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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
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In order to succeed, organizations need to grow: because the world
moves forward at an ever-quickening pace, sometimes change is
necessary to bring a fresh start with innovative and creative ways
of providing educational content to the MR Community. The Society
for MR Radiographers & Technologists is the only organization in the
world dedicated specifically and wholly to MR Radiographers &
Technologists by providing educational content necessary for
students, seasoned veterans, prolific researchers and everyone in
between. A new name, a fresh new look and a whole new governance
restructure has positioned the SMRT with a bright new look into the
future. The SMRT has always been among the first—and in some notable
cases, the very first at the latest ingenuity, like providing an
option for technologists to be part of the annual meeting virtually.
Attendees from 6 countries on 4 continents enjoyed and participated
in the meeting from the comfort of their home. This technology now
offers the SMRT the ability to bring this same technology to our
Regional Meetings by providing world class speakers the ability to
present live at the meeting or also provide these same speakers to
MR Schools around the world for students who may never have access
to superior educational content. Very shortly the SMRT will launch a redesigned website which will allow us the opportunity to group over twenty-five years of our educational content into specific categories and finally allow non-members full access to our superior educational material. Membership has its advantages, because our members are still able to take advantage of significantly discounted rates to our educational content through all mediums: live, streamed and archived. Our Home Studies will remain a complimentary member benefit. Speaking of twenty-five years, this year was the SMRT’s Silver Anniversary at our Annual Meeting in Singapore. The meeting was a great success with 268 attendees representing 30 countries and featuring over 56 abstracts in both oral and poster formats. Our SMRT 26th Annual Meeting, 22-24, April, 2017 being held in Honolulu, Hawaii is about to open up a new and exciting option for us. For the first time in the history of the SMRT we will now be offering a 3 Day meeting option. Attendees will now be able to enjoy an extra day on Monday of educational content dedicated to Radiographers and Technologists. The ISMRM has agreed to include educational courses that are relevant to MR Radiographers & Technologists for the Monday sessions along with the Joint Forum. This will mean another full day of CEU Credits and the ability to enjoy the Exhibition Hall. This is an exciting new direction for the SMRT and because over half of our attendees at our Singapore meeting actually stayed to attend the full seven-day meeting, we were able to make this all possible. We hope you will be able to join us! The SMRT also now has available CE track and transfer capability to the ARRT in the United States. Any educational content receiving CE Credits from the SMRT for ARRT registered technologists will automatically be reported for you simplifying the CE compliance process. This is an excellent membership benefit. During our 2016 Board meeting the SMRT voted to approve a new category of membership called an Affiliate Member. Affiliate Members are non-radiographers/technologists and will have no voting rights nor will they be able to hold office. They will benefit from the same registration fee as voting members and have full access to all educational material. This is a great opportunity for anyone involved in the MRI profession, who is not a radiographer/technologist, to have access to first class educational content and help them excel in their field. On a lighter note, I need to give a special thank you to many individuals who have made my transition from President-Elect to President very comfortable and easy with the knowledge you helped me gain from your vast experience. Barry Southers, M.Ed., R.T.(R)(MR) now Past-President, we really missed you in Singapore but your organizational skills, devotion and knowledge really helped me step right in and fill some pretty big shoes. Maureen N. Hood, Ph.D., R.T.(R)(MR), R.N., FSMRT, also a Past-President, thank you for helping develop a rock solid strategic plan and a new Governance structure of the SMRT. I also can’t forget to thank our entire Policy Board for their dedication and devotion to the success of the SMRT. I know we have a lot of exciting new changes happening and I can’t express my gratitude enough as to how every one of you have embraced and accepted these new initiatives. I also want to have an open line of communication with our members and non-members and look forward to an opportunity to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions; my personal email is jstuppino@rcn.com. It will be a pleasure to serve as your President during the 2016-17 year and I look forward to working closely on more collaborations with our parent organization, the ISMRM, to help bring additional benefits to both members and non-members. Jim Stuppino |
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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.
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