OSRT Office
PO Box 7863
Salem, OR  97303

Phone:
503-315-0930

E-mail:

OSRT Board Retreats to Work on Strategic Planning

New Contact at NELA

President's Message, September 2003

Final Issue Skiagram Goes to the Internet

OSRT Adds Three New Life Memebers

Greetings from the President

The OSRT Board had their quarterly meeting on Friday evening October 24, 2003 at the Evangelical Center in Milwaukie, Oregon at 8:00pm. There were 18 persons in attendance. Two were student representatives from PCC and Albany. Susan Castanette shared her research on the offer for OSRT to manage the Fall Symposium at Diamond Lake that Joyce Matthys has sponsored for so many years. The board felt it was a wise venture to take on the responsibility of providing education throughout the state and will be working with Joyce as she retires from sponsoring this function.

Susan had just returned from Albuquerque, NM - ASRT office after meeting with the ASRT staff and representatives from the states that were selected for the pilot program on combined dues. After research by ASRT, it was felt that it was not economically feasible to institute a combined fee program with ASRT and the State Affiliates. The group spent the rest of the weekend working on how ASRT might support the affiliates needs so that they may remain viable.

Plans were discussed regarding the upcoming annual meeting in April 2003 at the Embassy Suites-Washington Square in Tigard, Oregon. Everything seems to be on track.

Annual Meeting Site Chairperson, Cheryl Rue, shared the information that the Doubletree in Eugene had been purchased and will most likely not be available for our annual meeting in 2005. She is pursuing other sites in Eugene for those dates.

Saturday morning October 25th the board members met for a full day of work. The group met with Jack and Trish Terranova serving as facilitators for the day's meeting. Discussion began with identifying what we wanted to accomplish. After prioritizing the objectives, we began to work on vision and mission statements. Everyone put forth ideas of topics and then broke out into three groups to develop a vision. All the ideas were brought together and a vision statement came to life:

"Be Oregon's driving force of excellence in the Radiologic Sciences"

The same process occurred and the final product, our mission statement was born:

"Develop a dynamic membership promoting and facilitating world-class radiologic patient care through enhanced market awareness and effective legislation"

Postcards have been sent to the members and all the students attending the Radiology programs in Oregon.

OSRT will be developing strategies to reach our vision. Are you ready to embrace these concepts and share the experience?

OSRT contracts with NELA Management in Salem, Oregon to provide our organization with administrative assistance. We have been privileged to work with Lee Ann Reed as our Executive Secretary. She has managed our database of members and kept track of our financial status. As well as being a resource for various challenges that we may face as an organization, Lee Ann has been a focal point to see that projects are completed. When asked to do a job, she sees that it gets done. NELA Management has taken on some new clients and Lee Ann will be taking over some of those accounts. She will continue to be available as a consultant for OSRT as needed. We wish the best for Lee Ann.

Sue Coleman has stepped up to the plate to be our Executive Secretary. She has been with NELA for just over 3 years. Before that she was at a CPA firm. Sue audits the books for the Oregon Foster Parent group and other clients. Sue is excited about working with OSRT and we are glad to have her on board. If you have any questions, e-mail the office at or call 1-888-286-7780.

Submitted by
Diane Dupree RTR

Summer's over and the kids are all back to school. Rest assured that the OSRT board had not been on vacation! We've been busy representing the RT's of the state in a variety of ways.

In June, I attended the ASRT annual conference and House of Delegates, and six others from our board were also there. We served at delegates for the Oregon affiliate, as well as Bone Densitometry, Education, MRI, and Radiography. The House of Delegates had some lively discussion regarding governance restructuring and the number of future delegates, and well as on the issue of limited permit holders, now officially called "limited x-ray machine operators" by the ASRT. The resolutions that passed can be found on the ASRT web site at www.asrt.org.

We held our August board meeting, where we discussed Northwest Conference, our NELA contract, our upcoming annual meeting next April, our attendance at OBRT board meetings, as well as numerous other "housekeeping" issues.

I will be visiting the Diamond Lake conference on September 13th to gather information and see how it is run. Joyce Mathys has offered OSRT the opportunity to take over this annual CE offering when she retires, and it is a decision we are taking seriously. Although this conference was originally tailored to limited permit holders, about half of the current attendees are RT's.

In early October, a few of us will travel to Las Vegas to attend the Western Caucus. At this time, we formulate possible resolutions to be presented at next year's ASRT House of Delegates.

And in late October, the board will hold another meeting, combined with a long range planning retreat. We need to look to the future and plan not only where we are headed, but what we want to be like when we get there. We would value your input! Talk to the board members, in person, by e-mail, or on the phone. Let us know what is important to you; how you want us to guide and further our profession.

Your OSRT board is a group of hard-working, dedicated volunteers. We are only here because we care about the RT's of Oregon, and we want to make a difference.

Sincerely,
Susan

Serving doesn't stop at the local or state level. Barb has served in the ASRT House of Delegates as the Oregon Affiliate delegate and Region II Chapter Delegate of Education. In addition to serving in the House of Delegates, she has been a member and a chairman in the Commission on Education and a member of a Focus Group- Radiography Curriculum Revision Project. These are not just a one- time commitment: her national involvement began as a member of ASRT in 1986. She was recognized by her peers at the national level and elevated to ASRT Fellow, June 2002 for her accomplishments and service to our profession.

Bart Pierce was certified as a technologist in 1986, has been a district President 1989 & 1990, OSRT Vice President (1990) and President of OSRT twice, (1991 & 1996). In addition to serving as an elected officer on the OSRT Board, Bart has been chairman of several committees. Committees for Annual Meeting served are Education 1989 to 1998. OSRT Board committees are Skiagram 1990 to 2001, Bylaws 1997 & 1999 and Web Site Development 2001.

Bart has been a member of ASRT since 1987. He has served in the ASRT House of Delegates as an Oregon Affiliate Delegate and Region II Chapter Delegate of MRI. He has been a member and/or chairperson of committee on Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the Commission on Professional Practice. Bart volunteers whenever need for Task Forces, Committees, Focus or Project Groups. Bart has attended Leadership Academy, which is sponsored by ASRT. This workshop provides invaluable education to the present and future leaders of our profession. Other activities to add to Bart's repertoire are participation at RT In DC and speaking at seminars locally and nationally.

Randy Harp was certified as a technologist in 1979. He has been a district President 1982, 1989, & 1994 and OSRT President twice, 1988 & 1997. In addition to serving as an elected officer on the OSRT Board, Randy has been on many committees: Annual Meeting Properties- 1988, 1999-2003, OSRT Board Committees- Professional Affairs 1981-1984, Skiagram advertising 1988 & 1989 and Legislative Committee 1999-2003.

Randy has served in the ASRT House of Delegates as an Oregon Affiliate Delegate and Region II Chapter Delegate of Radiography. He served on the committee ASRT Sergeants-at-Arms 2002. He has attended RT In DC, speaks at local and national seminars and attended ASRT Leadership Academy. Randy has been serving our profession as a member of ASRT since 1987.

These are statistics that have been gathered on three individuals who we have all come to know and respect over the years. This represents a brief journal of their professional career. Each of these individuals may represent something different to the membership; however we have experienced common and unique qualities from every one of them. Barb wears leather and rides motorcycles, Bart raises guide dogs and travels with them to competitions, and Randy guides water rafting trips on the McKenzie River. Each one has shared with us- Leadership, Mentoring, Compassion for the profession and their fellow professionals, and Friendship.

By unanimous vote of approval from the OSRT Board, Barbara Smith, Bart Pierce, and Randy Harp were presented to the OSRT membership on April 12, 2003 as Life Members of the Oregon Society of Radiologic Technologists.

Thank you for electing me as President of the Oregon Society of Radiologic Technologists, for the coming year. I find myself often inspired by the confidence that others have in me, and I have taken the mindset that I will set my sights high, do the best job I can, certainly learn a lot on the way, and - because this is OSRT - have fun in the process. When I agreed to run for this office, I was unopposed, (as we often are in this volunteer, non-profit world) and so I never had to think of a platform or make campaign promises. In the last few months, I found myself trying to decide what I do want to focus on during my term. One thing that has evolved out of my recent experiences is a strong focus on student involvement in our professional societies:

• A Western Caucus last October

• At ASRT Leadership Academy in January, two students in the Rad science program attended

• At our recent Cont. E. Seminar at Tuality Hospital in March, many students came for the extra credit they were offered. I felt having them in attendance really added to the quality of the seminar.

• At our Annual meeting in Bend this year, we had quite a few students in attendance, both from PCC and OIT.

Stewart Bushong, Barb Smith, and Radiology students

My first hope is that the caliber of students I've met and talked with in these recent experiences is an indication of the quality of people entering the imaging field. My second hope is that today's students and new technologists will realize both the importance and benefit of being involved in their professional societies. We as an organization need to find a way to keep students involved, and impress on them the power they have in controlling the future of the imaging profession.

I asked Barbara smith to do the installation of officer this year because she was on of my teachers in the Radiography Program at PCC, and I recognize her important role in bringing me to the point where I am today. I'm sure most of you in our field would agree we are working in a wonderful profession. We have almost unlimited possibilities for variety and advancement, we have economic security that isn't available in so many other fields, most of us have seen dramatic increases in our wages in recent years, and the high demand in our field is predicted to continue for a long time. I'm very excited for today's students that are preparing to enter imaging profession, and I think you've picked a great time to join us.

Sincerely,
Susan