FEBRUARY 2014 • Vol. 3, Issue 1

A Message from the SMRT President

Dear Colleagues,
In the countdown to our next SMRT Annual meeting in Milan, Italy we are working hard on getting the word to all corners of the globe and need your help. Be sure to let your colleagues know about this amazing MR educational program. Set up future pathways in sharing your knowledge with the opportunity to network with other MR Technologists and Radiographers from around the world. Also the following week after the SMRT Annual Meeting there is the Joint ISMRM/ESMRMB Meeting with an endless diversity in MR topics containing many SMRT accredited presentations, including this year’s ISMRM/SMRT Joint Forum on MR/PET. Visit our web site at http://www.ismrm.org/smrt/ to get all the program, registration and accommodation details. Contact us if you have any questions. Once you participate in one of these amazing meetings, they can become addictive!

With recent elections taking place, I would like to congratulate to our newly elected SMRT Policy Board members who will start their terms at the upcoming annual meeting in Milan. There is truly an increase in diversity in our SMRT Policy Board membership which is a great reflection in our mission to reach all corners of the globe in representation; and continue to grow our MRI educational network. Our new talented members will complement our existing board and Maureen Hood’s leadership when she takes the gavel as our next President. Also a sincere congratulations to Barry Southers who has been voted as our incoming President Elect. As a recent Policy Board member, Barry contributed greatly and will put his shine on the leadership when his time arrives. Our recent Past President Vera Miller will introduce all of our new SMRT Policy Board members in greater detail for all to see.

One of our main focuses currently is to reach further for exposure to more MRI technologists around the world to join our network and reap the benefits of our vast resources in MR education. In doing this, we are constantly reviewing our resources and how we can continue to improve our value and accessibility to our members. Our social media initiative has helped expand our access to members through the use of Facebook, Twitter and Linked In. We will continue to integrate these with our web site and the endless topics of MRI education available. Our new interface for watching lectures or reading our Home study program has been very popular with our members using this valuable resource to gain professional accreditation points. In the USA, we hope to be able to track and transfer these CE points directly to your accrediting body in the future which will streamline your long term recording of this information. We will be looking at how we can extend this to other regions in the future.

Our Society is based on its grass roots members and it is you, the membership, who help guide our decisions in evolving the SMRT into our future form. Many members contribute their own time by participating in committees, offering suggestions for improvement and getting involved in one of the many Regional/Chapter meetings we have around the Globe. I am always extremely encouraged and humbled by all of the enthusiasm of our SMRT family. With your continued contributions and communication, we will continue to grow and mature.