Special Interest Group Committee News

TECHNOLOGISTS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

Pru Burns, Emma Brook and Karen Jones Chairs of TSIG Working Committees

We as technologists have much to celebrate. The ANZSNM 2021 conference was a huge success for the Technologist community with 288 registered in the Scientist, Technologist, Nurse, and Registrar Category, that’s a whopping 52% of the total registrants.

Two technologist driven sessions were held in addition to the Wellness Session. It is always inspiring to hear what our colleagues are up to around the two countries. All Local sites were supported by NMT helpers, including many technologist students, from assisting on registration desks, to starting the recorded presentations at Live sites, to co-ordinating venues for the Gala dinners. Thank you to all those involved in helping make this “Live and Local” iteration of our ASM a great success.

Congratulations to the following Technologists: Women's Hospital / Queensland Children's Hospital. Winner of the Radpharm Technologist Case Presentation Award for her presentation entitled: “The Benefits of Stress: Acetazolamide versus exercise in PHACE Syndrome.”

• Nicola Evans, recent UniSA graduate. Winner of the Nuclear Medicine Undergraduate Student

Technologist Award for her presentation, based on the results of her Honours year, entitled

“Effects of exenatide once weekly on intragastric distribution of solids and liquids and perceptions of appetite, in healthy overweight subjects.”

The TSIG Oversight Committee (OC) have recently been working on updating the Terms of Reference for the TSIG OC and the two sub-committees. These were presented to the upcoming Technologist member consultation via the AGM and approved.

• Brylee Thomson, Austin Health.

Winner of the Curium Award. Her presentation entitled “16 vs 8 Bin

Evaluation of Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging” was interesting to all in the audience. • Candice Nish, Royal Brisbane and From the Workforce Advocacy Group:

Members of this sub-committee, led by Pru Burns, have recently reviewed consultation documents from APRHA on the Combined Code of Conduct and the MRPBA National Examination Guidelines. Formal feedback has been forwarded to AHPRA for consideration.

From the CPD & Education Group:

Given the postponement of the 2020 Technologist Symposium to March 2021, followed by the Live and Local ASM in May 2021, the decision was made to hold the next Technologist Symposium in 2022. CPD opportunities, in the meantime, will be available by the way of webinars. A planning meeting, led by TSIG CPD Chair, Emma Brook, was held at the start of June to brainstorm ideas for potential TSIG webinars that will be held later this year and in 2022. A number of great topics were proposed and we are currently in the process of organising speakers – watch this space!

Coming up: Nick Daw’s term as TSIG Chair comes to an end in September 2021. Nick will remain on the TSIG OC as Immediate Past Chair, providing invaluable knowledge to the Committee. Nick will hand over the role to Karen Jones who will hold the combined positions of TSIG Chair and TSIG Federal Council Representative. We thank Nick for his contributions as outgoing Chair.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE

Andrew Scott Chair, International Relations Committee

ANZSNM has been a formal supporter of The Lancet Oncology Commission on Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, which has described for the first time the health and economic impact of imaging and, in particular nuclear medicine in patients with cancer at a global level. The major findings of this project were published in Lancet Oncology in March 2021, with a number of commentaries: https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/medical-imaging-nuclear-medicine. The results of this project were presented at the European Society of Radiology conference in March, and will also be presented at the upcoming SNMMI conference. Prof. Andrew Scott was a lead commissioner for this project, which has also resulted in a series of additional papers on global imaging impact in cancer in Lancet Oncology. This project has also involved all major international nuclear medicine and medical imaging societies in establishing global databases on imaging equipment and workforce, which will be utilised in plans for the inclusion of nuclear medicine and imaging in cancer policies for Governments.

The IRC has also engaged with the SNMMI and the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology on Theranostic projects aimed at establishing frameworks for the guidance of training and implementation of Theranostic programs. Meetings with overseas nuclear medicine societies and associations have continued to be restricted by COVID-19 impact on meetings, but virtual contact has been maintained. It is anticipated that training programs with IAEA will not resume until 2022.