July 2015 • Vol. 4, Issue 3

HT TOPIC

First-Ever MRI Program Directors Meeting!

  Barry Southers, M.Ed., R.T. (R)(MR)
SMRT President, 2015-2016		    
On Monday, 1 June, 2015, I had the privilege of organizing and participating in the first ever MRI Program Directors meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! There were 25 program directors, educators, and other MR professionals in attendance from Canada, USA, UK, Belgium, and Denmark. In addition, the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) from the USA sent an Accreditation Specialist representative to the meeting, Jacqueline Kralik.

Agenda topics for discussion were the:
      • SMRT Ambassador Program,
      • parity among accredited programs between countries/states/provinces,
      • accreditation for MR programs, the collaborative ASRT/SMRT/AEIRS MRI Curriculum,
      • and the need for a global MR curriculum.

An additional item discussed was the need for states in the USA to formally recognize MRI Technologists and Radiographers as professionals and to require certification for employment. Currently, there are only six states (out of 50) that require certification. It will be a challenge, but I believe if we divvy up these states and contact them, we can learn from those states who have certification. By understanding how these measures were passed in those six states we can work toward all states passing this very important legislation.

As mentioned, there were discussions about the need for organizing a task force to create a global MR curriculum in order to foster congruency on a global scale. Having a global perspective would be very important, as this would allow for MR programs to share and subsequently implement a curriculum used all over the world. In the upcoming year, we will work on formulating a plan to create a global task force made up of educators and other MR professionals charged with this very important task.

Overall, this inaugural meeting was a big success filled with passionate and vital discussions, and I look forward to continuing these discussions going forward. Thank you to all who attended as well as those who could not be present yet made their voices heard leading up to Toronto. See you in Singapore in 2015!

Barry Southers, M.Ed, RT(R)(MR)
SMRT President, 2015-16
ISMRM Board of Trustees, 2015-16
MRI Program Director
Assistant Professor, MRI Section
Advanced Medical Imaging Technology Program
College of Allied Health Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
E-mail: Barry.Southers@uc.edu
Phone: 513-558-7415
Fax: 513-558-4009
 

Signals is a publication produced four times per calendar year by the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine for the benefit of the SMRT membership and those individuals and organizations that support the educational programs and professional advancement of the SMRT and its members. The newsletter is the compilation of editor, Julie Strandt-Peay, BSM, RT (R)(MR) FSMRT, the leadership of the SMRT and the staff in the ISMRM Central Office with contributions from members and invited participants.