January 16, 2010
I am excited and honored to serve as President of the Maryland Society of Radiologic Technologists. While I am new to the position, I did serve as President- elect last year and had the opportunity to work with an awesome group of board members.
We just completed our 50th Annual meeting held in Ocean City, Maryland October 2009. The meeting was a tremendous success. Among the things we accomplished was: a significant increase in the numbers of participants including both technologists and students; and we were able to offer a wide variety of know ledged and experienced speakers. We also created a new scholarship and we were fortunate to have the majority of last year's board members elected into new offices with the addition of James Gardner, Treasurer and Andrea Bendik, Secretary. I look forward to working with all of them as we embark on a new year.
We have a busy year ahead with our annual meeting already in the planning stages. Our student review is scheduled for April 26-28 and a clinical instructor class is being offered. We must remember that educating and mentoring our students is very important. They are the future of diagnostic imaging.
As RT's we must educate ourselves about the changes taking place in our field. The 12th annual "R.T's. in D.C." will be held March 7-9 in Washington, DC. This is our opportunity to educate our leaders in Washington about the CARE bill, and show them we care about patient safety, quality health care, and rising health care costs. It is also an opportunity for the registered technologist to learn about the current issues affecting the radiology profession. We must remember to keep abreast of the changes in licensing and accreditation that are taking place, as well as keeping up with the latest changes in technology.
I see many of the changes as positive changes for our field in the future. Technologists have been taken for granted and looked upon as mere as "button pushers" for years. We are constantly being devalued by other healthcare professionals and viewed as the "low man on the totem pole". They don't realize that Radiology is the backbone of the healthcare industry and that without us, they would not be able to perform their jobs successfully. It is important we remain current in our licensing, continuing education, support our local society by participating in meetings, continuously pursue knowledge, take pride in our work, and keep up with the constant changes in technology. We owe it to ourselves, to our colleagues, and most importantly to our patients. I look forward to your support and participation in this year's events.
Sincerely,
Katina McDonald, MSA, R.T. (R)(N)
MSRT President |
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