Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008 - (Page 13)

the clinical work of image interpretation,” says Graham. “They are not providing the research that we need to move the nuclear medicine field forward.” Training in practice The Northwestern Memorial Hospital School of Nuclear Medicine Technology, which provides students with a comprehensive body of knowledge and clinical experiences, already is part of a four-year bachelor’s degree program with affiliated colleges and universities in the Chicago area. Each year, approximately 20,000 imaging procedures and more than 5,000 cardiac stress imaging procedures are performed by the nuclear medicine and nuclear cardiology departments. The program accepts 12 students per year, who complete their pre-requisite course work in the sciences at one of the affiliated colleges or universities. This extensive workload, which includes many hours in biology, chemistry, genetics and organic chemistry, leads to the didactic portion of molecular imaging training. The fourth year of the bachelor’s degree program has more clinical work, according to Program Director Nancy McDonald, CNMT. “In our program, we get more into the specifics of nuclear physics, pathophysiology, and a little bit of molecular biology and immunology,” McDonald explains. “Students are in class two full days [in their fourth year] and in clinicals the other three.” On clinical days, students receive training on PET, PET/CT and SPECT scanners to ensure their capability to meet competency requirements on certification board exams. The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) has added a PET/CT curriculum that programs are supposed to begin adopting. Additionally, students now have to be trained in CT, and cross-sectional anatomy has been added as well as lectures on contrast media and patient reactions to contrast media. Students in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital program also can participate in a new addition to the program—simulated training of a patient’s reaction to contrast agent. “Luckily, we have the facilities and the manpower to add more training and curriculum as needed, thanks to our relationship with our other NM Academy accredited schools and hospital departments,” McDonald says. As more requirements and curriculum are added to molecular imaging training programs down the road, more advanced levels of training are needed that entry-level technologists currently are not getting, she adds. “Technologists entering the field with molecular imaging training will need more training in the cellular sciences, technical training such as advanced lifesupport training, and additional clinical training that should probably continue once a tech is hired, to develop expertise in multiple areas,” she says. June 2008 | Molecular Imaging Insight 13 Building technologist skills Training in molecular imaging is not only being formalized for physicians, but for technologists as well. Many programs are trying to incorporate new courses focused on molecular imaging into the standard two-year nuclear medicine curriculum. According to Mark Wallenmeyer, CNMT, RT (N), the president-elect of the SNM Tech Section, there are several different approaches that SNM plans to suggest as requirements for nuclear medicine programs. SNM has suggested extensive pre-professional requirements for technologists before they enter a nuclear medicine program which include two semesters each of physics, chemistry and anatomy and physiology, as well as suggested coursework in biology, biochemistry and microbiology. Once a technologist is in a professional curriculum, other imaging modalities, such as CT or MRI, are incorporated. “The move right now is to PET/CT, so we are trying to get this new curriculum into facilities so any new tech who is graduating will have the extensive training, both pre-professional and professional, in these areas,” Wallenmeyer says. As PET/CT and SPECT/CT become more prevalent, the goal is to get technologists licensed and certified to perform each procedure. The difficulty with this endeavor is that each state has a different law specifying who can perform what exam. Currently, the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (CARE) bill has been proposed which would require personnel performing the technical components of medical imaging and radiation therapy to meet federal education and credentialing standards in order to participate in federal health programs. “We are trying to get states to recognize that these are molecular imaging procedures and we need to have one person, not two, performing these procedures,” Wallenmeyer notes. The SNM Tech Section has proposed that by 2015, all new technologists entering the field will need to have a Baccalaureate degree. “Molecular imaging techs are looking at information on a cellular level, so the pre-professional requirements will play a role in how the radioisotopes are used, how they perform, how they emit radiation—all of which will just lay the foundation for a successful student going into their professional curriculum,” he concludes. 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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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