The New Wave Continues: The RPAs (Medical Imaging Physician Extenders) Hold Their Seventh Annual Conference

In attendance were: 200 Certified Radiology Practitioner Assistants (RPAs); Several RPA students from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah; One ARRT-certified Radiology Assistant (RA); Three officers, Cathy Parsons, Christine Lung, and Kevin Powers, from the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT); Three officers, Jerry Reid, Ann Chapman, and Mark Raymond, from the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists; Members of the CBRPA Board of Directors: Roland Clements, President; Dr. Jane Van Valkenburg, Executive Director; Beverly Buck, RT(R)(T); Terry Liccardi, RPA; Jackie Whitledge, RPA; and Chuck Williams, RPA; Eleven speakers; Two registered radiologic technologists, Claudia Poolson, RT(R) and Marcelene Compton, RT(R); One sonographer, Henriann Clements, RT(R) RDMS; Two workshop hosts: Dr. Colin Brown and Neil Holtz, EMT-P. Mr. Holtz presented a four-hour ACLS Recertification Course, sponsored by the NSRPA and attended by over 40 RPAs and two physicians. Dr. Brown presented an excellent lecture on breast biopsies and then hosted a breast biopsy workshop. Cardinal Health and SonoSite sponsored this hands-on event. The medical companies provided the ultrasound units and necessary supplies for the more then 60 participants. The other nine guest speakers included Dr. Paul Potok, Dr. Aaron Shiloh, Dr. Lori Barr, Dr. Michael Wilkerson, Dr. James LePage, Dr. Jean Jose, Marsha Holton, BS, RN, Dr. Harvey Koolpe, and Dr. Wendy Book. Dr. Book, Co-Director at the Emory University Clinic Adult Congenital Cardiac Program, Atlanta, Georgia, presented a very interesting lecture on MR imaging of adult congenital heart disease. She used angiographic images, MRI images, and echocardiographic images to demonstrate cardiac anomalies that occur with congenital heart disease and other various surgical repairs that have been performed to establish normalized flow through the cardiopulmonary system. She referenced many of the interventional cardiology procedures that are currently performed. Dr. Book is the first cardiologist to be invited to speak at a NSRPA conference. Dr. Harvey Koolpe, Department of Radiology, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey, gave a lecture entitled, Globalization: The New Reality of the New Profession. He clarified the need for the RPA in the medical imaging community and presented several suggestions on how to market the RPA and obtain global academic recognition. He recommended that the NSRPA establish a political action committee, so the society could be represented at federal and state level legislative events. He also recommended the development of a journal for medical imaging physician extenders, reasoning that RPAs as a whole need to establish a publication so peer-review articles can be written and presented to the imaging community worldwide. Marsha Holton, CEO, Cardiovascular Orientation Programs, Indian Head, Maryland, presented two detailed lectures titled, Basic Ergonomics in Imaging and Advanced Ergonomics in Imaging. The focus of her two related topics was on the repetitive injuries that occur in physicians, nurses and technologists who work in invasive-interventional cardiology and interventional radiology settings. Her subject was based on an international survey she had completed on these types of injuries and the cost of medical care for injured employees. She discussed the carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic joint pain and chronic back pain, caused by prolonged wearing of lead aprons that are not worn correctly or are not manufactured with balanced weight so proper body posture is maintained. On Tuesday morning, Dr. Jean Jose, Chief Resident in Radiology at the Department of Radiology, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, opened the meeting with his dynamic lecture, Imaging of Abdominal Pain. His focus was on imaging modalities that should be primarily considered and utilized to diagnose the etiology of abdominal pain in all areas of the abdominal and pelvic cavities. Dr. Jose also covered medical issues that plague women, who are often sidetracked by the medical community when they present themselves for medical care. Dr. James Le Page, Emeritus Professor University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, presented A Practical Approach to Tumors of the Bone. Dr. Le Page has been a supporter of the RPA movement in the United States and returned as a guest lecturer for the third consecutive year. Dr. Le Page will also be one of the instructors for the RPA Program at South College in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Note: This program will offer a master’s degree. The gold-standard RPA program at Weber State University is awaiting final approval from the State of Utah Board of Regents for the Master’s degree.) How to Handle and Manage Allied Health Workers with Alcohol and Substance Abuse Issues was the topic of Dr. Michael Wilkerson's presentation. He is the Medical Director, Talbot Recovery Campus, Riverdale, Georgia. Dr. Wilkerson is board-certified in Addictive Medicine and Internal Medicine. Prior to his current position, he served as the Medical Director of the NC Physicians Health and Effectiveness Program with the North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dr. Wilkerson’s main emphasis was on alcoholism as a family disease and how professionals are assessed, treated and medically managed. Dr. Lori Barr, Austin Radiological Association, Austin, Texas, returned as a guest speaker for the third year and shared her expertise on how to perform contrast enemas on pediatric patients safely. She presented a series on the do’s and don’ts of this procedure. IR Oncology was the subject of Dr. Aaron Shiloh’s (Department of Radiology, Frankford Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) presentation. Dr. Shiloh focused on the treatment of liver and lung tumors with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Many RPAs who are employed in cardiology settings have experience with RFA, which is used to ablate accessory conductive pathways in the heart. The cardiac ablation catheters are withdrawn carefully across the mapped area of the cardiac conductive system where the accessory pathway that causes supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia has been located. In radiology, the probe is larger and is placed into the tumor with CT and/or MRI guidance. With tumor management, the purpose is cause the tumor to become necrotic or diminish growth. So far, malignancies in livers and lungs are treated. Dr. Shiloh showed very impressive images of pre-treated and post-treated tumors. He cautioned attendees about the need to determine if hepatic lesions are inflammatory processes or cancerous lesions. Dr. Shiloh, who is an active member of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), also read an address from Dr. John Kaufman, a faculty member of the Society of Interventional Radiology. Dr. Kaufman’s statement discussed his own first-hand knowledge of just how key the RPA is to a successful IR team. Dr. Paul Potok, Medical Director CT and Teleradiography, Quantum Imaging and Therapeutic Associates, Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, gave an outstanding dissertation on ultrasonography and how this imaging modality can become the user’s guide when various disease processes cause issues within the abdominal cavity. Dr. Potok returned as a keynote lecturer for the third year. At the annual business meeting, Eric Burd, RPA, was elected to another two-year term as President of the NSRPA. James Abraham, RPA will continue to function on the planning committee for the Eighth Annual Conference of the NSRPA. Chuck Williams, who has been appointed to the Certification Board of Radiology Practitioner Assistants (CBRPA), will continue to work on the same committee. The Board of Directors of the NSRPA, the planning committee and the members of the society wish to convey our sincere gratitude to our corporate sponsors and their representatives, all of whom assisted in the success of this conference. Conference sponsors were: AngioDynamics, represented by Shane Brown, Western Regional Manager and Sherry Herivel, IR Product Specialist; B-Braun Cardinal Health, represented by their IR Product Specialist, Sherry Haas; Cardinal Health, represented by Erika Rakovich and Shannon Walker; Cook Inc., kindly represented by their Product Specialists, Angela Malone and Chad Shields; Elsevier, very professionally represented by Gary Hay and Winnie Wallace; SonoSite, which provided the ultrasonography units for the Breast Biopsy Workshop. SonoSite was represented by Rick Jimenez, Sales Consultant, and Rhonda Knighton, Sonographer. If anyone has an interest in becoming a RPA, please contact: 1) RPA Program, Department of Radiologic Sciences, Weber State University, 3925 University Circle, Ogden, Utah 84408-3925. (800) 848-7770 or Dr. Robert Walker at his e-mail address, rwalker2@ weber.edu; 2) RPA Program, South College, 720 North Fifth Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917. Contact Ivan Kennedy, RPA at ikennedy@southcollegetn.edu or call (865) 251-1743; 3) RPA Program, Florida National College, 4425 W 20 Avenue, Hialeah, Florida 33012. Call (305) 821-3333 extension 1002 or e-mail Maria Cristina Regueiro at mregueiro@fnc.edu. Information of the certification process for RPAs can be obtained from the Certification Board of Radiology Practitioner Assistants (CBRPA) website, www.cbrpa.org, and any information about the NSRPA can be obtained from the website www.radiologypa.org. Information about cardiovascular review courses can be obtained through Marsha Holton, CCRN, RCIS, FSICP, Cardiovascular Orientation Programs, 3160 Green Meadows Road, Indian Head, MD 20640; (301) 643-4427 or email her at marshasicp@aol.com. The two-day review courses are ASRT-approved for sixteen hours of Category A Continuing Education credits. If a facility has a desire to sponsor an ACLS Certification and/or Recertification Program, contact Neil Holtz, EMT-P, Emergency Medical Training Academy, 290 The Esplanade Way, Loganville, Georgia 30052. (404) 533-7222 or Neil at emta1497@aol.com. If anyone would like to learn about how alcoholism and substance abuse affects an individual, family units and co-workers, contact Dr. Michael Wilkerson, Talbot Recovery Campus, Riverdale, Georgia. His phone number is (678) 251-3108. The dates of next year’s conference will be announced on the society website, www.radiologypa.org. Registration and memberships can be completed through the secure website. In conclusion, we would like to acknowledge Ms. Jerri Byers, Administrative Assistant, Department of Radiologic Sciences, Weber State University, for her cooperation, efforts, kindness, and her unconditional dedication and love. She helped several thousand radiologic technology students, current RPA applicants, the current 165 WSU RPA students, and over 200 certified RPAs, who have excelled as mid-level certified medical imaging physician extenders (RPAs) and/or are currently in studies and residency to become mid-level credentialed medical imaging physician extenders. Jerri passed away on Sunday, February 12, 2006. Those who knew her, cherished her friendship, her kindness and her love of the radiologic students at Weber State University. On the behalf of the CBRPA Board of Directors, the NSRPA Board of Directors and the members of the NSRPA, we express our sincerest condolences to her family and to professors in Radiologic Sciences at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

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