Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008 - (Page 12)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Siemens MI University BY SAR AH L AMBERTI Molecular Imaging Training GAINING TRACTION As molecular imaging emerges from the cocoon of nuclear medicine, fueled by changes that have made it a vital technique for diagnosing disease and predicting and monitoring treatment response, training for physicians and technologists has made its way to the forefront for many education programs around the United States. Individual programs are modifying their curriculum to incorporate molecular imaging training. Training physicians As PET/CT and SPECT/CT take hold and studies prove their clinical strength, the approach to diagnosis and evaluation of the patient also is changing. According to Michael Graham, PhD, MD, director of nuclear medicine, at the University of Iowa and vice-president elect of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), this change in approach is driving the surge in interest in molecular imaging and the focus on formalizing training and education requirements. “There seems to be a growing recognition about the importance of molecular imaging principles, particularly in personalizing both diagnosis and treatment,” Graham notes. “But, ultimately, it is the treatment.” Right now, interest in molecular imaging is focused on the nuclear medicine department, although additional interested groups include oncology, gynecology and gastroenterology, the latter of which use various optical imaging methodologies. “Nuke med has been doing MI all along except it was not called that,” he says. “A lot of what we train residents in can be called molecular imaging—it includes training on how it localizes, metabolizes and more—we just have never labeled it before.” Graham says that formalizing molecular imaging training will be the next iteration of nuclear medicine training residency program requirements. Currently, according to SNM, the average residency program in nuclear medicine takes three years to train qualified physicians in the diagnostic and therapeutic use of radioactive pharmaceuticals. Residents are required to have one or more years of preparatory training and two or more years of nuclear medicine residency training in programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Diagnostic imaging consultation and nuclear medicine facility management are emphasized in the two-year program. Training also includes research experience, therapy with unsealed sources, and tomographic imaging with SPECT or PET radioisotopes. “It is quite possible for molecular imaging training for physicians to move to a four-year program due to the increased complexity of molecular imaging,” Graham says. In the next iteration of training requirements, it is difficult to put a number on specific 1 Molecular Imaging Insight | June 2008 Instructor Brenda Schmitz, RN (far right) explains a standard procedure to students at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital School of Nuclear Medicine Technology in suburban Chicago. hours for a molecular imaging program because it is not yet a separate clinical entity. “You cannot exactly have a rotation for it,” he adds. “The program would include didactic sessions, the principles, the lab sessions and maybe data analysis, but it is still kind of nebulous—however, we are working our way forward.” The path to formalized molecular imaging training is not completely free of obstacles. With radiologists more involved in image interpretation and with shifting reimbursement issues— physicians being paid less to do more—what is happening in the academic realm is that radiology faculty are becoming more clinically oriented and less focused on research. In light of these issues, the field is beginning to see a shortage of full-time nuclear medicine physicians, and needless to say, growth is slow. “Since the early 1970s, we have been averaging about 70 to 80 people a year—an annual average of board certified nuclear medicine physicians that is simply not enough to sustain the field,” according to Graham. “Radiologists, with more clinical appointments instead of academic appointments, are not expected to do research—just MolecularImaging.net http://www.mi-university.com http://MolecularImaging.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008

Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008 Contents NOPR: A Landmark Study Cover Story: Evidence-based Medicine Points to Wider Role for Molecular Imaging in Patient Care NOPR Delivers Evidence for Expanded PET Use in Oncology Imaging The Balancing Act Nuclear Cardiology’s Next Step Molecular Imaging Training Gaining Traction SPECT/CT’s Role in Post-Transplant Infection Imaging Clinical Study Digest : Heart Disease & Metastatic Breast, Gastric and Head & Neck Cancer

Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008

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