April Mann, MBA, CNMT, NCT, RT(N), FSNMMI-TS
Over the past year, I have been fortunate enough to be involved in many activities within SNMMI-TS. Under the leadership of Scott Holbrook, BS, CNMT, FSNMMI-TS, the section has worked through several important initiatives that have helped to grow and change the field. Over the next year, I plan to continue several of the initiatives started under Scott’s presidency while adding a few areas of focus that, I hope, will strengthen the section and field.
My experiences with many of the changes occurring over the past few years are what led me to consider running for office within SNMMI-TS. Although many of these changes have been positive, our field continues to face external pressures: continued scrutiny due to patient radiation exposure, continued perceptions of overutilization of testing, decreases in reimbursement, and the nation’s economy contributing to loss of technologist jobs. These pressures will all play a significant role in molding the future of the field. The initiatives we will be working on during my term as president were developed to address these concerns.
One specific initiative will be to hold an educational summit focused on training and credentialing pathways for technologists. As technologies advance toward hybrid models, we must identify the obstacles facing nuclear medicine technologists in order to develop strategies for proper training and credentialing. These efforts will provide the field with technologists who are better prepared for imaging of the future and will outline various career paths available within the field today.
Another area of concern I will focus on in the coming months is quality and safety issues for both technologists and patients. I would like to develop collaborative relationships with peer organizations to create initiatives that will increase public awareness of the many benefits of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging procedures. One effort currently under way is the creation of a task force with representatives from several of our international partners. The focus of this group will be to create a series of protocol and dose standardizations based on the current published guidelines and recommendations, with the goal of improving quality and safety globally.
In addition, the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB) meeting will be held August 27–31, 2014, in Cancun, Mexico. The WFNMB meeting—held every 4 years—brings together colleagues from around the globe to support education efforts for nuclear physicians, physicists, technologists, and scientists, especially from the developing world. SNMMI-TS was asked to participate in the upcoming meeting and took the lead in bringing together international technologist organizations to develop a comprehensive, exciting program. Because the meeting will be held in neighboring Mexico, we felt that this was a great opportunity to try to engage some of our student leaders in the international community. Therefore, during the fall executive board meeting, we will present the concept for a new travel award for 10 students to travel to the WFNMB meeting. This would be a wonderful experience for several students, and we hope that, if passed, this travel grant award will provide an exceptional learning opportunity.
This past year has been remarkable. I have learned a lot from Scott and have had the opportunity to really get involved in several of the priority areas that were identified. The mentoring process as president-elect was very important, and I would like to thank Scott for ensuring I was always involved in the discussions and aware of the decisions that were being made. This process will help me as I transition into my presidency. I am excited about the year ahead and am looking forward to implementing year 2 of the SNMMI-TS strategic plan and working with the SNMMI-TS executive board, NCOR, committee chairs, SNMMI leadership, and staff to advance nuclear medicine and molecular imaging.
