Mark H. Crosthwaite, CNMT, FSNMMI-TS
This year we celebrate the SNMMI Technologist Section’s 50th anniversary! My memory of the society goes back forty years, and in that time I have seen us evolve in so many ways—from radiopharmaceuticals to instrumentation … from mix emitters to 511 photons … from uptake probes with rose bengal to hybrid imaging using PET/CT. We’ve come a long way! In 2020, the Section will continue to offer top-notch educational programs and to work to prepare the profession for the future—but we also will celebrate our anniversary with activities throughout the year.
For educators, it is challenging to keep up and pass along all the knowledge necessary to practice as a nuclear medicine technologist—and for technologists, it is equally challenging to keep up with new technologies, procedures, and regulations. Fortunately, the SNMMI-TS continues to grow and adapt with us, providing resources that help us stay current on what is relevant as our knowledge base expands in parallel with our technological advancements.
The certification organizations also have been working to ensure that technologists continue to gain knowledge through maintenance of certification and the new continuing qualification requirements (CQRs).
The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) announced several years ago that all credentials earned in 2011 or thereafter are time-limited to 10 years. In addition to annual and biennial requirements, CQRs must be met every 10 years. The first radiologic technologists subject to CQRs (i.e., those credentialed in 2011) have entered their 3-year CQR compliance period. During the compliance window, they must complete the professional profile, the structured self-assessment (SSA), and any continuing education prescribed based on the SSA performance. There is no examination requirement under the CQRs. We encourage individuals who were credentialed in 2011 or after to familiarize themselves with these requirements. (For more information, please visit www.arrt.org.)
In an effort to provide an alternative specialty recertification pathway for individuals, the Nuclear Medicine Technologist Certification Board now allows NCT and PET certificants the option to recertify by obtaining and documenting specialty-specific continuing education activities in order to demonstrate their continued accumulation of knowledge about their specialty field. This is a time-limited opportunity that expires December 31, 2020. If you have not taken advantage of this opportunity by that deadline and have let your certification lapse, you will need to sit for the exam again. (For more information, please visit http://www.nmtcb.org/about/announcements.php.)
The largest (non-virtual) platform for this education is the SNMMI Annual Meeting. This year’s Annual Meeting will take place June 13–16 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The technologist program will begin with 4- and 8-hour sessions on Saturday that will cover nuclear cardiology, including flurpiridaz and PET/CT, with an emphasis on improving diagnostic quality; theranostics, one of the newer areas of practice for our profession, which will be very beneficial if you are starting this in your hospital; plus an 8-hour session on quality that will focus on leadership. Monday and Tuesday at the meeting will offer a plethora of continuing education lectures including theranostics, neurology, cardiology, PET/MR/CT, pediatrics, career development, radiation safety, and more.
So—what is on tap for our 50th anniversary celebration? The focal point will be the Annual Meeting. Here are some of the highlights:
Watch for the June issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, which will include a 50th anniversary history supplement.
Attend the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting, where the party will begin.
Visit the exhibit hall to check out the history booth and memory wall.
Attend the History Session to hear a collage of stories told by speakers from the United States and beyond.
Best of all—the Technologist Party, on Monday night at the Fillmore, will feature the Thallium Stallions along with food and drink!
This is a year to celebrate! Come on down to New Orleans and join us for the education you need, the friends you haven’t seen, and a party that you’ll never forget. As the year comes to an end, we will have a yearbook full of memories of our 50th anniversary celebration.