maintain certification, but specific requirements must be met within a given time frame in order to return to “good standing.”

The annual renewal statement has been revised for 2007 renewals. Certificants are now required to answer four ethics questions and a CE question. The certificant must then sign and date the form before submitting it for renewal. The renewal form does not require proof of continuing education credits unless the certificant has been randomly chosen to be audited.

The scheduled dates for the 2006 specialty exams are September 30 for the PET exam and October 7 for the nuclear cardiology exam. While I was sitting at the NMTCB booth in San Diego, a number of applicants for these exams asked if the NMTCB could provide a list of study guides. Due to conflict of interest issues, the NMTCB is not allowed to suggest any study materials. For that reason I encourage applicants for these exams to use the content outlines provided on the NMTCB Web site as they prepare for these exams. There are 269 registered candidates for the nuclear cardiology exam and 205 for the PET exam. Six candidates are scheduled to sit for both exams.

There has been much discussion among nuclear medicine professionals concerning the new nuclear medicine practitioner (NMP) designation, a career path soon to be offered to nuclear medicine technologists. I am delighted to inform everyone that the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and the NMTCB are working together to produce one recognized national exam for nuclear medicine practitioner certification. The first goal of this partnership is to have an NMP exam ready in 2008.

My year as chair of the NMTCB is ending. Following the fall board meeting, Danny Basso, CNMT, NCT, FSNMTS, will be the new chair. I want to thank the board members and the staff for their tireless work and commitment this last year. It requires a lot of work and dedication from everyone to maintain the NMTCB as the premier certifying organization for nuclear medicine technologists.

Please feel free to contact me at lfulk{at}clarian.org if you have questions, concerns, or comments.