History of the NMTCB and Exam Development

History of the NMTCB and Exam Development

David Perry, CNMT, PET NMTCB Executive Director

Objectives

• Recognize the important role that the NMTCB has in the development of certification examinations for nuclear medicine technologists.

• Understand the history of the NMTCB and how the organization interacts with other professional organizations.

Outline • History – the formative years

– Birth of the NMTCB – Those first exams

• Background – how exams are developed – Types of exams – Validation – Adaptive Testing

• Recent History • Part of the nuclear medicine community

In the 1970’s: Many, if not most pioneer nuclear medicine

technologists came from a background of radiology or medical technology.

It became apparent that the knowledge and

skills necessary in this new field required different background and training than either radiographer or medical technologist.

Why Start NMTCB?

The NMTCB was established in 1977 because the nuclear medicine technologist community believed that two important concerns were not being satisfied by the credentialing mechanisms available at the time.

First Concern: Credentialing was being offered as a

subspecialty of radiology or medical technology.

Second Concern As schools in nuclear

medicine technology were established, neither “parent” credentialing body kept pace with the scope of practice and requisite knowledge and skills of the nuclear medicine technologist.

So…

SNMTS National Council Meeting – The Greater New York Chapter moves that

the new Executive Committee, to be convened on June 10, 1976, in Dallas, Texas, appoint a committee to explore fully the implementation of an Independent Nuclear Medicine Technology Examination Board. This committee shall be required to report back to the National Council Meeting to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January of 1977.

Minutes of the SNMTS National Council, June 10, 1976

Exploratory Task Force

Executive Committee • Mark Muilenburg • Jim Langan • Barbara Horton • Sue Weiss • Jim Kellner • Tony Mazzola

National Council • Vi Custer • George Alexander • Joan Herbst • Glenn Moran • Susan Hemmingway

How to Get Started

The task force made the initial assumption that “preparedness to practice” could be determined by measuring the application of knowledge and skills on selected job functions.

What Made Things Difficult

At the time the domain of nuclear medicine job functions (tasks) had not been completely described.

What Made Things Difficult

No data existed on which tasks were the most important in daily practice and no definition of nuclear medicine technology competency had been developed.

Steps to First Exam

1. Perform task analysis to identify the skills and/or knowledge required to perform nuclear medicine procedures.

2. Determine of actual examination content. 3. Develop “items”: questions and both correct

and incorrect (distractors) answers.

Minutes of the NMT Certification Task Force, September 21-22, 1976

Steps to First Exam 4. Analyze items: check that the questions and

answers are well phrased (outside service). 5. Select which questions and how many are to

be administered in an exam. 6. Determine pass/fail point.

Minutes of the NMT Certification Task Force, September 21-22, 1976

Task Force Recommendations

The name of the Board will be the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board (NMTCB).

The NMTCB will be formed as soon as possible. The eleven members of the task force plus one

physician appointed by the SNM will serve as the initial Board members.

Minutes of the SNMTS National Council, January 25, 1977

Task Force Recommendations

Eligibility requirements will include: – Recognition of prior certification – Graduation from an AMA approved school – A mechanism will be established for persons

trained on the job

Minutes of the SNMTS National Council, January 25, 1977

Next Steps

Initial task analysis was reviewed. Initial Test Specifications Matrix

established: – 23% Nuclear Instrumentation – 10% Dose Calibration and Administration – 24% Imaging Procedures – 10% Radiopharmacy – 10% Radiation Protection – 23% Non-Imaging Procedures

Minutes of the NMT Certification Task Force, March 16, 1977

Also…

Bylaws amended and approved. Board decided to pretest exam with recent

graduates. Agreed that the Board “may issue a certificate to

any applicant holding current certification in Nuclear Medicine Technology with the ARRT and/or ASCP which was issued prior to the initial examination.”


June 17, 1977 One year and seven days after the initial resolution, the NMTCB was incorporated.

More Steps to the First Exam

300 items to be developed Initial Item Writing Assignments

– Nuclear Instrumentation: J. Langan, M. Muilenburg – Dose Calibration: J. Herbst – Imaging Procedures: S. Weiss, D. Bernier, B. Horton – Radiopharmacy: S. Hemingway – Radiation Protection: J. Kellner – Non-Imaging Procedures: F. Kontzen, V. Custer, T.

Mazzola – Medical Advisor: J. Conway, MD

Minutes of the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board, June 24, 1977

Pretest Administered February 11, 1978 100 pretesters with 25

at each of four sites – Chicago – Los Angeles – New York – Birmingham

Pretest Pretesters must have taken another registry

within past two years. Included some who failed other registry.

Well over 200 items identified as statistically

strong.

First Exam Sites • Seattle • San Francisco • Los Angeles • Ogden, Utah • Phoenix • Denver • El Paso • Minneapolis • Omaha • Chicago • St. Louis

• Oklahoma City • Houston • Birmingham • Tampa • Charlotte • Boston • New York • Philadelphia • Toledo • Puerto Rico • Hawaii

First Exam

Administered September 15, 1978 – Exam fee - $30.00 – 652 Examinees, 33 no shows – 60% (391) passed

First Exam 200 items Maximum = 174, Mean = 117, Minimum = 56 1,674 granted reciprocal certification because they held current certification in Nuclear Medicine Technology with the ARRT and/or ASCP which was issued prior to the initial examination.

Where Are They Now? Of 2,074 individuals granted certification in

1978: – 771 continue to be Active – 135 hold Emeritus status – 158 hold Retired status – 142 are Inactive – 798 let certification lapse – 63 are deceased – 7 had their certification revoked

• All were for failure to comply with the NMTCB CE Policy that was implemented January 1, 2006.

1979 Exam

Administered September 30, 1979 • 950 applications, 27 incomplete, 26 rejected, 44

withdrew, 28 no shows • 780 Examinees • 69% (538) passed

1979 Exam

225 items, last 25 were pretest items Maximum = 179, Mean = 130, Minimum = 27 941 granted reciprocal certification because they

held current certification in Nuclear Medicine Technology with the ARRT and/or ASCP which was issued prior to the initial examination.

Of 1,479 certified in 1979, 682 are still active.

1970’s Nuclear Medicine Development of rectilinear scanners reached its peak in 1972 and in 1973, 2 times as many scanners in the field as gamma cameras.

William and Harris, “The Decline and Fall of the Rectilinear Scanner: Nuclear Medicine Instrumentation 1970-1995” JNMT 23.4S (1995) 16S-20S

It wasn’t until the introduction of the 40-cm detector in 1975 that gamma cameras emerged as the preferred imaging device.

Fusion Imaging 70’s Style

A fusion of a rectilinear scan using I-131 rose Bengal with a chest X-ray outlining the position of the diaphragm was used to diagnose subphrenic abscess before the availability of CT scanning and ultrasound.

Donald R. Bernier

• SNMTS President 1971-1972

• NMTCB Board 1977-1983 • Editor Nuclear

Medicine: Technology and Techniques 1st through 5th editions

• Trained me to become a nuclear medicine technologist.

Founding Mission

The NMTCB was founded and dedicated to the production of a certification examination which truly reflected both current practice and the entire scope of practice of nuclear medicine technology.

The NMTCB promotes quality healthcare by certifying individuals through psychometrically sound examinations to practice and advance in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

Getting Into The ACT

Contract with the American College Testing Program (ACT) for exam development and administration services.

Determine the type of examination that would

best serve the purpose of the NMTCB.

Norm Referenced Exam • A norm-referenced test / NRT is a type of test,

assessment, or evaluation which yields an estimate of the position of the tested individual in a predefined population, with respect to the trait being measured. This estimate is derived from the analysis of test scores and possibly other relevant data from a sample drawn from the population.

• The term normative assessment refers to the process of comparing one test-taker to his or her peers.

Criterion Referenced Exam • A criterion-referenced test is one that provides

for translating test scores into a statement about the behavior to be expected of a person with that score or their relationship to a specified subject matter.

• Most tests and quizzes written by school teachers are criterion-referenced tests. • The objective is simply to see whether or not the student has learned the material.

WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia

Criterion Referenced Exam

The Board initially chose and has continued to adhere to the criterion-referenced approach because it was more consistent with the intent of the certification program which is to define and measure “preparedness to practice” or competency at career entry-level.

Philosophy In 1977, the purpose of the NMTCB’s

certification process was to “protect the public by distinguishing between those candidates who are prepared to practice and those who are not.”

By “prepared to practice”, the Board meant

those capabilities or competencies that were recognized by the nuclear medicine technology profession and identified by the Board as necessary for adequate preparation as an entry-level practitioner.

Philosophy

The criterion-referenced NMTCB examination was based upon a domain of knowledge and skills that were judged to be important for entry-level practice in nuclear medicine technology.

An individual’s performance is judged relative to

the level of knowledge that has been determined to be sufficient and necessary for practice.

Preparedness to Practice

The most important characteristic of a criterion-referenced examination is the definition of the domain of knowledge and skills to be tested.

The NMTCB has devoted a great deal of effort in

defining (and redefining) what will be tested in the examination by conducting periodic task analyses of the nuclear medicine technology profession.

Task Analysis • The Task Analysis contains a list of tasks,

developed by experts in the field, that are judged to reflect important entry-level skills.

• Task Analysis Surveys are then sent to a large, diverse and wide-spread group of practicing technologists who are asked to evaluate the importance, frequency performed, criticality and relevance of each task to the entry-level worker.

• The Survey is statistically analyzed and results translated into the test blueprint or test specifications matrix, which define tasks to be included and emphasis each is to receive on the exam.

Next Steps

Initial task analysis was reviewed. Initial Test Specifications Matrix

established: – 23% Nuclear Instrumentation – 10% Dose Calibration and Administration – 24% Imaging Procedures – 10% Radiopharmacy – 10% Radiation Protection – 23% Non-Imaging Procedures


The Task Analysis: • Is an important source of content validity

evidence for the examination. • Provides an empirical basis for determining

which tasks will be included in the examination. • Is used to create the test specification matrix,

which helps to guide the entire examination development process both in item writing and in test assembly.

• Also supports the interpretations made of the test scores.

Partial Beatles Reference • There’s going to be an evolution. • The examination development process is

evolutionary and must evolve with the profession to ensure that the exam continues to reflect current practice and the tasks that are important for entry-level practice.

• Task Analyses continue to be conducted on a regular basis and the examination is frequently updated/revised to reflect the current state of nuclear medicine technology.

Analyzing the Task Analysis • During the spring 2009 NMTCB Board meeting,

the results of the survey were presented. • The task analysis committee relied on a

combination of numerical parameters to identify items to be considered for modification.

• Items on the current examination falling below 15% frequency on the survey were reviewed for their criticality in current practice of nuclear medicine technology.

• Items not currently on the examination that scored above 15% were taken into consideration for addition to the examination.

NMTCB Task Analysis Report May 2009

Analyzing the Task Analysis • During the spring 2009 NMTCB Board meeting,

the results of the survey were presented. • The task analysis committee relied on a

combination of numerical parameters to identify items to be considered for modification.

• Items on the current examination falling below 15% frequency on the survey were reviewed for their criticality in current practice of nuclear medicine technology.

• Items not currently on the examination that scored above 15% were taken into consideration for addition to the examination.


2008 Task Analysis

Items that will be removed from the entry-level examination include: hemocytometer, wet film, venogram, schillings test, I125 serum albumin/RISA, I125 Iothalamate.

Among the active items falling below 15%

frequency were the dose calibrator geometry test, red cell mass, and plasma volume studies. It was decided based on criticality that these items would remain on the exam.


2008 Task Analysis At the fall 2009 NMTCB Board meeting the task

analysis data was reviewed again. Final changes were discussed, including the deletion of several items that are no longer available.

The following items have been added to the list

of items to be deleted since the spring 2009 publication: P32 chromic phosphate colloid, P32 sodium phosphate, B12, and Tc99m gluceptate.

NMTCB Task Analysis Report Supplement December 2009

2008 Task Analysis

Items to be added to the examination content were in the area of computed tomography (CT).

Since the explosion of the hybrid/fusion imaging technology, our field has become increasingly intertwined with other modalities.


2008 Task Analysis

The foremost of these is obviously CT. Based on the responses given via the task

analysis survey roughly 25% of nuclear medicine technologists surveyed are already performing CT examinations.


2008 Task Analysis

Many of these are low-dose CT scans, being used solely for attenuation correction or localization in conjunction with a PET or SPECT nuclear medicine imaging system.

There are however a significant number of

nuclear medicine technologists already performing diagnostic quality CT examinations that may involve the use of contrast agents.


2008 Task Analysis To remain relevant we must be inventive and

adapt to contemporary trends. As an organization, the NMTCB remains committed to the challenge of keeping pace with changes that affect the knowledge and skill requirements for technologists entering the field.

Educators preparing students for the

examination are being given a one-year notice of the new material to be incorporated into examination content. Prospective certificants can expect to see the proposed new content on the examination beginning January 1, 2011.

NMTCB Task Analysis Report Supplement December 2009

Another Pie Chart

Back to the Past

• NMTCB began the transition from paper & pencil exam to one administered on computer in 1992.

• This would allow testing more often than twice per year and provide opportunity to incorporate more images into the exam.

• Raised concerns about exam security.

• Determined that best approach would be “Computerized Adaptive Testing” or “CAT”

History of Adaptive Testing

It has always been recognized that giving a test that is much too easy for the candidates is likely to be a waste of time, provoking usually unwanted candidate behavior such as careless mistakes or deliberately choosing incorrect answers that might be the answers to "trick questions".

Computer-Adaptive Testing: A Methodology Whose Time Has Come. John Michael Linacre, Ph.D. MESA Psychometric Laboratory, University of Chicago (2000)

History of Adaptive Testing On the other hand, questions that are much too

hard, also produce generally uninformative test results, because candidates cease to seriously attempt to answer the questions, resorting to guessing, response sets and other forms of unwanted behavior.


History of Adaptive Testing Alfred Binet (1905) achieved the major advance

in this area with his intelligence tests. He realized he could tailor the test to the

individual by a simple stratagem - rank ordering the items in terms of difficulty.

He would then start testing the candidate at what

he deemed to be a subset of items targeted at his guess at the level of the candidate's ability.



If the candidate succeeded, Binet proceeded to give successively harder item subsets until the candidate failed frequently.

If the candidate failed the initial item subset, then

Binet would administer successively easier item subsets until the candidate succeeded frequently.



From this information, Binet could estimate the candidate's ability level.

Binet's procedure is easy to implement with a

computer.


Transition to CAT • Reckase (1974) is an early example of this

methodology of computer adaptive testing (CAT).

• In March of 1986 the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the "standardized testing of college-level skills recently began its long-awaited shift into the realm of computers.“

• Nov 15, 1993 - Educational Testing Service begins phasing out paper & pencil testing by offering a "computer adaptive test" (CAT) to about 30,000 of their students at about 150 sites, most of them Sylvan Test Centers.

Computer Adaptive Testing

On July 15, 1996, the NMTCB began offering a computer adaptive test (CAT) for classification in association with ACT, Inc. that was designed to render a pass/fail decision.

In order to administer a CAT for classification,

the items themselves are ranked at the decision point on the score scale according to their ability to classify accurately and quickly.

More CAT

Each item in the item pool is associated with: – information on its difficulty (the proportion of

examinees answering an item correctly) – discrimination levels (the ability of an item to

distinguish between passing and failing individuals)

More CAT

An item that has a difficulty level at or near the passing score and has good discrimination will be a better item for decision-making than another item that is too difficult or too easy or has little ability to discriminate between those examinees who should pass and those who should fail.

Classification CAT Unlike Benet’s early work, for the NMTCB

classification CAT, the type of items that are administered to each and every candidate are the same: there are no "difficult items for better candidates" or "easier items for poorer candidates."

Our "classification" CAT is still adaptive in that

those examinees whose abilities are far from the passing score (in either direction) will require fewer test items for classification than those whose ability is at or near the passing score.

Classification CAT

The test will adapt by test length rather than by

item difficulty. Each examinee answers a total of 50 to 75

operational items, and the items are different for each examinee. Then each candidate answers 15 (for a 75-item exam) to 30 pretest items (for a 50-item exam).

NMTCB CAT

Items for the classification CAT are selected in the following approximate proportions for each of four content domains of nuclear medicine technology. – Radiation safety (15%) – Instrumentation (20%) – Clinical procedures (45%) – Radiopharmacy (20%)

1977 • First personal computer introduced – Commodore PET. • Apple was incorporated – Apple II introduced. • Snow fell in Miami – only time in recorded history. • Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic. • Elvis Presley’s last concert in Indianapolis. • Space shuttle Enterprise make first test free-flight. • Voyager 1 is launched. • Porsche 928 debuts. • Last natural smallpox case discovered. • TCP/IP test succeeds connecting 3 ARPANET nodes (of

111), in what eventually becomes the Internet protocol.

déjà vu?

March 25, 2000 – Board discussion regarding an advanced specialty exam for nuclear cardiology was tabled pending a task analysis assessment for nuclear cardiology.

May 26, 2000 – SNMTS formally requested that

the NMTCB consider the possibility of developing a specialty examination in Nuclear Cardiology.

déjà vu?

September 3, 2000 – NMTCB Board meets and the following motion is approved: The Exam Committee recommends the

formation of an Ad Hoc Board committee, and designation of funds of $15,000 for item writing, content meetings, printing of exam applications and test booklets, and administrative expenses, to create a nuclear cardiac specialty examination.

October 13, 2000 – Letter to SNMTS committing to offer first NCT exam at SNM Annual Meeting in June 2001 in Toronto.

And We’re Off… A group of ten subject matter experts (SME)

identified the critical abilities related to the practice and defined test specifications.

This SME group included five members of the ad

hoc committee and five professionals practicing in the nuclear cardiology field who came from different regions of the country and from different work settings.

Subject Matter Experts

Ad Hoc Committee • Gary Dillehay • Tony Knight • Vivian S. Loveless • Kathleen Murphy • Patricia Wells

NCT Professionals • Dan Basso • Wendy Bruni • Mark Hyun • April Mann • Kim Shacklett

NCT Exam Development

• The SME group developed test specifications for the specialty exam, which included the item format, total number of items, testing time, and the proportion of items that focus on each of the identified critical abilities to be tested.

NCT Exam Development

The test included one hundred scored and 21 pre-test items of multiple-choice format with four possible options.

Guidelines for technologist training in nuclear

cardiology, developed by ASNC, were used to verify and refine the content domain for the exam.

Putting It All Together

Candidates were given a total time of two hours to complete the test.

The ad hoc committee members wrote most of

the items for the test. The volunteer “experts” and other members of the Board took the pilot test.

Putting It All Together

After the pilot, the ad hoc committee members, SME experts and members of the NMTCB worked together to finalize the test.

For security reasons two test forms, A and B,

were developed. By scrambling the item order of form A, form B

was created.

The First NCT Exam

The first administration of the nuclear cardiology exam was June 23, 2001.

Sixty-eight examinees sat for the exam. Forty-four of the 68 or 65% of the examinees

passed, and twenty-four or 35% failed.

NCT Specialty Exams • Board determined that since this was a specialty

exam and because the field can change dramatically in a relatively short period of time, the NCT Specialty Certification would expire after seven years.

• In order to renew NCT certification, the candidate will have to prove continued specialty knowledge by passing the exam again.

• NCT Exam offered on demand beginning February 2008.

• There are currently 723 Active NCT Certificants.

PET?

March 25, 2000 - An in depth discussion regarding an advanced practice exam for PET was held during the NMTCB Board meeting.

March 25, 2000 – Board discussion regarding an advanced specialty exam for nuclear cardiology was tabled pending a task analysis assessment for nuclear cardiology.

PET?

The Board contacted the Institute for Clinical PET (ICP) to determine: – level of interest by the PET technologist community

for an advanced specialty exam – specific information to create an inclusive task

analysis for the specialty of PET. March 24, 2001 - The Board agreed to move

forward with the creation of the advanced competency exam in PET.

We’re Off …Again

Action items include: – Preparing a content outline (utilizing the

expertise of the PET community) – Review of the JNM and JNMT for information

to enhance the content outline – Identifying 7-10 item writers – Creating 120+ exam questions – Obtaining reciprocity for CE credits for

passing advanced competency exams – Proposed exam site/date: Fall ICP meeting,

October 2002.

PET-CT Consensus Conference • ACR • Arizona Board of Medical

Radiologic Technology • ARRT • ASRT • CPS Innovations • CTI Molecular Imaging,

Inc. • GE Medical Systems • JRCERT • JRCNMT

• NMTCB • PETNET

Pharmaceuticals • Radiologic Technologist

Certification Program, Florida Department of Health

• Siemens Medical Solutions

• SNM • SNMTS - Facilitator 27 attendees total

Minutes from the PET-CT Consensus Conference, July 31, 2002, New Orleans, LA.

PET/CT Consensus

Any registered radiographer with the credential R.T.(R), registered radiation therapist with the credential R.T.(T), or registered nuclear medicine technologist with the credentials R.T.(N) or CNMT may operate PET-CT equipment after obtaining appropriate additional education or training and demonstrating competency.

Statements from the PET-CT Consensus Conference, July 31, 2002, New Orleans, LA.

PET/CT Consensus • Ideally, technologists operating a hybrid PET-CT

unit would be a hybrid themselves, credentialed in both CT and nuclear medicine.

• Less than 200, are ARRT- or NMTCB-registered nuclear medicine technologists who are also credentialed in CT through a specialty examination offered by the ARRT.

• Fewer than 5,000 people nationwide are registered in radiography by the ARRT and registered in nuclear medicine technology by the ARRT or by the NMTCB.

Statements from the PET-CT Consensus Conference, July 31, 2002, New Orleans, LA.

False Start March 22, 2003 – After 2nd consensus meeting

in Albuquerque, Board approved motion to create two exams: – PET specialty exam – PET/CT exam as the priority exam for completion

• PET/CT project subsequently scratched

PET Exam pre-tested on February 21, 2004.

Qualifications to Sit for PET • CNMT, CAMRT or ARRT(N):

– 700 hours of clinical experience in PET as validated by the signature of the medical director, nuclear physician, supervisor or administrator of the facility.

• ARRT(R) or (T) – 700 hours of clinical experience in PET under the

direct supervision of a nuclear physician and a certified, registered or licensed nuclear medicine technologist.

– Additionally, the radiology technologist or therapist will be required to obtain 45 hours of didactic education (15 hours each nuclear medicine instrumentation, radiation safety and radiopharmacy).

First PET Exam Results First exam administered September 24, 2004.

– 226 registered for exam – 203 sat for exam – 105 (51.7%) passed – 98 failed

PET Exam offered on demand beginning June 2009.

There are currently 618 Active Certified PET Technologists.

New Career Path for NMTs • A Nuclear Medicine Advanced Associate (NMAA) is an

advanced-level nuclear medicine technologist working under the supervision of a licensed physician, who is also an authorized user of radioactive materials, to enhance patient care in the diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy environments.

• The Nuclear Medicine Advanced Associate is an NMTCB- or ARRT-certified nuclear medicine technologist who has successfully completed an advanced academic program encompassing a nationally recognized NMAA curriculum and a nuclear medicine physician-, nuclear cardiologist-, or radiologist-directed clinical preceptorship.

ACR ASRT Joint Policy Statement - Radiologist Assistant: Roles and Responsibilities (March 2009)

Advanced Imaging Practitioner

A first-of-its-kind master’s level degree program is now being offered to provide nuclear medicine professionals with another career pathway for advancement in the field. The program, called the Nuclear Medicine Advanced Associate (NMAA), will help meet the growing demand for advanced imaging practitioners as new procedures are developed and as the range and utilization of imaging procedures expand.

SNM Release - New Masters Program Opens Doors for Nuclear Medicine Technologists (September 2009)

NMAA Program • The program is currently offered through a

consortium of three universities: the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Saint Louis University and the University of Missouri–Columbia.

• The program runs for five semesters of full-time enrollment. Students are accepted on a rolling basis and may begin the program in the fall, spring or summer semester.

• The program is designed for distance-learning and is delivered using a combination of online instruction and clinical instruction at facilities affiliated with UAMS and the consortium partners.

A New Certification Exam

Nuclear Medicine Advanced Associate – Spring 2009 – NMTCB committed to

developing an NMAA certification exam for delivery within six months of the first graduating class.

– Preliminary budget, timeline and content outline approved at Spring Board meeting.

– Exam ready by SNM Annual Meeting in June 2011.

NMAA Exam

• Multiple choice; ~200 questions; delivered by paper & pencil at SNM Annual Meeting in San Antonio, June 2011.

• Exam Specification Categories: – Patient Care – Clinical procedures – Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals – Radiation Safety and Radiobiology in Clinical Practice

Organizational Involvement

• SNMTS – National Council of Representatives – Advocacy (Government Relations) Committee – Education Committee – Various Chapters

• Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (AQMIRT or “Alliance”)

• Health Professions Network (HPN) • Council of Radiation Control Program Directors

(CRCPD)

Organizational Diversity

• The Board of Directors consists of eighteen (18) individuals. – Physician member of the SNM – Physician and/or scientist at-large (SNM Member) – A representative of the AAPM – A representative of the Specialty Council of Nuclear

Pharmacy. – Twelve (12) nuclear medicine technologists certified

by the NMTCB. – Two (2) are selected by the Board of Directors.

Members of the NMTCB Board

Michele Beauvais, RPh, BCNP Angela Bruner, PhD, DABR Jimel Carpenter, CNMT, NCT Anne Fisher, CNMT Angela Foster, CNMT Deborah Gibbons, CNMT, PET David Gilmore, CNMT, NCT Leonie Gordon, M.B., Ch.B. Chad Grant, CNMT - Chair

Marcia Hess Smith, CNMT Cindi Luckett-Gilbert, CNMT, PET Nancy DeLoatch, CNMT, NCT Yusuf Menda, MD Cybil Nielsen, CNMT Robert Pagnanelli, CNMT, NCT Gregory Passmore, PhD, CNMT James Patton, PhD Leesa Ross, CNMT, PET

NMTCB Chairs

• Mark I. Muilenburg • James J. Kellner • John J. Kozar • Sheila Rosenfeld • George W. Alexander • Nancy M. Blosser • Helen M. Drew • Karen L. Blondeau

• Jacqueline A. Bridges • Martha W. Pickett • Mark H. Crosthwaite • Nancy S. Sawyer • Miriam K. Miller • Daniel J. Leahey • *Nancy S. Sawyer • Daniel J. Leahey

*Mark A. Richard elected but resigned prior to serving as Chair

NMTCB Chairs

• Ellen A. Thomas • Anthony W. Knight • Kristen Waterstram-

Rich • Kathleen H. Murphy • Kathleen S. Thomas

• Lynnette A. Fulk • April Mann • Danny A. Basso • Anne M. Fisher • Chad M. Grant

Executive Directors

• Barbara Horton, CNMT • Dennis Park • James Greene, PhD • Bhaskar Dawadi, PhD • Stanley Kalisch, PhD • David Perry, CNMT, PET

Director Application Form

Online Item Submission

The Simpsons Reference

Matt Groening made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The name changed in 2007 but the cartoon is still carried in 250 weekly newspapers.

Also in 1977…

Later renamed to Star Wars IV: A New Hope

1979

Jaguar posted a 1.75 petaflop/s performance speed running the Linpack benchmark. One petaflop/s refers to one quadrillion (1015) calculations per second. Top Supercomputing Sites Report (November 2009)

History of the NMTCB and Exam Development

Health & Medicine

nuclear medicine procedures

nuclear medicine community

nmt certification task

medical technology

steps initial task analysis

job minutes

snmts national council

initial board members