Professional Resolutions
By Pappas, Virginia
With a broader mission to be the leader in nuclear medicine and to advance molecular imaging and therapy, SNM is more diverse today than at any time in the past-a rich tapestry that comprises individuals with countless different medical backgrounds. SNM offers bold, innovative, and high-quality programs so you can achieve great things for yourself, for the profession, and for your patients. Have you made your professional resolutions for the new year? Attend Our Symposium. Next month’s Mid-Winter Educational Symposium offers 4 days of continuing education opportunities as the society and the American College of Nuclear Physicians host back-to-back meetings February 14-17 in Newport Beach, CA. This year’s program includes advances in cardiovascular imaging, new radiopharmaceuticals for molecular imaging for brain diseases and cancer, and future directions in nuclear medicine technology. A CT case-reading session will be presented, allowing attendees to review and interpret 100 CT exams under the supervision of a radiologist. Participants will receive documentation of completed cases for credentialing purposes.
Come Hear the Latest Clinical/Scientific Research. The SNM Annual Meeting remains the heart of the society, drawing thousands of molecular/nuclear imaging professionals from around the world and featuring more than 1,600 scientific papers and posters submitted by scientists, physicians, and technologists. New Orleans-the historically rich and welcoming Big Easy-hosts this year’s 55th Annual Meeting, June 14-18. Here, SNM will introduce a new abstract track, “Novel Approaches to Molecular Imaging.” InfoSNM will again showcase the explosive growth in the power of digital computers, and more than 180 companies will exhibit their products and services. Our Molecular Imaging Gateway, an exhibit area devoted to new technologies and applications in this evolving field, also returns.
Commit to Learn. SNM has nearly 30 Lifelong Learning and Self- Assessment Program modules to help you fulfill maintenance of certification requirements. SNM is continually debuting new programs, such as “Partial-Volume Effect in PET Tumor Imaging” and “Radiopharmaceutical Therapy for Bone Pain.” Our diagnostic CT and PET/CT cases-a new component of SNM’s practice improvement program- enable nuclear medicine physicians and radiologists to meet the PET/ CT and diagnostic CT training and credentialing recommendations as published by SNM. A host of other programs are available on our Web site.
Deepen Your Understanding of Molecular Imaging. Through its Web site, SNM highlights the latest molecular imaging research and clinical applications, along with information for referring physicians and patients. Members can join our Molecular Imaging Center of Excellence for free; nonmembers can sign up for a free 90- day trial. More information is available online at www.molecularimagingcenter.org. SNM leaders are hosting a summit next month with industry experts to discuss strategies to fast- track technological development and to engage referring physicians and increase utilization of clinical molecular imaging. More on this key meeting will be reported at a future time.
Take Action. It’s an election year-time to take action on those issues that affect the profession. We will continue to send out government relations action alerts; please take time to voice your opinions about important issues such as funding for nuclear medicine research and passage of Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility, and Excellence (CARE) in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy legislation. If you’re asked about the importance of funding nuclear medicine research, please be sure to reference the report “Advancing Nuclear Medicine Through Innovation,” in which the National Academy of Sciences recognizes its vital importance and recommends the enhancement of America’s federal commitment to the field and support for this research at the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
Stay Informed. Beginning this month, SNM will offer a daily e- mail newsletter comprising brief summaries of top professional news stories. SNM SmartBrief will offer the latest global scientific research and news along with society educational programs, meetings, government relations activities, publications, products, and services.
Speak for SNM. Consider submitting a speaker proposal for “Inside MI,” an exciting free resource that provides molecular imaging experts as speakers on diverse topics for those in the medical community and patient groups. Additional experts (both members and nonmembers) are needed in multimodality imaging, instrumentation and data analysis, optical imaging, ultrasound, MR imaging/MR spectroscopy, biomarkers, gene/cell therapy, small animal imaging, molecular therapy, nonradioactive molecular imaging agents, and contrast agents.
Contact Headquarters. If you have any questions about our programs or services, please contact headquarters staff members, who are committed to providing you with high-quality assistance. Additional information about any of our programs can also be found on the society’s Web site at www.snm.org. In closing, I wish you a very happy, prosperous-and professionally fulfilling-new year.
Virginia Pappas, CAE
Chief Executive Officer, SNM
Copyright Society of Nuclear Medicine Jan 2008
(c) 2008 Journal of Nuclear Medicine, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.