International Partnerships and Collaboration

C. David Gilmore

Technologists around the globe have always been important to the SNMMI-TS. Among other roles, these technologists have been members of the SNMMI-TS, participated on committees and task forces, published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, and presented at the annual meetings. International leaders have turned to and relied on the Technologist Section to provide guidance on topics such as education and training models, scope of practice, imaging guidelines, and professional education. Today, as the SNMMI-TS celebrates its 50th anniversary, the strong relationships among the various international technologist organizations are critically important to the global profession of nuclear medicine technology. A look back at some of the historical milestones demonstrates this legacy of long and supportive relationships.

Three of the longest SNMMI-TS relationships are with the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists, the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Technologist Committee, and the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologists. One of the first recorded events occurred in the early 1990s, when the relationships moved from informal discussions and projects to longer-term ventures. In 1992, Mickey Williams (SNMMI-TS President from 1991 to 1992) visited the Prairie Provinces Chapter Nuclear Medicine Conference in Winnipeg, Canada. While he was there, he met with Rita Eyer, ACR, who was then the vice president of the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists. The relationship between them was established, and the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists has been an important partner in the global initiatives of the SNMMI-TS ever since.

It was Mickey Williams who helped shape the relationships we had and still have with our international colleagues. During that same year, 1992, the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologists sent a note to Mickey Williams notifying him that it had decided to sponsor 3 members to attend the SNM meeting each year. The members chosen for the first year were Masamichi Matsudaira, Yukimitsu Sato, and Keisuke Kano. Also, that year was the first time that the EANM technologist program committee reached out and personally invited the SNM-TS members to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations at the meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In 1993, Jennifer Mattera and Lynne Roy served as technologist cochairs for the first International Congress of Nuclear Cardiology, which was held in Cannes, France, April 25–28. The SNMMI provided financial support for Mattera and Roy as technologist program chairs to attend the meeting. Shortly thereafter, in 1995, Becky Cacciatore attended the British Nuclear Medicine Society Technology Working Group meeting to help develop a relationship.

The SNMMI-TS leadership recognized the importance of international societies dedicated to the profession of nuclear medicine, particularly the technologists in these societies. Given the success of early relationships, the leadership decided to financially support the SNMMI-TS president to routinely attend and participate in conferences and symposia sponsored by these organizations. It was during this time that true partnerships between the various organizations began to formally develop.

By the early to mid-2000s, there were several organizations with which SNMMI-TS leadership was collaborating, such as the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM), and the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine. Today, the SNMMI-TS maintains many of these relationships and continues to foster additional ones. More recent partners include the Chinese Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine, India. We continue to seek ways to assist other organizations and technologists internationally and to foster the important relationships that help us all move the profession forward.

In 2007, as president of the SNM-TS, I developed the international relations standing committee, to be chaired by a past president of the SNM-TS and comprised of members from the various international organizations. Under the direction of this committee, many of the cross-society projects emerged. The committee was ultimately redesigned into a liaison position under the leadership of Norman Bolus (SNMMI-TS President from 2018 to 2019) to better engage not only societies with which we were working but also ones with which we wanted to develop a stronger relationship. In 2009, Kristen Waterstram-Rich and Peter Hogg from the EANM cochaired a project to identify the advanced-practice role. Since then, many other collaborative projects have been completed.

During the last 5 y, the SNMMI-TS has supported student exchange programs between various countries and is now a cosponsor of the EANM technologist committee’s highly successful technologist guidebook series. These publications provide imaging and technology instructions for technologists around the world to learn and perform quality studies. Finally, during the past decade, the SNMMI-TS has financially sponsored technologists to deliver presentations at international meetings. The SNMMI-TS now cosponsors standing international sessions at the annual meeting, for which societies such as the EANM technologist committee and the ANZSNM fund travel for speakers. Additionally, the SNMMI-TS provides an opportunity for the top oral abstract technologist presenter from the ANZSNM annual meeting to present at the SNMMI annual meeting, through funds from award grants given to the ANZSNM.

In the end, many friendships have been created among technologists around the world. We value our global relationships and look forward to another 50 y of collaborations and friendships to move the field of nuclear medicine technology forward.