1. SDMS Board Adopts New Strategic Plan
2. SDMS Awarded ACCME Accreditation for Continuing Medical Education
3. New Sonographer Pride Products Available
4. Societies Join Together to Promote Medical Ultrasound Awareness
5. SDMS Educational Foundation Scholarships Awarded
6. Certification News
7. The SDMS Membership Committee Needs Your Input
8. News & Notes
9. Important Dates

The SDMS Board of Directors met on April 16, 2004 in Dallas and adopted a new strategic plan including core purpose, core values, envisioned future, as well as a series of new goals and objectives to help guide the Society during the next 3 to 5 years.

CORE PURPOSE:

To enhance the art and science of medicine by advancing medical sonography

CORE VALUES:

Leadership: We are a visionary community relentlessly committed to professional excellence in medical sonography.
Innovation: We are a professional community forever in pursuit of innovative practice.
Integrity: We are a credible community accountable for ethical stewardship of our profession's interests and investments in the future.
Respect: We are an inclusive community united by common dedication to professional status for sonographers and shared appreciation of the value of diverse perspectives, experience and expertise.

ENVISIONED FUTURE:

Be responsible for credentialed sonographers achieving full professional status and sonography realizing its full potential within medical practice.

For information about the SDMS Strategic Planning process, see the Letter from the President in the May/June 2004 issue of News Wave (found in your next issue of the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography).

The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography has been awarded accreditation as a sponsor of continuing medical education for physicians by the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

"ACCME accreditation is a significant accomplishment for the SDMS," said Laurinda Andrist, SDMS President. "This is official recognition that SDMS' overall CME program meets established criteria for educational planning and quality. This accreditation enables SDMS to expand its educational offerings to include physician CME."

The ACCME rigorously evaluates the overall continuing medical education programs of organizations and institutions according to standards adopted by all seven sponsoring organizations of the ACCME. These are: the American Board of Medical Specialties; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association; the Association for Hospital Medical Education; the Council of Medical Specialty Societies; the Federation of State Medical Boards; and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

NOTE: Effective March 31, 2006, SDMS no longers offers AMA Category 1 CME credits.

SDMS is pleased to announce a new sonographer pride logo, Safe & Sound, - it appears on many of the new sonographer pride products now available.

Safe & Sound	United We Scan
Denim Shirt	Fashion Watch (Blue)
Polo (white)
T-shirt (short-sleeved)	Fashion Watch (Black)
Stainless Steel Travel Mug

Recognizing the importance of increasing public awareness of medical ultrasound and promoting its value in healthcare, the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) has joined together with the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS), the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), and the Society for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU) to sponsor Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month in October 2004.

All of the sponsoring organizations are encouraging members of the medical community to participate in Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month by familiarizing and educating their patients and the public about medical ultrasound through specially planned activities and educational materials.

To assist ultrasound professionals with planning activities for Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month, a free promotional kit, which includes an ultrasound fact and terminology sheet, a list of suggested activities, logos to use in promotional materials, and information on how to involve the media and local government is available at:

Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month is a collaborative effort of the AIUM, ARDMS, ASE, CCI, SDMS, and SVU, who share the common goal of familiarizing and educating the public about medical ultrasound and its importance in health care.

In addition to the many SDMS Pride items, SDMS has prepared special promotional items to help you promote Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month. This year's promotional items include:

• buttons
• posters
• T-shirts

For more information on the Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month promotional items, visit:

Each year the SDMS Educational Foundation awards scholarships to students attending CAAHEP accredited or CMA approved (Canada) sonography or cardiovascular technology programs. Scholarships are awarded during three deadline periods: March 30, July 31 and November 30. The following is a list of scholarship recipients for the March 2004 deadline:

ARDMS

ARDMS Increases Annual Fees

The ARDMS Board of Directors has announced the increase of annual Registry fees from $45 (USD) or $60 (CND) to $60 (USD) or $75 (CND) effective for the 2005 renewal.

ARDMS Changes its Name

To better reflect the present environment in which the ARDMS operates, the ARDMS Board of Directors approved a change in the organization’s name from the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) to the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS), effective Jan. 1, 2005.

Violators of ARDMS Rules Will Be Published

ARDMS will soon post the names of Registrants, candidates and applicants who have been found in violation of ARDMS’ disciplinary rules and will identify the imposed sanctions. ARDMS will also list the status of individuals who have never applied for or have never been certified by ARDMS but are in violation of ARDMS rules.

For more information, visit:

ARRT

ARRT recently announced it has incorporated its "Sonography Suite" of three Sonography certifications into its overall radiologic technology certification program. ARRT's Sonography certifications cover procedures from general to vascular to breast. Along with Radiography, Nuclear Medicine Technology and Radiation Therapy, ARRT's general Sonography certification becomes an ARRT primary category next year - open to recent graduates of approved educational programs who can demonstrate the appropriate education, ethics and examination qualifications.

Beginning in 2005, the Sonography certificate will be available to individuals who are not already registered with ARRT in another discipline, provided they are graduates of a sonography program accredited by a mechanism acceptable to ARRT. All such candidates must have completed the ARRT-defined clinical requirements and met ARRT's ethics standards prior to taking the test.

ARRT's Vascular Sonography certificate is a post-primary category, available to individuals who are already ARRT-registered in radiography, nuclear medicine technology or radiation therapy.

The Breast Sonography certificate is the most recent addition to ARRT's "Sonography Suite," having been introduced in 2004. This post-primary category is available to registered mammographers who also meet ARRT's clinical experience and ethics requirements.

For more information on eligibility for ARRT's "Sonography Suite" certifications, visit the www.arrt.org web site, or phone ARRT offices at (651) 687-0048, ext. 560, to request a handbook and application materials.

A vital role of the SDMS Membership Committee is evaluating member comments and suggestions regarding benefits, products and services. Your input is essential! SDMS membership grows each day and we want to insure that we are keeping up with your needs. With over 15,000 members, SDMS is THE largest sonographer organization, but we didn't get there by chance.

SDMS values your involvement in this evaluation process and the Membership Committee would like to invite your participation by taking just 5 minutes to complete the SDMS Membership Satisfaction Survey. Help us to help you!

The News & Notes column includes links to web-based news articles of interest to sonographers. To submit articles, send the URL to webmaster@sdms.org