1. SDMS Calls on Members to Help Support CARE Bill
   
2. SDMS Annual Conference Hotel is Filling Up!
3. 2007 Salary and Benefit Surveys
4. SDMS Staff Member Earns Certified Association Executive Credential
   
5. SDMS Welcomes New Staff Member
   
6. Employer Recognition
   
7. New Book Now Available Through SDMS
   
8. Free Resources for Sonography Educators
   
9. News & Notes
   
10. Important Dates
    

The CARE bill (House – H.R. 583; Senate – S.1042) is currently pending in the U.S. Congress. The CARE bill stands for ‘Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence (CARE) in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy. The bill would establish credentialing and education quality control standards for sonographers. The SDMS is a member of the ‘Alliance’, a coalition of twenty-two organizations actively supporting the passage of the CARE bill. The SDMS leadership feels strongly that the passage of the CARE bill is critical to the future of the profession.

SDMS is asking that its members throughout the country make their voices heard in support of the CARE bill. Specifically we are asking SDMS members to contact their congressional representatives (Senate and House) to let them know how important passing this bill is for patient safety and the provision of cost-conscious health care.

Please take the time to help support this effort.

2. SDMS Annual Conference Hotel is Filling Up!

Don’t forget to register and book your hotel room for the 2007 SDMS Annual Conference at the Red Rock Resort Spa. Registrations and hotel bookings are at record breaking levels. Don’t delay; register now before the space is all gone. An overwhelming majority of the rooms in the SDMS block are already booked.

Make your hotel reservations here: (The password is SDMS)
https://rooms.stationcasinos.com/cgi-bin/LANSAWEB?procfun+rn+Resnet+RRS+funcparms+UP(A2560):;RCISDMS;?/

The SDMS is pleased to announce the availability of two sonography salary and benefit surveys. Help us collect this important information about salaries and benefits in the sonography community. SDMS members must complete the survey before 5:00 pm on August 31, 2007 to be eligible for a random drawing.

Prizes in the random drawing include:

• 1st Prize: 2007 SDMS Annual Conference registration (value: $350)
• 2nd Prize: Free SDMS Membership renewal (value: $119)
• 3rd Prize: Gift certificate good for SDMS products (value: $50)

The SDMS and the American Society of Association Executives are proud to announce that Don Kerns, COO and Deputy Executive Director of the SDMS, has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE™) credential. The CAE is the highest professional credential in the association industry. Less than five percent of all association professionals have earned the CAE.

The SDMS is pleased to announce that a new programmer, Jon Jungman, has joined the SDMS staff. Jon is a 2003 graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Management Information Systems. Since graduating, he has worked for TXU Energy and Brierly+Partners, where he developed ‘reward’ websites for companies like American Eagle and Sony. Jon will be working with the SDMS IT Department on a wide variety of SDMS programming projects.

On April 16, 2005, the SDMS Board of Directors approved the following position statement relating to Sonographer Credentialing:

Provision of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) procedures requires that the sonographer performing the exam be credentialed by a nationally-recognized sonography credentialing organization. In the view of the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS), there is a strong need for requisite sonographer credentialing, because medical ultrasound services are highly operator-dependent. To insure patient safety, the sonographer shall demonstrate broad-based knowledge, good judgment, and appropriate real-time discretion to acquire the images and data used by the physician who interprets the studies.

Does your employer require that you pass and maintain one or more Registry credentials? Is this practice true for all sonographers in your lab? If so, SDMS would like to officially thank and recognize your employer for hiring and supporting only credentialed sonographers. Please have your manager or laboratory administrator send a letter to SDMS, on your facility’s letterhead, indicating that all sonographers in your facility are credentialed. When this verification is received, SDMS will send your facility a “Credentialed Sonographer Workplace” certificate of recognition. Additional public recognition will also be given by listing your facility’s name on a special page on our website, http://www.sdms.org/membership/workplace.asp.

The following textbook has just been made available through SDMS, with a discount for members. It is not listed in the printed SDMS 2007-2008 Product Catalog found in the May/June issue of JDMS, but it is in the online product catalog on page 5.

Essentials of Sonography and Patient Care, 2nd Edition
By Marveen Craig, RDMS
SDMS Item # 7584
SDMS Member Price: $42.25, Non-member Price: $46.95

Providing a solid foundation in sonography, this book is designed to help students succeed in both the classroom and in practice. It promotes study by defining important terminology, by providing a historical overview of ultrasound technology, and by describing the sonographer's role on the medical team — adding study techniques, note taking, effective listening, and test-taking strategies. For the clinical environment, the book covers topics such as taking a patient's vital signs, safety considerations, body mechanics, patient transfer, infection control, and emergency procedures. This book also prepares students for the transition into practice, covering expectations in various clinical settings, continuing education, sonography specialties, administrative roles, and career options.

Key Features:

• The only text devoted entirely to entry-level students, providing a foundation of essential knowledge.
• Step-by-step descriptions of basic medical procedures and patient care show sonographers how to safely perform procedures and how to interact with patients in a clinical setting.
• Updated instrumentation information on current technology in the field of ultrasound.
• Expanded information on body mechanics and proper scanning posture, helping sonographers avoid repetitive-motion musculoskeletal injuries.

The following message was posted on the SDMS Discussion Forums by SDMS member Jim Baun:

I'm happy to announce that a significant amount of additional educational materials have been added to the ProSono Library that can be accessed through my website http://www.jimbaun.com.

Included in this upload:

• 200+ single images, mostly OBG but some vascular as well. Images can be right-click copied, downloaded, and/or viewed on line.
• Physics images and schematics.
• Vascular sonography lecture notes and PowerPoint files. The entire course is now pretty much online. These files are derived from a VT course I taught at an accredited program several years back.

As some of you may know, the ProSono Library is a free, no dues, no membership online resource for sonography educators and students. Rather than letting all the material that I have accumulated in over 30 years as a sonography educator gather dust, I have been making it available free of charge to the sonography community. I do ask that if you, or your students, find anything useful in the Library, that you consider making even a modest donation to the SDMS Educational Foundation. When you enter the ProSono Library, you will first be directed to an appeal page where you can go to the secure Foundation website and make your contribution quickly and easily. If you do donate, email me a copy of your receipt (no card or bank numbers, please)and I will provide you with the passcode to bypass the appeal page in the future. All proceeds go directly to the Foundation. This is my contribution to the profession that has given so much to me. Please join me in investing in the future of DMS.

Best regards,
Jim Baun

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.