Annual Meeting: Your Best Networking Opportunity All Year

Frances Neagley, BA, CNMT, FSNMTS, RT(N)(R) Editor, JNMT

It is June again already. Spring is upon us. The weather is improving somewhat, and we are trying to be cautiously optimistic about the future. Nonetheless, we are continually reminded that the shortage of radioisotopes and jobs is having a tremendous impact on our profession. When there are such significant issues impacting our profession, we need to reach out to our friends and professional organizations.

One way to reach out to others in our profession is through meetings. Once again it is time for the biggest of the nuclear medicine meetings—the annual SNM meeting. This year we are in San Antonio, Texas, and the program looks interesting and informative. I really hope to be seeing many of you there. It will be my last official meeting while wearing the JNMT editor ribbon, reporting to the SNM and SNMTS publication committees and presenting the awards for the best JNMT submissions of 2010. So many people have been supportive of my term, and this will be my time to thank them in person.

The JNMT is another source of information and education. Along with my associate and consulting editors and the staff in the Reston office, I try to bring the science of nuclear medicine to technologists everywhere. In addition, the leadership of several organizations submits articles about their activities.

As I go forward this year, I feel as if every one of my editorials will continue to be a sort of farewell to my 5 years, a reexamining of my goals and a continuing appreciation of my editors and reviewers. I would like to think that each of the 20 issues will stand as a testament to how I tried to reach out to technologists everywhere and how I tried to make a difference.

This issue, thankfully, has another continuing education article. Elpida Crawford continues to work diligently to find contemporary subjects and authors for these articles. This is an arduous task, and although we only occasionally reach our goal of 2 articles in an issue, we continue to strive to provide this service of continuing education credits.

The scientific articles are varied again this month, but most deal directly with imaging, which I think will please most technologists. The 2 articles on radiopharmaceuticals should appeal to radiopharmacists and technologists alike.

Of special note in this issue is a break from a long-standing policy in both the JNM and the JNMT; we have returned to publishing case studies. The case report in this issue caught my eye when it was submitted, and rather than falling back on policy, which would have meant rejection, I sent it to one of my associate editors who agreed with me on its merits. Subsequently, I presented the subject to the SNMTS publications committee, who unanimously agreed that the case report has a place in technologist growth and education. I hope that this will become a new and vigorous part of our publication.

Now, the year is officially half over for me and the JNMT. Feel free to contact me at any time with your comments and questions. As always, my email is fneagley{at}pacbell.net.