2024 ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Report

The 2024 ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates meeting was held Jun 28-30 in Orlando, Florida. There were many Ohio members in attendance advocating for and representing the medical imaging profession. “Ohio is everywhere!” This statement was prominent throughout the meeting. Those attending were:
• Kristin Seitz – Ohio affiliate delegate (OSRT President)
• Allison Stokes – Ohio affiliate delegate (OSRT President-Elect)
• Alisha Guerrero – CI/VI chapter delegate
• Gary Greathouse – Management chapter delegate
• Ryan Smith – Nuclear Medicine chapter chair/delegate
• Lucas Gross – Nuclear Medicine chapter delegate
• Teressa Taggart – Nuclear Medicine chapter delegate
• Dr. Tricia Leggett – JRCERT staff
• Dr. Heather Moore – ASRT President-Elect; installed as 2024-2025 ASRT President

The House of Delegates was comprised of 145 delegates (168 possible). Brandon A. Smith, ASRT President, gave his presidential report. In his report, he highlighted the progress of his initiatives, including the Invisible Heroes 5K Run/Walk that took place on May 18, 2024. This event recognized the vital role medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals play on the health care team and introduce the public to the ASRT and its role in advancing and elevating the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession. He also introduced the launch of the ASRT BeRAD Professionalism Award. This award was created to recognize health systems, imaging centers, hospitals, clinics, and other facilities in which medical imaging technologists and radiation therapists demonstrate a culture of professionalism. Applications will be accepted through September 30, 2024 and are available on the WEBSITE. Two awards will be given in the inaugural cycle.

Dr. Melissa B. Pergola provided the ASRT report. She stated it was the 40th anniversary of the ASRT Foundation and the 38th anniversary of the ASRT House of Delegates and Annual Governance Meeting. The ASRT Foundation conferred over $362,000 in scholarships and over $117,000 in grants in 2023-2024. Dr. Pergola also noted the success of the first phase of the BE SEEN campaign and that the video was airing on networks such as USA and NBC, specifically during the Olympic qualifiers for swimming, gymnastics, and track and field. She also introduced a sneak peek of the new ASRT podcast – The RAD Position. Dr. Pergola hosts this podcast and will talk about issues pertaining to the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession. Guests will include ASRT Board members, ASRT staff members, medical imaging and radiation therapy experts, and others. The podcast is available on SPOTIFY. Finally, Dr. Pergola briefly discussed the White Paper from the 2024 Consensus Committee on the Future of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy. To address the current workforce shortages and identify feasible solutions, including new career pathways in medical imaging and radiation therapy, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), and the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) hosted the Consensus Committee on the Future of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, Feb. 19-20, 2024, at the ASRT office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Forty-five leaders in medical imaging and radiation therapy participated in the meeting, including managers, educators, clinicians from each of the imaging and therapeutic disciplines, industry representatives, and physicians. In addition to the host organizations, 15 other organizations also were represented at the event. You can find the entire White Paper on the ASRT WEBSITE. Dr. Heather Moore, ASRT President-Elect, shared her presidential initiatives, which include creating pipelines into the profession for middle/high school students, creating learning modules for caring for individuals with developmental disabilities, and a collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

The ARRT report noted updates to the clinical experience requirements for the vascular sonography credential in January 2024. New MR exam content specifications and clinical requirements will go into effect on February 1, 2025. The ARRT will move forward with all online applications and payments. It continues to investigate options for retired technologists. The ARRT was also made aware of increased delayed testing issues for new graduates from Ohio Delegate Allison D. Stokes. Students are struggling to find testing availability within their state (often having to wait over 1 month to schedule within their state) and are traveling to other states to take the credentialing examination to start their career sooner rather than later. Other delegates made the ARRT aware of the same issue within their states. The ARRT will take a closer look at this issue during their next Board of Trustees meeting. The JRCERT stated programs will be required to link their award letter to their website. In addition, JRCERT CEO Leslie Winter will retire on November 1, 2025. The torch of CEO will be passed to Traci Lang, Ed.S., R.T.(R)(T), the current Executive Associate Director. The entire assembly of attendees stood in recognition of Leslie and demonstrated their sincere gratitude for her work and support of the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession. 

At the Presidential Reception, Dr. Heather Moore was installed as ASRT President! Dr. Moore adds her name to the list of OSRT members who have served as President of the ASRT! The OSRT is proud of its members and their continued support of the profession! It was a pleasure to serve the membership as your delegates.

Respectfully submitted by OSRT Affiliate Delegates,

Allison D. Stokes, OSRT President-elect
Kristin Seitz, OSRT President