JULY 2014 • Vol. 3, Issue 3

Education Committee Reports Quality Work presented in Milan

The success of our 23rd Annual Meeting in Milan was due, in no small part, to the wonderful array of abstract submissions the Education Committee received from a wide range of geographical locations. This demonstrates that the SMRT is actively delivering in its mission of supporting MRI technologists to achieve professional excellence by providing high quality education to its members around the globe. This mission is the driver of your Education Committee, and in fact, your entire Policy Board, and we would all like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed by submitting and presenting their work. Every oral and poster presenter should take pride in the fact that, by sharing their work with their colleagues, they become part of the educational process that is so important to us all.

This year, thanks to the generosity of the ISMRM Research and Education Fund, we were able to significantly increase the size of the individual prizes so that they were more reflective of the professional efforts of the submitters.

Congratulations go to all our prize winners, who represented a diversity of countries such as Japan, USA, Denmark, Australia, Canada and the UK. I would like to thank all of you for your excellent presentations, both oral and poster, and hope to see you again in Toronto.

2014 President’s Award Paper is by Claudio Arena
Claudio Arena, R.T. (MR)(CT) - President’s Award:
Evaluation of MR Elastography Reproducibility: Effect of Motion Encoding Gradient Direction, Slice Position, and Meal Ingestion

 

Poster Tour and Reception

Attendees listen to the poster presentations

Surprise Retirement Party held in Milan to Honor Jennifer Olson

I have been enjoying my first week of retirement after 27 years with the ISMRM/SMRT, every day of my retirement has been incredibly wonderful!! Waking up in the morning and being free to do whatever my heart desires!! Long walks at the beach or in the redwoods... lovely!!

More importantly, I want to give a heartfelt “thank you” to all of the wonderful ISMRM staff, our society leaders and our society membership. It is so hard to believe how quickly 27 years has flown by, even more amazing to me is how much MRI has evolved and grown scientifically and clinically during my career at ISMRM/SMRT. What has always continued to amaze me is how very lucky I have been to have the honor to work with all of the many dedicated and compassionate volunteers who are at the heart of our society. These incredible volunteers, our society leaders, and our members who have very important careers in the fields of science, healthcare and education and whose main goals are to benefit patient healthcare around the world. Everyday at ISMRM/SMRT was truly a gift!

Our Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy was really wonderful, and for me personally it was also filled with some bittersweet moments; a roller coaster of emotions, one moment it was filled with incredible happiness in seeing friends and colleagues who I have known for many years, then a sadness in knowing I will no longer be involved with the continued growth of our society, and having to say a fond farewell to these dear wonderful friends who have meant so much to me over these many years. I will truly miss the energy and excitement of our educational activities and the changes that the society brings to the world. All of these compassionate, wonderful people I will never, ever forget. One of my very favorite writers, Maya Angelou has said it best. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” All my dear friends and colleagues I will never forget how you have made me feel – loved...

Onwards!!