Sep. 26, 2017
As a result of receiving the Siemens Education Journey Award, I experienced quite a few “firsts.” I attended the ASRT Educational Symposium for the first time, which also was my first time attending any ASRT event. I don’t travel much, so it was also my first time visiting Orlando, Florida. On top of that, because I’d had ankle surgery a month before the Symposium, it was also my first — and hopefully last — time flying cross-country while wearing a postsurgical boot. (Getting into and out of airplanes was a bit challenging!)
Despite the inconvenience of having to hobble around the conference in a boot, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I admit, when I first got the email announcing that the Siemens Education Journey Award applications were open, that email sat in my inbox for a couple of weeks while I thought about whether to apply. Now that I’ve experienced the Symposium, I don’t know why I waited so long.
For me, attending the Symposium was a great opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of what’s going on within the ASRT and see the inner workings of the organization. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that young radiologic technologists coming into the industry just don’t see. Even those of us who have been around awhile sometimes forget that there are a lot of moving parts to ASRT that involve more than putting out magazines and journals, designing CE courses and advocating for our industry.
Gaining Valuable Takeaways and Insights
To complement my work as a director of imaging and cardiac services, I attended all of the management sessions. During these sessions I began to recognize the theme running through the event — a message that was echoed by CEO and Executive Director Sal Martino in his keynote address — and it really made an impression on me.
It was the idea that with so many regulatory changes taking place in our industry, we have to support each other as modalities under the same umbrella. We need to promote better communication among modalities and stop acting like we exist in silos.
This was one of the great takeaways I brought home from the Symposium, and I shared it with my entire leadership team — that we need to start thinking about how making a change in our department will affect others across the organization. What will this change mean for radiology? How will it affect staff in other departments?
Encouraging Others To Get Involved
Being selected to receive the educational grant was a real motivator for me. It made it easier for me to approach management and ask for the time off because it was less of a burden on the organization financially. It was an incredible opportunity, and the senior leadership at Kadlec Regional Medical Center was pretty proud that I got the Siemens Education Journey Award and glad that I attended the ASRT Educational Symposium.
In my position, I have the opportunity to send staff members to professional events, so you bet I’m encouraging my team to apply for these kinds of ASRT Foundation scholarships and programs. We need to stay involved, especially with health care changing so rapidly. It’s going to take all of us pulling together to ensure that we keep moving in a positive direction. Fortunately, the Foundation, with its educational assistance programs, can be our partner in those efforts.