Entry-Level Programmatic Transition Summit

Saturday, November 4, 2006

Pittsburgh Hyatt Regency Hotel

MINUTES

Attendees

SNMTS Entry-Level Task Force Members

Kathy E. Thompson Hunt, MS, CNMT – Chair (4-year program)

Mary Hennings-Frank, BS, CNMT (2-year program)

William L. Hubble, MA, CNMT, RT(R) (N) (C) (4-year program)

Anthony W. Knight, MBA, CNMT, NCT (certificate and 4-year programs)

Le Roy H. Stecker, III, CNMT – SNMTS (certificate program)

Cybil Nielsen, MBA, CNMT (2-year program)

Kristen Waterstram-Rich, MS, CNMT, NCT

Guests

Lynn A. Fulk, CNMT, FSNMTS – NMTCB (2-year program)

David Gilmore, CNMT, RT R, RT N – President-Elect SNMTS

Kevin J. Powers, EdS, R.T.(R)(M) -- ASRT

Donald Beyea, MS, Pphys – New Brunswick, Canada (4-year program)

Jerry B. Reid, PhD – ARRT

Anne Chapman -- ARRT

Invited Program Directors—Certificate Programs

Joanne Metler, MS, CNMT, PET

Heather Poulin, BS, RTNM, CNMT

Jennifer Prekeges, MS, CNMT

Leesa Ross, MA, CNMT, PET, ARRT (N)

Pamela L. Vorce, MBA, BS, CNMT

Kelsie J. Kittle, BS, RT (R ) (N), CNMT

Marlene Johnson

Richard M. Blanco, BA, CNMT, RT(N)

Invited Program Directors – Associate Degree Programs

Susan M. Campos, MEd, CNMT

Marc Fisher, MBA, BS, CNMT, RT (N)

LaRay A. Fox

Kathleen Murphy, MS, CNMT, NCT, FSNMTS (+ certificate program)

Glenn X. Smith, BS, CNMT, NCT

Invited Program Directors – 4-Year Programs

Angela Macci Bires, EDd, MPM, RT(N), CNMT

Mark Crosthwaite, CNMT (+ 2-year program)

Glenn Heggie, RTNM, EdD, FCAMRT (+ certificate and 2-year programs)

Marcia L. Hess-Smith

Richard States, MBA, CNMT, RT (N) (+ certificate and 2-year programs)

Invited Program Directors Not Present

Kelsie Kittle, BS RT(R )(N), CNMT (certificate program)

Carl Mazzetti (2-year and certificate program)

SNM Staff

N. Lynn Barnes, MEd

Mike Nelson, CAE

Welcome and Introductions, Purpose of Summit, and Overview
  1. Chip Stecker, Facilitator for the Summit, opened the meeting welcoming the program directors to the meeting and introducing the speakers.
  1. The purpose of the Summit is to address the issues of programmatic transition, not to debate the issues regarding the entry-level requirement of a BS degree.
  1. Overview: Bill Hubble will provide the attendees with some background and progress to date for achieving the objectives that came out of the first Summit held last November. Kathy Thompson Hunt will discuss where we are now and give a brief overview of the Core Curriculum and status of the Professional Curriculum. Representatives of ASRT, ARRT and NMTCB will each say a few words regarding the perspectives of their organizations. And, finally, Donald Beyea and Mary Hennings-Frank will present their experiences with making the transition to a BS degree program.
  1. Bill Hubble presented a brief overview of what has been done over the past year. His comments are summarized in a slide presentation (Attachment A).
  1. Kathy Thompson Hunt reiterated the purpose of the Summit. The current 4-year programs are not the answer to programmatic transition; new models need to be developed to resolve the issues and to incorporate all types of programs. This transition is necessary to advance the profession and enable the advanced practice path. The Summit attendees are asked to identify obstacles and recommend solutions for overcoming them. This is a brainstorming session and will be the beginning of an ongoing dialogue.
  1. Due to a lack of standardization in curricula across programs, a consistent curriculum is being drafted for the program directors’ review. The Task Force drafted a Core Curriculum over the past year, but it is expected that this core will evolve as the professional curriculum is developed in order to incorporate what is required within reasonable time frames.
  1. Kevin Powers, representing the ASRT, discussed how the curriculum must evolve to meet the needs of older, more educated candidates for nuclear medicine technologist programs. He highlighted elements of adult learning and how education must change to meet the new demands of both content (emerging technologies) and students (see Attachment B).
  1. Anne Chapman and Jerry Reid, representing ARRT, stated that certification defines what is needed to be qualified. The ARRT needs to know how the new requirement will help technologists to do what they need to do better. Data is essential to make any decisions regarding changes in certification.
  1. Lynn Fulk, representing the NMTCB, stated that the NMTCB is also looking for data to show that the new requirement helps technologists to be qualified to do their jobs. They are waiting to see more data before making any determination regarding the new requirement.

Obstacles, Issues and Solutions to Programmatic Transition

  1. Tony Knight presented data from two recent workforce surveys – NMT Survey and the NMT Educators’ Survey (see Attachment C). Copies of the survey reports will be available on the SNM Technologist Web page.
  1. Donald Beyea presented the Canadian experience in making the transition to 4-year programs. The transition occurred during 1999-2005. The transition has been successful (see Attachment D).
  1. Mary Hennings-Frank presented her institution’s experience embarking on transitioning to a 4-year program, which is still in progress (see Attachment E).
Break-out Sessions

The attendees broke into three groups to discuss programmatic transition obstacles, issues and solutions for Certificate, Associate degree and 4-year programs. Attendees were free to select their discussion groups.

Certificate Programs

  • The group found that their programs were similar in length of program and in pre-requisite requirements.
  • Hospital-based programs will probably have the easiest time making the changes in curriculum and time needed to complete coursework.
  • Certificate programs based in 2-year institutions had additional problems with stigma. When students in those certificate programs moved to a 4-year institution, the 4-year institution viewed that student as only completing associate-degree level work.
  • Curriculum will be based on the 4-year institutions’ requirements.
  • Need to identify schools that offer 3+1 arrangements currently
  • Instructor credentials could be an issue, since most 4-year institutions will have requirements regarding the level of education for instructors
  • There is a possibility that some candidates will be discouraged from pursuing NMT course due to time and cost of 4-year degree programs
  • Dual enrollment articulation between a certificate program and a 4-year college was seen as a possible solution. That is, students attend both schools simultaneously.
  • One unanswered question was how this would affect radiology techs with 2-year or certificate training – what barriers would be created for them?

Associate Degree Programs

  • Issues
  • Cost – state law limits financial aid for students and it is unknown what impact this would have on NMT students; cost of tuition for university vs community college; program expenses; private vs state college tuition; and impact on diversity of students
  • Turf issues among institutions will be a problem because state requirements differ
  • Turf issues between 2-year and 4-year institutions – 4-year institutions will not recognize the level of courses offered by 2-year institutions even though the course material is usually the same content as the baccalaureate programs. The higher education structure is that nuclear medicine courses taught at the community college level are classified at the 100 and 200 level and the nuclear medicine courses taught in colleges and universities are classified at the 300 and 400 level.
  • The sequencing of the general studies course work with the current higher education model is another issue. The students need to take the NMT course work at the end of the 4 years to sit for the board exam. The current articulation agreements with colleges and universities involves the students getting the AS degree, sitting for the boards and then completing the general studies requirements at the 4-year institution to obtain a baccalaureate degree. The colleges and universities are not interested in reversing this process due to their own accreditation issues.
  • How would tuition and fees work when student transfers from one institution to another?
  • The educational level will need to be mandated by the certifying agencies (NMTCB, ARRT) and accrediting agencies (JRCNMT).
  • Solutions
  • 4-year and 2-year institutions work simultaneously rather than a 2+2 arrangement; ie, taking courses at both institutions at once
  • Identify 4-year institutions accepting credits from associate degree programs
  • CARE bill passage will ensure a minimum educational level
  • To address the professional issue, it was suggested that the SNMTS lobby the Department of Labor as nursing has done. This group has been successful in obtaining professional status for baccalaureate and associate degree prepared nurses.

Four-Year Programs

  • Obstacles
  • Transferability of 2-year college credits into 4-year college varies
  • 4-year college typically accepts 2-year college credits as “lower” level courses
  • Total number of prerequisites needs to be assessed so that the total number of credit hours to complete the degree is reasonable.
  • Most institutions have a “Residency” requirement before the degree can be awarded.
  • Adding CT education to curriculum increases the professional content so that other content areas will have to be deleted.
  • The didactic portion of CT is obtainable but the clinical experience is difficult due to state regulations.
  • There could be push back from the radiology community regarding time for training and certifying NMTs in CT.
  • Solutions/opportunities
  • Several models were suggested for incorporation
  • 2 + 2
  • 1 + 3
  • 3 + 1
  • 1 + 2 + 1 (1st year general, 2/3 years RT, 4th year advanced modality such as NM)
  • General studies courses need to be substantiated to determine the need for addition and deletion of the general studies requirements.
  • Team approach to teaching the curriculum – interprofessional
  • 4-year degree prepares for graduate work – ie, NMP
  • The group looked at curriculum options for the 4-year program, including the total number of credit hours required and it was decided it could be accomplished in 122-126 credit hours.

Summary and Follow-up

  • Professional Curriculum
  • Anyone who would like to assist with the development of the Professional Curriculum should contact Kathy Hunt or Lynn Barnes.
  • Data
  • Everyone should send suggested questions for the follow-up survey to Tony Knight or Lynn Barnes.
  • Action Items
  • Everyone should identify 4-year schools that currently offer 3 + 1 arrangements in their region and send the names of those institutions to Kathy Hunt or Lynn Barnes.
  • Everyone should identify 4-year schools that currently accept credits from 2-year schools in their region and send the names of those institutions to Kathy Hunt or Lynn Barnes.
  • Communication
  • All relevant documents, including the minutes of the Summit with slide presentations, will be posted on the SNM Technologist Web page
  • Minutes will be sent to all attendees and then to all program directors using the listserv.
  • A Community will be set up for the attendees to continue the discussion.
  • Paul Wing will be invited to the Educators’ Forum to discuss the survey data and reports.

Adjournment

David Gilmore, President-Elect of SNMTS thanked attendees for participating in the Summit. He reassured the attendees that the SNMTS leadership is supportive of the entry-level requirement of a BS degree and requested that attendees continue to provide feedback to the SNMTS leadership regarding this initiative.

The Education Summit adjourned at 3:45 pm, Saturday, November 4, 2006.