MESSAGE FROM THE SMRT PRESIDENT 2014-15

Welcome to Toronto and the 24th Annual Meeting of the Section for Magnetic Resonance Technologists themed “At the Forefront of MR Education.” Program Chair Chris Kokkinos and his committee have put together a fantastic and fun two day event. Our SMRT Annual Meeting show cases the best clinical and research being presented by MR technologists/radiographers in the world. Unique this year will be breakout sessions so that we can accommodate a wider array of your interests. We have a Saturday evening poster tour followed by the SMRT Annual Meeting Reception. This will be held in the “Imperial Room” at the Fairmont Royal York, 100 Front St., Toronto. Join your colleagues for an evening of food, fun and great conversation in a beautiful atmosphere.

All attendees are welcome to attend the SMRT Business meeting to learn what the SMRT has been working on this past year and meet the members of the Policy Board. This is also the part of our meeting where I get to pass the gavel to Barry Southers, our new President. You will hear from your new President and he will call for new business. Any SMRT member may ask questions, voice concerns or suggest new initiatives for the SMRT to consider.

The SMRT is working to provide a forum for MR Program Directors/Educators to share information and possibly work on a worldwide set of standards in MR education. A representative from the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology Radiologic (JRCERT) is planning to attend this important event. The Program Directors will be meeting Monday, June 1, 2015 from 0900-1200 in room Park View 501A, North Building of the MTCC. If you’d like to join this meeting, please contact Barry Southers at southegb@UCMAIL.UC.EDU for additional information. The ISMRM‐SMRT Joint Forum “Whole Body DWI” is also slated for Monday at 14:15 - 16:15 in Room 718 A and open to all SMRT attendees.

It was another excellent year for abstracts. Sheryl Foster (Chair), and Megan Cromer (in-coming Chair) worked diligently with members of their Education committee to vet and score the abstracts. We have 7 oral presentations featuring our winning abstracts in the clinical and research categories and the President’s Award. The Saturday evening poster tour will feature the top 6 clinical and research poster presentations as well as the JAK Student presentation. Plus the 33 traditional posters will be available for viewing throughout the meeting. Be sure to attend the poster tour so you don’t miss out on the chance to win a prize for our posters game this year. We hope this will be a fun way for people to not only read the posters, but get to know the authors of the work.

As my year as President comes to a close, I can say it has truly been an honor to serve. It has been an extremely busy, but successful year. The SMRT has seen important changes this past year. We have a new Associate Executive Director of the ISMRM who is our main liaison with the Central office, Kerry Crockett. As you know, we had a retirement party last year in Milan for Jennifer Olson, who retired after 27 years with us. So, we’ve had new ideas, new ways of thinking, and a fun time figuring out how to venture on a new path toward future success. Many of the changes this past year may not be evident to the membership, but they will help the SMRT to further its mission of providing the best MR education in the world. We’re solidifying our financial foundation and upgrading hardware and software in the central office to better serve your needs. This will include offering expanded on-line CE opportunities to not only our members, but to the MR community at large. Thanks to the Safety Committee we will be offering a MR Safety Video Series on a wide variety of MR safety topics, as well as offering Level I and Level II training certificates. This is a service that is needed worldwide and the SMRT will be the first to provide it.

I would not have been able to have had such a successful year if it had not been for the members of the Executive and Policy Board, plus all the members of the various committees who work hard all year. The activities are too numerous to name them all. I thank Ben Kennedy for his guidance as Past President. I look forward to passing the gavel to Barry Southers whom I’m sure will be a great President. Jim Stuppino, who put together the Joint Forum on Monday, June 1 on Body DWI, is our in-coming President Elect. Rhonda Walcarius, Kirsten Moffett, Cindy Comeau and incoming Kendra Huber and Sheryl Foster round out the Executive Committee. Megan Cromer, Andrea Forneris, Vanessa Orchard, Michael Schlenk, Amanda Hunt, Raschel van Luijk‐Snoeks, Chris Kokkinos, Julie Strandt‐Peay, Anne Marie Sawyer, Vera Kimbrell, and Heidi Berns worked hard as members of the Policy Board. I wish the best to our in-coming Policy Board members who were elected, Shawna Farquharson, Filip De Ridder, Amamda Golsch, and Jeff Jahn.

I encourage each and every one of you to meet someone new at this meeting. Beyond the excellent educational topics offered, please get involved in the social aspects of the meeting and network with your colleagues. It’s amazing what we can learn from each other by just coming to a face to face meeting. Enjoy your stay in beautiful Toronto!

Kindest regards,

Maureen “Mo” Hood, PhD, RN, RT(R)(MR), FSMRT SMRT President 2014-15