SDMS Sound News

Volume 8, Issue 3          March 31, 2006                ISSN 1543-0448

 
  In This Issue...
  1. Start Here. Go Anywhere! SDMS Announces Student Conclave
  2. New SDMS Member Benefit: DellTM Employee Purchase Program
  3. Member Logos Available - Download Yours Today!
  4. SDMS Discontinues AMA Category 1 Credit
  5. Call for SDMS Educational Foundation Board Members
  6. Update Available for The SCAN®
  7. Physicians, Manufacturers, Patients, and Imaging Services Providers Urge Congress to Re-consider Medicare Imaging Cuts
  8. JRC-DMS Discontinues Effort to Separate from CAAHEP
  9. Attention All Students: Changes are Being Made to the Federal Student Loan Program
  10. Grants Available for Educating the "Frontline" Workforce - Including Sonographers
  11. News & Notes
  12. Important Dates

This issue of SDMS Sound News is sponsored by GE Healthcare, a PLATINUM sponsor of SDMS.
GE Healthcare is the leading global pharmaceutical provider of diagnostic imaging products. GE Healthcare is dedicated to providing healthcare professionals with products that expand and improve their diagnostic capabilities and contribute to the treatment of disease. With a focus in cardiovascular imaging, GE Healthcare markets Optison (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres for Injection, USP) for use in echocardiography.

SDMS Sound News is a way of sharing important or time-sensitive news with our members. It supplements our print newsletter, News Wave, and provides links to new information and services available on the SDMS web site. SDMS Sound News is published monthly. An archive of past issues is available at http://www.sdms.org/lists/soundnewsarchive.asp 		 
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  1. Start Here. Go Anywhere! SDMS Announces Student Conclave

The SDMS is proud to announce the 2006 SDMS Sonography Student Conclave, which will take place in Denver on October 12, 2006. This a great opportunity for sonography students to explore their professional opportunities, and to network with employers, recruiters, manufacturers, and sonography publishers. SDMS student members can attend at no charge, and non-members can register for just $40, which includes a complimentary one-year SDMS student membership.

To read the complete press release, please visit http://www.sdms.org/pdf/2006studentconclavePR.pdf.

 
  2. New SDMS Member Benefit: DellTM Employee Purchase Program

For the past five years, the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) has used DellTM servers and computers. SDMS and Dell have now teamed up to offer SDMS members the benefit of participating in the Dell Employee Purchase Program.

As a SDMS member, with the Dell Employee Purchase Program, you can receive:

  • Up to a 12% discount on DimensionTM and InspironTM Home & Home Office products
  • Discounted 3-5 business day ground shipping
  • Dell’s award-winning 24-hour online and telephone technical support
  • Frequent special values and promotions in addition to your standard discounts

For information about Dell's Employee Purchase Program, and how to take advantage of this SDMS member benefit, go to http://www.sdms.org/members/dell.asp

Disclaimer: While SDMS is offering this benefit to its members, all transactions are between the individual member and Dell. SDMS does not endorse Dell products or services. SDMS does not provide financing, customer service, warranty service, repair or technical support for any Dell products or services related to this or any other Dell program. 		 
  3. Member Logos Available - Download Yours Today!

SDMS members can now use specially designed logos to display their pride in being a member of the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. Three different member logos are available for your use (in web and print formats). A special set of logos are available for Fellow members of the Society. You must remain a current member of SDMS to use the logos - be sure to fully read the terms of use agreement before using the logos.

For more information, visit: http://www.sdms.org/members/memberlogo.asp

Learn more about SDMS - Your Best Career Investment! Learn more about SDMS - Your Best Career Investment! Learn more about SDMS - Your Best Career Investment!
 
  4. SDMS Discontinues AMA Category 1 Credit

Beginning April 1, 2006, the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) will no longer offer continuing medical education through the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Instead, SDMS will continue to focus on its status as a recognized continuing medical education provider for the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS), Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), and American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT).

SDMS has long had an established presence in the sonography community of providing a high quality review, evaluation and CME award process. The SDMS process is focused on the needs of its constituents - sonographers, whereas the ACCME program is designed for awarding continuing education credit to physicians.

For more information, please visit http://www.sdms.org/news/release03282006.asp.

 
  5. Call for SDMS Educational Foundation Board Members

The SDMS Educational Foundation is accepting 'letters of interest', and resumes or CVs, for two Board member positions available in October 2006. These board positions have three-year terms and begin at the conclusion of the SDMS Annual Conference in Denver.

The Foundation Board meets face-to-face once a year, holds regular conference calls, and is responsible for administering sonographer and student scholarships and grants each year, as well as continuing improvement of The SCAN and other educational products. Board members are an integral part of donation solicitation and fundraising activities to fund Foundation educational programs.

If you are a SDMS member in good standing and are interested in serving on the Foundation’s Board of Directors, please mail or fax (214-473-8563) your resume or CV with a letter of interest to the Foundation office by June 30, 2006.

If you have any questions, please contact Dawn Sanchez at 800-229-9506 or email at dsanchez@sdms.org.

 
  6. Update Available for The SCAN®

With the development of The SCAN® in 1999, came the promise that this tool would be regularly reviewed and updated to insure that it remained both valuable and functional.

(Click here for more information about The SCAN®)

Over the last few years, each specialty section of The SCAN has been examined and updated, with minor changes. The most recent evaluation and revision was completed on the Obstetrics/Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) and Professional Qualities (PQ) sections. This review resulted in noticeable changes to both sections. In response to feedback from user of The SCAN, the Professional Qualities have been significantly revised and reorganized into four major groups with the objectives only listed once in the entire section. The most perceptible change in the Ob/Gyn section is the integration of two PQ proficiencies that address technical performance. It was felt that by integrating these objectives into the specialty section that both educators and students would have a clearer understanding of student expectations and The SCAN would be more user friendly!

The updated version of both the Ob/Gyn and PQ sections are available now. The SCAN Online Forms Library has also been updated and now contains all documents associated with these two areas, including the Clinical Exam Totals form and Clinical Logbook, the Master Proficiency Lists, and the Performance Objectives Overview. All “pre-revision” versions of these documents will also be available in the library until May 31, 2006. If you are using The SCAN in your practice or program, and do not have access to the online library, please contact Dawn Sanchez at the Foundation office at 800-229-9506, ext. 169 or email her at dsanchez@sdms.org for more information.

Please note: Program Directors that have supplied the Foundation with information relating to their use of the The SCAN will be sent a complimentary copy of each of these updated sections.

 
  7. Physicians, Manufacturers, Patients, and Imaging Services Providers Urge Congress to Re-consider Medicare Imaging Cuts

A letter signed by NEMA and some 30 medical groups, technology associations, health care providers, and patient advocates requested that Congress re-consider the deep cuts it made in medical imaging services for Medicare beneficiaries in the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005.

For the complete press release, go to: http://www.nema.org/media/pr/20060302b.cfmawards.pdf

 
  8. JRC-DMS Discontinues Effort to Separate from CAAHEP

JRC-DMS has been investigating the possibility of JRC-DMS separating from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) to become a freestanding accreditor of diagnostic medical sonography programs.

At this time, JRC-DMS has decided to discontinue its efforts to separate from CAAHEP. The JRC-DMS Board of Directors feels this is the most appropriate course due to multiple factors, which include, but are not limited to the following:

  1. CAAHEP has increased its communications with Committees on Accreditation (CoAs)
  2. JRC-DMS has stated throughout the investigation process that the separation process would not put a sonography graduate's eligibility to take the ARDMS registry exam at risk. With the revised ARDMS Prerequisite 2, JRC-DMS could not maintain this promise and still separate from CAAHEP.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Amanda Glassing, Accreditation Coordinator, at aglassing@jcahpo.org. 		 
  9. Attention All Students: Changes are Being Made to the Federal Student Loan Program

President Bush recently signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which will make significant changes to the Federal student loan program. Most significantly the bill eliminates a student loan borrower's option of consolidating their student loans while being still being enrolled. In addition, this bill preserves a provision passed in 2001 that shifts the interest rate on new student loans obtained after July 1, 2006 from a variable rate based on the 91-Day Treasury Bill to a fixed rate of 6.8%.

Both of these provisions go into effect on July 1, 2006.

Loans consolidated prior to July 1, 2006 will have a fixed rate based on the weighted average of the loans being consolidated. This means that you may want to take advantage of the opportunity to lock these rates prior to July 1, 2006. Failure to consolidate and thereby lock-in the interest rate on your current loans prior to July 1, 2006 will result in a significant increase in the rate that is charged on these loans.

For more information, please visit http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2006/gheareauthorization020906.html

This website highlights some of the changes in more detail:
http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2006/greconciliationsummary020206.html

 
  10. Grants Available for Educating the "Frontline" Workforce - Including Sonographers

JOBS TO CAREERS: PROMOTING WORK-BASED LEARNING FOR QUALITY CARE, a new, four-year national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with The Hitachi Foundation, will award grants to partnerships for advancing and rewarding the skill and career development of incumbent workers providing care and services on the front lines of our health and health care systems. Full proposals are due May 18, 2006. The initiative will support partnerships of employers, educational institutions, and other organizations to expand and redesign systems to:
  • Create lasting improvements in the way that institutions train and advance their frontline workers; and
  • Test new models of education and training that incorporate work-based learning.
TIMETABLE FOR SUBMITTING PROPOSALS
April 3, 2006 (1-2 p.m. EST) & April 5, 2006 (3-4 p.m. EST): Informational Web conferences for interested applicants
May 18, 2006, 3:00 p.m. (EDT): Deadline for receipt of full proposals
June 30, 2006: Finalists are notified
September 1, 2006: Grants are awarded

Proposals must be submitted online. For more information, see the JOBS TO CAREERS Web site: http://www.jtcp.org

 
  11. News & Notes

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

  
  12. Important Dates
May 31 NEW DEADLINE SDMS Educational Foundation Research Awards deadline
May 31 NEW DEADLINE SDMS Awards and Competitions deadline
July 31 SDMS Educational Foundation Scholarship deadline
July 31 SDMS Educational Foundation CME Grants deadline
Oct 12 - 15 2006 SDMS Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado
November 30 SDMS Educational Foundation Scholarship deadline
 
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© Copyright 2006. Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Plano, TX. All Rights Reserved.