With almost 400 diagnostic medical sonographers and guests in attendance, the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography recognized the international winners of various awards and competitions at a star-studded special awards dinner. The awards dinner was held as part of the SDMS 2007 Annual Conference being held at the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa.

The conference was the largest ever held by the Society with more than 2,000 participants.

For the complete list of award winners and competition winners, please visit http://www.sdms.org/news/release10312007.pdf

The SDMS would like to thank the following companies who help the SDMS and SDMS Educational Foundation by providing financial support through advertising, exhibition at the Annual Conference, and sponsorships. Each company received a plaque at the 2007 SDMS Awards Dinner and was recognized for their support of the Society.

A gallery of photos from the 2007 SDMS Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV are now available for viewing at http://www.sdms.org/meetings/ac2007/ConfHighlights07/index.htm

The SDMS Conference Management Committee (CMC) has begun planning the 2008 Annual Conference. To assist the CMC in its continuing efforts to provide a conference that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations, you are encouraged to submit course and faculty proposals for the 2008 Annual Conference at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Mashantucket, CT. All proposals will be considered by the CMC during its 2008 Annual Conference planning meetings.

Proposals are due November 3, 2007.

The SDMS Educational Foundation is pleased to announce the formation of a new grant program for students, the Registry Grant Program. This program will be available beginning January 1, 2008 and serves to support and encourage sonography students by removing the impediment of costs associated with taking ARDMS credentialing examinations. The inception of this program coincides with the SDMS Educational Foundation?s 20 year anniversary. The addition of this program emphasizes the Foundation?s continued commitment to advancing the education of SDMS members and the sonography profession.

The Foundation has set aside funding for this program and hopes to receive additional funding through corporate sponsorship. Until that time, grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to those students who satisfy the grant criteria and guideline.

Forum: Educators
Topic: Policy on Drug Screening

I have been asked to gather information regarding drug screening for students. Does your policy require drug screening at the beginning of a program? Does anyone have a policy regarding random drug screening of the student? Who pays for the cost of drug screening? Must there be document of cause to do a random drug screening?

We currently do not have a mandate for drug screening. If the clinical site requires it as part of the affiliation agreement, then the site incurs the cost. However, this is something that we need to address and place in policy form within the next month.

Does anyone know the timeframe for some of the more frequently used "recreational substances" to not show up in a drug screen? Thank you for any advice.

The News & Notes column includes links to web-based news articles of interest to sonographers. The articles do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the SDMS. To submit articles, send the URL to webmaster@sdms.org.