ASRT invites applicants for the 2024 Student to Leadership Development Program. Applications are open from Aug. 1-Nov. 10, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Mountain time.

The three-year program allows students to experience the governance functions of ASRT, attend educational courses and learn about leadership positions in the association. All applications must be submitted through the online application.

Potential applicants should also contact their ASRT affiliate society for further application and selection guidance, which may include additional criteria or an earlier timeline.

2024 Student to Leadership Development Program Application

If you have questions, contact the SLDP team at [email protected].

The ASRT is seeking qualified ASRT members interested in serving on the Committee on Fellows, Committee on Nominations, Committee on R.T. Advocacy and Practice Standards Council.

The duties, qualifications and time commitments required for these openings are available through the links below:

Please contact ASRT Volunteer Services at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

To see all current positions available, visit the Open Volunteer Opportunities page.

ASRT staff, alumni and friends walked, ran or pedaled in support of the Lobo Cancer Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The ASRT Lobo Cancer Challenge team and generous supporters collectively raised $10,940 for the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. The team honored loved ones and thanked medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals for their work in diagnosing and treating cancer.

This is the second year ASRT has participated in the Lobo Cancer Challenge.

All funds raised go to cancer patient care support, advanced research, community outreach, or education and training at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in New Mexico.

The ASRT Foundation is seeking qualified ASRT members interested in volunteer positions on the International Speakers and Corporate Sponsored Programs Review Committee, Research and Grants Advisory Panel, Research Mentor Advisory Group and Scholarship Review Committee.

The duties, qualifications and time commitments required for these openings are available through the links below:

Please contact ASRT Volunteer Services at [email protected] with any questions or concerns. To see all current positions available, visit the Open Volunteer Opportunities page.

The ASRT Government Relations Department has further expanded its efforts to support state regulations for medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals. The department recently updated the ASRT’s state regulation webpage, which allows users to find information about state licensing requirements, state radiation control program offices and states that license or regulate by modality.

"This is an additional step of transparency that we feel is vital to communicate to ASRT members and nonmembers so they can stay informed of states’ legislative practices,” said Jason Bradley, B.A., R.T.(R), CAE, ASRT’s vice president of governance and public policy.

In addition, technologists who want to contact their elected officials about legislative and regulatory issues can visit the ASRT Advocacy Action Center. It is a resource for the radiologic technology community to learn about what is going on in their states and provides tools for contacting state and federal officials.

States that Regulate

The ASRT is seeking qualified ASRT members interested in volunteer positions on the Best Practices in Digital Radiography Revision Committee.

The duties, qualifications and time commitments required for these openings are available through the links below:

Best Practices in Digital Radiography Revision Committee

Please contact ASRT Volunteer Services at [email protected] with any questions or concerns. To see all current positions available, visit the Open Volunteer Opportunities page.

It can be argued that the discovery of the x-ray by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen on Nov. 8, 1895, was one of the most significant milestones in health care. His accidental discovery forever changed medicine and it has been a key tool in diagnosing and treating injuries and diseases for 128 years.

The news of Roentgen’s discovery spread quickly and far beyond its intended use. The general public’s interest in the newfound ability to photograph the inside of the body fueled imagination that brought misunderstandings and quackery. Photography studios began offering bone portraits. Detectives reportedly used x-rays to determine if spouses were unfaithful. X-ray glasses were said to allow users to see through or into solid objects. X-rays were used metaphorically as entertainment in political cartoons, newspaper stories and advertising.

The ASRT Museum and Archives located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, offers artifacts that manufacturers and advertisers in the early 1900s used to capitalize on the public’s fascination of the x-ray. On display is an advertisement for x-ray headache tablets that offered eight doses for 10 cents and an original bottle of x-ray horse liniment that advertises, “No farmer or stockman should be without.” Of course, none of these products had anything to do with x-rays and did not emit radiation.

Despite early-day misunderstandings, only two months after its discovery doctors in Europe and the United States were using x-rays for clinical purposes, to identify broken bones, tumors and foreign objects. The discovery also paved the way for the development of radiologic science modalities used today like computed tomography, mammography, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and many others. For his work, Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901.

According to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 3.6 billion diagnostic x-ray examinations performed annually in hospitals, clinics and health care settings worldwide. In addition, there are more than 450,000 registered radiologic technologists in the U.S., the health care professionals who perform medical imaging and radiation therapy procedures; they make up the third-largest group of health care professionals surpassed in number only by physicians and nurses.

Since 1979, the American Society of Radiologic Technologistshas celebrated National Radiologic Technology Week^® during the week of Nov. 8 to honor Roentgen’s discovery and recognize the vital work of medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals in patient care and health care safety. This year’s NRTW is Nov. 5-11, and the theme is “Patients Are Our Passion; Safety Is Our Priority.”

Brandon A. Smith,
M.B.A., M.S.R.S., R.T.(R)(VI), CIIP

ASRT President Brandon A. Smith, M.B.A., M.S.R.S., R.T.(R)(VI), CIIP, was recently presented with the 2023 North Texas Radiologic Technologist Society Living Legend Award.

Smith is a team lead in the clinical services radiology division of GE Healthcare in Houston, Texas, and the current president of the ASRT. In addition, he is a member of the Texas Society of Radiologic Technologists Inc., North Texas Radiologic Technologist Society and several other state societies that represent medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.

“We’re incredibly proud of Brandon as he continues to support the ASRT, the radiologic technology community and the future of our profession,” said ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa B. Pergola, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(M), FASRT. “He’s a tireless volunteer who always goes the extra mile to advance the profession and is an inspiration to medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.”

The ASRT has extended its submission deadline to Dec. 13 for qualified members interested in volunteer positions on the Fellows Program Review Committee.

The duties, qualifications and time commitments required for these openings are available through the link below:

Fellows Program Review Committee

Please contact ASRT Volunteer Services at [email protected] with any questions or concerns. To see all current positions available, visit the Open Volunteer Opportunities page.

Radiography educational program directors report that the number of enrolled students increased slightly in radiography, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine technology programs in 2023 as compared to 2022. However, enrollment in sonography and magnetic resonance programs decreased slightly according to the American Society of Radiologic Technologists Enrollment Snapshot 2023.

Conducted annually, the ASRT enrollment survey highlights entering class enrollments, student capacity and program data that measures past trends, attrition and viability rates.

The 2023 survey results show that the number of enrolled radiography students increased with an estimated 17,679 students entering American Registry of Radiologic Technologists-approved radiography programs, up from 16,235 in 2022.

Student enrollment in ARRT-approved radiation therapy programs is estimated at 1,302 students in 2023, up from 1,208 in 2022.

Nuclear medicine program enrollments also increased with an estimated 903 students enrolling in 2023, up from 837 in 2022.

For the second consecutive year, the survey tracked enrollments in sonography and magnetic resonance programs. In 2022, there were an estimated 3,144 students enrolled in ARRT-recognized sonography programs, down from 3,531 in 2022. And MR programs enrolled an average of 555 students, a decrease from 720 in 2022.

“The American Society of Radiologic Technologists reviews longitudinal enrollment survey results, along with feedback from educator and student members, to ensure that we create and maintain forward-thinking, valuable benefits that support educational programs in medical imaging and radiation therapy,” said Melissa Culp, M.Ed., R.T.(R)(MR), ASRT executive vice president of member engagement.

ASRT sent the survey to 1,209 directors of radiography, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine technology, sonography and MR programs currently approved by the ARRT. By the close of the survey in late October, 301 responses had been received, yielding an overall response rate of 28.5%. Of the radiography programs surveyed 97.3% were in the United States with 2.7% in Canada. The ASRT began conducting the survey in 2001.

Enrollment Snapshot 2023