A Year to Remember

What an amazing year this has been. I have had the opportunity to visit several chapters across the United States, visit our colleagues in Europe last fall, and of course work with many of you via conference calls—and through it all, COVID-19 notwithstanding, it has been both challenging and extremely rewarding to be president of SNMMI-TS. I have come to realize that SNMMI comprises an incredible team of physicians, scientists, radiopharmacists, technologists, and staff working together to achieve our mission: “To improve human health by advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy.”

The year began with a great deal of hard but productive work that advanced our technologist agenda along many lines. Internationally, Tina Buehner, MS, CNMT, NMTCB(CT)(RS), RT(N)(CT), FSNMMI-TS, and I had the opportunity to go to the European Society of Nuclear Medicine conference in Barcelona. This was truly a learning experience for me as I discovered how nuclear medicine is diagnosing with gamma and treating with alpha and beta radiopharmaceuticals. With theranostics, nuclear medicine has an incredible opportunity. We moved immediately to develop a Task Force in Molecular Therapy, which will concentrate on developing educational materials as we learn more about this technology.

A lot of effort has gone into defining a new advanced imaging curriculum for training those who are interested. The goal at this point is to develop a program that is a blend between radiology and nuclear medicine. Norman Bolus, MSPH, CNMT, FSNMMI-TS, and Anita Slechta, MS, BSRT, ARRT(R)(M), FASRT, REHS, are working to make this happen.

Norman Bolus has also worked tirelessly with the 50th Anniversary Task Force to ensure that the 50th anniversary of SNMMI-TS is the best celebration ever! The group has acquired sponsorships, worked with Sirona Complete Care to secure the band—the Thallium Stallions—for the 50th Anniversary Party (which will now be held in June 2021), put together a 50th anniversary supplement to the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, and more. With COVID-19, we have extended the anniversary plans for the Annual Meeting to next year—so we will have two years of celebration! Please plan to join us in Washington, DC, in 2021.

The night before my first visit to the Pacific Northwest Chapter in March, the COVID-19 storm began and the meeting was cancelled. But out of clouds of frustration emerged what I see as an unprecedented response as the leadership of our profession met the many challenges that faced us. We formed a COVID-19 Task Force, made up of dynamic technologists from around the country. This group is meeting every two weeks and producing excellent resources for our members:

Held a webinar with representatives from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, Nuclear Medicine Technologist Certification Board, and Joint Review Committee on Education Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology to provide information for program directors about credentialing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Held Town Hall webinars to discuss how COVID-19 is affecting our nuclear medicine community.
Published an article “From One Technologist to Another—COVID-19 Questions Answered.”
Provided a forum for ALL technologists (members and nonmembers) to have access to continuing education courses for three weeks to ensure that certification renewal requirements could still be met. More than 800 nonmembers participated in this program.
Created a risk vs. benefit chart for nuclear medicine technology procedures, applicable for our current pandemic.
Collaborated with the physician’s COVID-19 Task Force on a webinar to explore the issues of reopening our nuclear medicine departments as the pandemic subsides.

Our work continues, with further webinars in development as well as didactic educational materials for technologists for CT, PET, and nuclear cardiac technology.

Finally, on July 11–14 the SNMMI will hold the Annual Meeting in a virtual format that will extend way beyond the concept of Zoom: the SNMMI Annual Meeting—Virtual Edition. This truly innovative virtual experience will be free for all SNMMI members, with discounted registration available for nonmembers. You will be able to attend live continuing education sessions, choose from hundreds of scientific abstract presentations and posters in the Science Pavilion, browse a cutting-edge exhibit hall, and attend networking events—and you will be able to do it within a flexible format designed to meet the needs of your schedule. As the summer progresses the Technologist Section will also engage in an extended virtual format with multiple hours of CE. Details will be coming soon!

It has been a pleasure to serve on the SNMMI Board of Directors under the leadership of Dr. Vasken Dilsizian. I would like to thank him for his continued support to the Technologist Section; he has been a strong advocate.

I am grateful and appreciative for the opportunity to work with many wonderful health-care professionals. I am so proud of our members, committees, chairs, and staff; this has truly been a team effort. Together we have and will continue to make our profession even better than it already is.

Soon we will begin another chapter in the SNMMI-TS, and Tina Buehner will take over the reins as our new president. I have had the opportunity to work with her over this last year and have enjoyed her friendship, humor, and professionalism. I wish her smooth sailing in the year ahead.