Associated Sciences Consortium
RSNA News continues its series highlighting the work of organizations working with RSNA in the Associated Sciences Consortium.
Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists
The Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT), founded in 1942, serves as both the certifying body and a professional association for radiological technologists, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine technologists and magnetic resonance technologists.
"CAMRT works in very close collaboration with education programs, regulatory bodies and provincial associations to ensure the development and implementation of the highest standards of practice," said Charles Shields, CAMRT CEO.
Headquartered in Ottawa, CAMRT is a federation of 10 provincial associations with a membership of more than 12,000. It is the sole provider of medical radiation technologist (MRT) exams in Canada, with the exception of Quebec. As the certifying body, CAMRT develops and maintains competency profiles and national certification examinations for all disciplines. The competency profiles are used by educational programs across Canada as the basis for their MRT curricula. CAMRT also assesses internationally educated candidates for access to the exams.
"As the national professional association, CAMRT addresses professional practice issues by providing professional development opportunities, developing practice-related statements and advocating on behalf of its members and the public," said Shields. Currently, CAMRT is working with the Canadian Association of Radiologists to develop an advanced practice role for radiologic technologists.
CAMRT's professional development program provides distance education to more than 1,000 participants a year from across Canada and other countries, including the U.S. "The specialty certificate in CT Imaging has been particularly popular, especially as CT has become a common imaging modality that is crossing all disciplines," Shields said.
As part of the Associated Sciences Consortium, CAMRT is a sponsor of Associated Sciences course offerings at RSNA 2008. "CAMRT is proud of its partnership with RSNA," said Shields. "As the first non-U.S.-based organization to participate in the consortium, we have provided our perspective to ensure that the programs offered are of high quality for all the involved professions."
For information about CAMRT, go to www.camrt.ca.
Special Member Recognition
Last month, RSNA mailed special member recognition ribbons to almost 6,500 people who have been RSNA members for 25 years or more. The teal and gold ribbon can be attached to the RSNA annual meeting badge so that long-time members are easily recog- nizable at RSNA 2008.
Imaging Course Presented at AAFP
RSNA and its Public Information Committee sponsored the "When to Order Imaging Studies" course, presented twice at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) annual meeting in San Diego in September. James P. Borgstede, M.D., presented a session called "Appropriate Use of Imaging Examinations," which analyzed the value of comprehensive appropriateness criteria for imaging examinations and guided attendees in utilizing those criteria.
Robert J. Stanley, M.D., presented "Radiologic Screening: When is it Indicated?" which helped participants recognize what a good screening test must provide in terms of access, cost, sensitivity and specificity, as well as the proper identification of the population to benefit and the inherent risks associated with screening in general.
