Podcast Intro: This is “The Rad Position” with ASRT CEO and Executive Director Melissa Pergola, a podcast for medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.
Melissa Pergola: Hi there and welcome back to “The Rad Position,” a podcast for medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals. I'm Melissa Pergola, ASRT CEO and executive director, and I'm joined by my podcast partner,
Ray.
Ray Arambula: Hello everyone, excited to be back in another episode.
Melissa Pergola: Thanks Ray, and thanks to everyone so much for listening, and we're asking that you be sure to subscribe so you can get notifications for new episodes. So today we're interviewing the ASRT Speaker Shellie Pike and
the ASRT Vice Speaker Ashley Perkins. They will talk about ASRT governance and their important roles. Are you excited about the interview, Ray?
Ray Arambula: I am very excited. From behind the scenes, I know that the speaker and vice speaker do a lot.
Melissa Pergola: Yes.
Ray Arambula: And I see the care and commitment they bring to the profession but also to the Board of Directors. So yes, very excited to learn more.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah, I am too. I'm excited for people to learn about not only the significant difference that they make but the time commitment and the commitment to all that they have to do that people don't know about. And so,
let's go ahead and get started.
So tonight we have Shellie Pike, speaker of the House on the ASRT Board of Directors and we also have Ashley Perkins who is vice speaker of the House on the ASRT Board of Directors. So let me tell you a little bit about them. So Shellie Pike, and
her pronouns are she/her, has been working in medical imaging for 23 years. She currently practices as a radiologist assistant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She works closely with students and technologists in multiple modalities with the majority of
her focus in the fluoroscopy suite, image and practice quality improvement, and CT reconstruction. Shellie has served the ASRT in a variety of positions including currently, as I mentioned, serving as the speaker of the House. Also as a member
of the ACR [American College of Radiology] Blue Ribbon Panel of Fluoroscopy Safety and a member of the Consensus Committee on the Future of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy. She's also been active in volunteering with the ARRT [American Registry
of Radiologic Technologists] as well as other nonprofit organizations. Welcome Shellie.
Shellie Pike: Thank you for having me.
Melissa Pergola: And then we have Ashley Perkins. Ashley has been working in medical imaging for 18 years. She currently serves as the clinical imaging specialist for Franciscan Health in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she contributes
to many areas of the imaging department. Ashley's primary responsibilities are creating and maintaining policies, procedures, and guidelines, initiating, monitoring, and maintaining quality activities, staff education, and ACR and ACHC [Accreditation
Commission for Health Care] compliance. She was selected as a student intern in 2006 and has continued to volunteer for the ASRT. As I mentioned, Ashley currently serves as vice speaker of the House and looks forward to continuing her service
to the ASRT for years to come. Welcome Ashley.
Ashley Perkins: Thank you for the invite, Melissa.
Melissa Pergola: So Shellie and Ashley, thank you so much for coming on with us tonight. We were very excited when we knew that you would come speak with us. What I want to do is start talking a little bit about your role, about governance.
A lot of our listeners don't really understand the whole governance process with the ASRT. So my first question is what does a governance year look like for the speaker and vice speaker?
Shellie Pike: Well, that's a great question, Melissa, and I think a lot of our members don't fully understand what goes into our governance process. So basically the role of the speaker and vice speaker is to collaborate with the
various governance committees to keep our governing documents updated. And that's accomplished beginning shortly after the annual governance meeting in June. And the Practice Standards Council takes up their work immediately afterwards and the
subcommittees start reviewing their sections of the Practice Standards documents. So we have the Practice Standards Council and subcommittees, which are comprised of volunteers, and we consider them our subject matter experts. And we have those
related to each of our 13 disciplines that are represented in our Practice Standards. This process actually goes from July to October, the in-depth review process of the Practice Standards. And then once that process is completed, the document
actually goes out for public comment. So everyone in the public has an opportunity to provide input into the updates to our Practice Standards documents. And then the greater PSC will make one more set of amendments following public comments based
on the information that they get from the public. And then they're going to send their recommendations to the Commission. And Ashley, if you want to talk about what happens after that.
Ashley Perkins: So once those items make it to the Commission, the Commission is going to review the items that the greater PSC has sent to them, and they are going to recommend either adoption or nonadoption of those changes. The
process isn't completed until the annual governance meeting, where the delegates then determine whether to adopt or not to adopt the updated Practice Standards through the recommendations made by the Commission. And if they choose to not adopt
those changes, then the document just reverts back to its original self.
Melissa Pergola: So I'm confused because so often people say, well, ASRT just makes those decisions in isolation in a room, right? This sounds like a pretty serious process. I hear multiple people, I hear public comment, right? It's,
it is quite different than people think the process is.
Shellie Pike: Yeah, absolutely. We take the revision of our Practice Standards document very seriously. It's not a lightly taken task. And we have numerous checks and balances. So as you can see, we have our subject matter experts,
we have public comment, we have the Commission that gives us another round, and then the final approval — amendment or rejection — is ultimately up to the delegates as part of the House of Delegates meeting.
Ray Arambula: And it sounds like a lot of work is done through the PSC. How large is that committee?
Shellie Pike: So the Practice Standards Council is comprised of 12 individuals that represent those 13 modalities.
Melissa Pergola: So you mentioned the Commission. What's the role of the Commission in the governance process?
Ashley Perkins: The Commission is composed of volunteers who review all of the motions that will be presented to the House of Delegates for approval. These motions can come via the Practice Standards as updates, any bylaws revisions
that may be looked at, maybe for looking to change some of our position statements, those will also be looked at by the Commission, and any other practice issues that may arise during the year, which we feel like we may need to bring some voice
to, it is sent to the Commission. So the Commission does a really good job of ensuring that all of the changes put forward have been vetted out and looked at by a second set of eyes, besides the PSC or the Committee on Bylaws.
Shellie Pike: Yeah, so as you can see, you know, and as everybody's aware, medical imaging and radiation therapy is an always evolving practice across the country. So the Practice Standards intent is to keep us up to date with current
practice. So we are currently on a four discipline per year revision. So every year we review four disciplines that are then taken to the House of Delegates. But if there's ever a practice need that comes up and arises urgently, we can review
that modality out of cycle. And that has been done in the past. If there's urgent or emerging technology that we need to address immediately, we take care of that right away. We don't have to wait that full revision cycle.
Melissa Pergola: I see. So with four and there being 12, so it's every three years.
Shellie Pike: Every three years.
Melissa Pergola: I see. So you mentioned the bylaws as well. So what is the purpose of the bylaws and how does that committee function?
Shellie Pike: Yeah, so our bylaws are essentially the rules that are adopted that maintain and maintained by our association, or Society, that are going to define and direct how our internal structure is managed. The bylaws outline
things like our membership categories. They outline our qualifications for affiliate societies, the qualifications in terms of office for the Board of Directors, our House of Delegates members and also our volunteer committee members. And so again,
the bylaws are updated every three years. And then once again, if there's an urgent need, we can look at those bylaws again out of cycle and amend them as needed.
Melissa Pergola: So you also mentioned a lot of this work being done throughout the year, but sort of culminating in our Annual Governance and House of Delegates. So can you discuss and tell our listeners a little bit about what goes
into the Annual Governance and House of Delegates besides committee work? And then maybe tell us a little bit about what your role is there.
Shellie Pike: All right. So well, the speaker and vice speaker are elected by the House of Delegates and the speaker leads the House of Delegates meeting. And then the primary duties of the speaker is really just to work closely with
the vice speaker, our parliamentarian, who is amazing, and also our excellent ASRT staff so that we can manage the work of the House. And then we also make appointments to different House committees, including the House of Delegates Minutes Approval
Committee and those members that serve as Sergeant-at-Arms.
Ashley Perkins: And additionally, we also get to serve as ASRT Board liaisons to the House committees and the Practice Standards Council. And we preside at House meetings and represent the voice of the House to the ASRT elected Board
members.
Melissa Pergola: Excellent.
Ray Arambula: So what is your favorite part of serving as speaker and vice speaker?
Shellie Pike: So as speaker of the House, I think being able to watch all of the hard work that our governance committees are doing throughout the year, watching that come to fruition. I love seeing the work that our volunteers have
put in as it gets finalized. It's extremely rewarding and it actually impacts all of the medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals that are practicing across the U.S. But in addition to the governance process, I have thoroughly enjoyed
being able to attend other organizational meetings, such as the ACR meeting last spring, and affiliate meetings, and being able to present information about not only the RA profession and how we can benefit the medical imaging and radiation therapy
profession, but also lectures regarding serving our patients who belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. So these are two of my main passions and I really hope to be able to continue sharing those topics, as well as many more, as I continue to serve
on the Board of Directors.
Melissa Pergola: That's excellent.
Ashley Perkins: And my favorite part serving as vice speaker is the interactions. I can't tell you the number of amazing individuals I have been able to meet over the past year and a half and seeing their passion for our profession
definitely makes me want to do my job and be the best vice speaker that I can be. As Shellie stated, too, we're also able to go and visit affiliate societies as part of being on the Board. We represent the ASRT and getting to see the affiliates
do their work is amazing and it definitely makes me a better vice speaker. The passion that each and every person brings to this profession is amazing, and I've been also really lucky to be a part of the new Be Seen campaign. It's very cool to
watch our profession grow in front of our eyes and be able to touch other people who may not know who we are as medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah, and as the Board, I know in some of the other episodes we talked about the relationship between the Board and the CEO and the CEO and the staff, and I just can't thank you enough for the direction that you give
to the organization to make all of those great things happen. Not just the Be Seen campaign but everything that you do in really inspiring us and setting strategy. Now, Ray, might want to become a speaker or vice speaker. Now, Ray, actually you
can't become a speaker or vice speaker, but one of the things you didn't talk about is the time commitment. So, Ray, how many hours a week, well let's see, what if I say average monthly, how many hours average monthly do you think the speaker
and vice speaker spend working as a volunteer in this role?
Ray Arambula: Monthly?
Melissa Pergola: Monthly, what's an average? Oh, I might should have asked Ashley and Shellie if they're ready to answer that. OK, they got it. OK, Ray, what do you think?
Ray Arambula: Oh, I imagine it's a lot. So, I'm going to go high and say 150.
Shellie Pike: Oh, he thinks we're really committed.
Ray Arambula: I see the passion you bring.
Melissa Pergola: But Ray, it’s a 40-hour workweek.
Shellie Pike: But you said a month.
Melissa Pergola: They have to work as well though.
Shellie Pike: That's true. That's true. We have full-time jobs.
Ray Arambula: I just, I see all the passion that comes through, the commitment and the energy. So, I imagine it's a lot of work.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah, yeah. I would say you probably are thinking about it that many hours, but how many physical hours are you doing it?
Shellie Pike: So, on average, they tell us that we should allot 12 hours per week and that is attending virtual meetings, drafting and responding to emails, and then participating in our other Board duties, which might include affiliate
meetings, things like that. And really, post annual governance meeting is our busiest time because we start with two to three meetings per week from July to August. So, we do invest a significant time commitment immediately post annual governance
meeting.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah, and that's a good point to, I mean, to Ray's point — it is a lot of time. If you just look at the physical hours that you spend on calls off hours. If you've not been in this position as a Board member,
I don't think you can adequately understand the time commitment and dedication that the speaker and vice speaker have to have.
Shellie Pike: I actually always joke with my employers. I'm like, “Well, I'm done with work for the day. Now, I'm going to go do my volunteer job, which is also almost full time.”
Ashley Perkins: It is a large commitment, but it's truly worth it. I mean, being able to work with such great people makes it easier. Also, I think we need to take a moment to touch on how helpful the ASRT staff is to us. They are
facilitating a lot of the things that we need to accomplish in the background. So, having their support, I know, definitely allows us to work less, so we're not hitting Ray's 150 hours in a month.
Ray Arambula: It is pretty high now that I think about it. That’s a lot.
Shellie Pike: But overall, for the yearly commitment, we are expected to spend a minimum of 40 days traveling and committed to ASRT functions and meetings.
Ray Arambula: That’s a lot.
Shellie Pike: Some of that is on the weekends, so it doesn't always interfere with your weekly, your day job, but it's a big commitment.
Ray Arambula: Well, thank you for your commitment. We surely appreciate it.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah, it really is. So, if someone is considering actually becoming a speaker or vice speaker, now after Ray let them know that it's 150 hours in a month, I'm not sure if we're going to get anybody wanting to run
anymore. But if they did want to, what are the qualifications for being speaker and vice speaker?
Ashley Perkins: So, Ray, this is the first one that excludes you from even running, but you must practice in the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession or health care. You must be a voting member of the ASRT, and you must
have been a voting member for at least four years immediately preceding your nomination. You must be a voting member of an ASRT affiliate or serve active duty in the United States Armed Forces. You have to have served as a delegate for a minimum
of two years. Following an election, if you are elected, you cannot serve concurrently on a board of any medical imaging or radiation therapy certification agency, accreditation agency, professional association, or even a delegate in the House
of Delegates. And having the time and availability necessary to travel to represent the ASRT is also one of those things that is a huge qualification. I know for myself, my employer is pretty flexible, but that is something I would also be aware
of and time away from your family. We highly suggest that any member that's planning to seek election as an ASRT vice speaker communicate with their families and their employers about the time commitment required for this position and make sure
you have their support because you're really going to need people to help you on the backside when you are in this position.
Ray Arambula: Oh, Melissa, I can safely say I don't check any of those boxes.
Melissa Pergola: I thought you were going to say I can safely say I don't want to do that.
Shellie Pike: Technically, you practice in medical imaging radiation therapy profession because you work for the ASRT. So technically you do check one box.
Ashley Perkins: Shellie's got me on the bylaw there.
Shellie Pike: But, but,
Melissa Pergola: but you have to be a delegate.
Ray Arambula: I have lots more check boxes.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah. A few more check boxes.
We'll be right back after this short message.
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Ray Arambula: So Ashley and Shellie, besides the governance committees, what other duties do the speaker and vice speaker have?
Shellie Pike: Yeah. So sometimes it feels like a never-ending list, but it's actually a pretty short list. So, first of all, we serve as members of the Board of Directors, and we work towards furthering the mission of the ASRT. And
then as we mentioned earlier, you can attend affiliate meetings where we would provide continuing education lectures. We provide guidance to the affiliates. We may help them with things like registration or their installation of officers during
their annual conference, if they would like us to do that. And then additionally, ASRT Board members can actually be appointed to other committees to outside external organizations. And then you just do that in addition to your Board duties.
Ashley Perkins: And if you guys don't know this, I don't know how much Shellie has given herself credit or taken the positive accolades, but Shellie has been appointed to two additional committees, the ACR Blue Ribbon Panel. And she's
also working with the ACR to kind of help push that RA thought process forward with them. So she's being a great champion and moving the profession forward.
Shellie Pike: Thank you.
Melissa Pergola: I wish you all could have seen her at the ACR meeting this last year when she stood up and spoke for the RA and was the voice and face of the RA. It was moving in the room, and you could see the radiologists really
start to understand who you are as a professional. So thank you for being the face of the radiologist assistant in these really important meetings.
Shellie Pike: Just to feel the acceptance and welcoming from the radiologists was absolutely amazing.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah.
Ray Arambula: Well, Shellie and Ashley, we're certainly grateful to have you as speaker and vice speaker and members of the Board of Directors. And thank you for your insight into what you all do. But now we're going to transition
into a game.
Melissa Pergola: Oh no!
Ashley Perkins: A game?
Ray Arambula: So you all have pretty important roles in the organization as speaker and vice speaker. I imagine you have to be in tune with one another. So today's game is named after Melissa's favorite boy band NSYNC.
Melissa Pergola: I don't even like boy bands. Where did you make that up?
Ray Arambula: She secretly does.
Shellie Pike Oh, wouldn't it be New Kids on the Block? That’s more our time frame.
Melissa Pergola: OK, so now we know that's not true. Go ahead.
Ray Arambula: So in this game called NSYNC, we are going to learn just how aligned the CEO, speaker and vice speaker of ASRT really are. So here's how it works. At the same time, you're going to provide a one-word response immediately
after I give a term or phrase. Ashley, you look really nervous.
Ashley Perkins: Oh, this is terrible. When have I ever given a one-word response, Ray?
Ray Arambula: This is so much fun. OK. We're going to do a warmup round.
Melissa Pergola: OK.
Ray Arambula: I'm going to give the first term. OK. Are you ready for a one-word response?
All: OK.
Ray Arambula: New Mexico.
Ashley Perkins: Chile.
Melissa Pergola and Shellie Pike: Albuquerque.
Ray Arambula: Interesting.
Melissa Pergola: High five.
Ray Arambula: OK. The next set of terms should be familiar to the role of speaker and vice speaker.
Melissa Pergola: Oh no.
Ray Arambula: Terms the CEO should also be familiar.
Melissa Pergola: Oh, she should know, right? Thanks, Ray.
Ray Arambula: Are you ready?
Shellie Pike: Ready.
Melissa Pergola: OK.
Ray Arambula: HOD.
All: House of Delegates.
Ashley Perkins: But that's more than one word. So we should probably go meeting.
Melissa Pergola: Oh no, House. We all did wrong though. See, but we're all in sync.
Shellie Pike: Members.
Ashley Perkins: Meeting.
Ray Arambula: Points for being all in sync.
Melissa Pergola: Thank you. Thank you. It's so funny that all of us threw the rules out the window. We just wanted to be right.
Shellie Pike: He kept telling us one word answer.
Ray Arambula: We have one more term that I'm going to give. And again, one word response. That's all I'm looking for. Jason Bradley.
Shellie Pike: Spectacular.
Melissa Pergola: Guest.
Ashley Perkins: Partner.
Ray Arambula: Wow.
Melissa Pergola: OK. In my defense, he is all of the things that you said.
Ray Arambula: He is.
Melissa Pergola: But he was the last guest.
Ray Arambula: That's true.
Shellie Pike: Yes. And he is truly a partner to us. He is our ASRT staff liaison, and we could not get the work that we do as speaker and vice speaker done without him.
Melissa Pergola: And if you didn't listen to the last episode, you need to go back and listen to it. So you can learn more about Jason Bradley too, and just see how amazing he is. So Shellie and Ashley, is there anything else that
you'd like our listeners to know?
Ashley Perkins: Yes. I would like to take a moment to discuss National Radiologic Technology Week®, also known as NRTW®. This year we celebrated it November 3rd through the 9th. This celebration was actually created by the
ASRT. Our first NRTW® week was held July 22nd through the 29th in 1979. That was even before I was born. And for those who don't know, we actually moved the celebration to November to coincide with November 8th, 1895, when Roentgen discovered
x-rays.
Shellie Pike: Yeah. So NRTW® is extremely important to our profession, and it actually celebrates and recognizes all of the vital work that each of our medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals do. And it has been so
exciting to follow everybody on social media, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and just see everything that you've been doing to celebrate NRTW® this week.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah. So happy that you brought that up. And we really want to encourage departments to celebrate their medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals. And just so you know, if you didn't take advantage of it
this year, we have a plethora of products and ideas and ways that you can celebrate your medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals. So listen for that next year.
Shellie Pike: Yeah. And be sure to share with us how your department celebrated you as a medical imaging and radiation therapy professional.
Ashley Perkins: Because remember, it was our time to be seen.
Melissa Pergola: Thank you, Shellie and Ashley, for coming on tonight. It was so amazing having you on. But seriously, thank you for everything that you do. And thank you for taking the time to educate our listeners on the extremely
important work that you do and the impact that you make for our profession.
Ray Arambula: Thank you both.
Shellie Pike: Thank you for having us. It's been a pleasure.
Ashley Perkins: And if you guys have any questions, you can always reach out to Shellie or myself. We would love to answer your questions about being vice speaker and speaker. We have awesome ASRT email addresses. So mine is [email protected] and Shellie's is [email protected].
We'll be right back after this short message.
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Ray Arambula: That was a really great interview.
Melissa Pergola: It was.
Ray Arambula: I learned a lot. I was very much off on the number of hours required on a monthly basis. But we narrowed it down and I got the more accurate figure. What did you learn from this, Melissa?
Melissa Pergola: I learned that karma is a real thing because you do the games that you do. And I'm so glad I asked you that question that you were way off on. But I think most importantly, I learned that to be a speaker and vice
speaker, you have to be extremely dedicated, not just with passion to the profession but you have to be willing to give up. And I think a lot of people don't realize how much the Board members do give up because in particular, the speaker and
vice speaker, as many hours as they talked about that they have to work, that when they're doing that, that we as professionals and members need to be cognizant that when they're doing that, they're not somewhere else. And so I think that what
I learned is we need to have more gratitude for the work that they do.
Ray Arambula: Yes. Very thankful for the work they do.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah. And so speaking about gratitude, we said last time that we have this new segment called We See You.
Ray Arambula: Hmm, yes.
Melissa Pergola: And so we are asking that listeners write in at [email protected] and tell us about how they got into this amazing profession. Or if you've happened upon us and you're a patient
and you're learning about what we do, we want you to write in and tell us about experiences that you've had with medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals. And I understand that we have one to read today in our We See You segment.
Ray Arambula: Awesome!
Melissa Pergola: So this one is Alex Beebe. And Alex says, “My name is Alex, and I'm glad I found this as I was studying to be an R.T. I got into the profession because of a recent hospital stay. Well, at this hospital, I saw
someone like me with a disability and decided to go into radiology. I've always had a fascination with professions in health care.”
How amazing is that?
Ray Arambula: That is amazing. And we see you, Alex. And it's so interesting to learn people's backstory and how they came into radiology. So thank you, Alex, for sharing that. We really appreciate it.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah. And thank you for listening. And thank you for being involved in the profession. We expect to see great things from you, Alex. So I do have one other piece of information that I would like to let our listeners
know about. And it's a new product available on the ASRT website. So are you ready to conquer the magnetic resonance certification exam? Or is it time to start ARRT's CQR process for your MRI credential? Well, guess what? We are introducing ASRT's
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Ray Arambula: Well, let's wrap this up. That was a very exciting podcast interview.
Melissa Pergola: It was so good. So good.
Ray Arambula: I really enjoyed that. Learned a lot.
Melissa Pergola: Yeah, it was a great episode. And we can't wait to see you guys next time on the next episode of “The Rad Position.”
Ray Arambula: And don't put yourself in a bad position.
Melissa Pergola: Stay up to date with “The RAD Position.”
Ray Arambula: So be sure to subscribe, share this podcast with your colleagues and friends.
Melissa Pergola: And to all our medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals,
Ray Arambula: Be seen.
Ray Arambula and Melissa Pergola: And stay rad!