ISRRT Board Meeting 2009 - Report of President

8/15/2009

 

President’s Report – July 2009 Board Meeting, Hong Kong

Just over a year has passed since our last Board and Council Meetings held in conjunction with the very successful Congress in Durban – I hope that Fozy and all of her committees have now recovered but are still warm with the glow of such a wonderful event.

It has been an interesting time for ISRRT not the least of which has seen the now infamous Global Financial Crisis (GFC) make significant inroads into our financial reserves. But we are no orphans in that regard and are doing much better than General Motors and the Royal bank of Scotland. It should not be overlooked however that the GFC will have impacted on many of our colleagues to varying degrees. I will let our Treasurer detail our present situation which I would anticipate to slowly improve with time given the conservative nature of our investments- indeed there has already been an improvement since the low of March 2009.

I will say however that we are still in an excellent position to carry out our projects over the term of this Board.

Our various Board Officers will report on their portfolios, outlining their outcomes to the initiatives they put forward in Durban and identifying their plans and strategies for the remaining 15 months until the 2010 Council meeting.

For my part, my aims were to support the Board members in their roles, to make every effort and take every opportunity to increase the profile of ISRRT at an International level and to seek opportunities to work with other groups, organizations and individuals who may be able to aid us to fulfill our Aims and Objectives and Mission and to ensure we look for and take up as many opportunities as possible to use our skill base to aid others in our profession.

In this regard I have accepted invitations to meet with and visit Member Societies to ensure that they understand and support our role on their behalf.

This has included meeting and speaking to Societies from Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau Taiwan, Thailand and Canada and representatives from Japan, Australia, Mongolia, Korea, Morocco, Tunisia, France, the USA and UK in addition to Officers from EFRS. 

Together with Sandy Yule, we have been able to secure ongoing substantial financial support for one more year with the option of continuing for another two years for our website from ELEKTA in addition to an equally generous support from GE for on – line translation of our Newsletter. ELEKTA has also indicated their support for a Radiation Therapy education  project. These pledges of support in such difficult financial times are an indication of the worth they see in ISRRT and its past and future roles.

In a similar way, through our good relationship we have been able to gain the support of IAEA for another Education project in Eastern Europe.

Our increasing relationship with RSNA has seen us invited to participate fully as part of the Associated Sciences Consortium in 2009 for the first time. We have also been recognized as one of the groups accredited for Associate Membership of RSNA – another new initiative.

We have also been invited to play a significant role with WHO – not only in helping shape the future role of radiation medicine within that organisation but in several specific education projects.

In line with our aim to improve awareness of our global image, we have invested in South America and our Americas Representatives will report on their progress in that arena.

We have been involved in and supported additional projects in Africa and should look forward to increasing our role in that sub Region with the significant help of Caesar Barare and Jenny Motto who is proving an excellent choice in her role.

Whilst it usually goes without saying that Sandy Yule has again worked tirelessly in his role on our behalf and on behalf of the Member Societies – I will say it – and VERY LOUDLY. He is truly remarkable in his dedication and commitment – Alison of course is included as her support is immeasurable. I feel that the next Board must look towards remunerating Sandy for a full time equivalent position as he spends more than 35 hrs per week in his role and I am convinced that any successor to Sandy in the future will not be as magnanimous to ISRRT with their time. 

I must mention from my perspective our relationship with EFRS .We need to be much more committed and positive in our initiatives in this area.

The answer really is regular ongoing and open communication and our genuine involvement of them in European issues such as the IAEA Education project in Europe which we were able to initiate because of our contacts and relationships.

Just prior to the Board meeting I attended the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association at their invitation and delivered the Keynote Opening Address on your behalf. I was able to include in my presentation some references to the 1962 inaugural meeting of the ISRRT Board which was held in Canada and also acknowledge the great work for ISRRT of many of their members including Mary Jon La Chance, Shirley Hundvik, Cynthia Cowling, Lori Boyd, Rita Eyer, and of course Terry West.

 As always, the CAMRT members were extremely welcoming and supportive of the work of ISRRT. There was also a great deal of interest in people attending the 2010 Congress. I was also able to visit the Vancouver General Hospital and speak with several staff there. I also visited the TRIUMF synchrotron facility at the University of British Colombia and took part in the annual Roentgen Ramble early morning walk which raises funds for the CAMRT Foundation which in turn supports students with education grants.

I flew straight from Vancouver to Manchester to attend the UKRC meeting where I spoke during the history session and supported Alison Yule on the ISRRT booth as Sandy had an urgent HPC hearing to Chair in Exeter. Alison was wonderful as usual holding the fort and representing ISRRT magnificently.

We saw many radiographers from the UK and overseas and signed up several new Assoc members as well as answering queries about the 2010 Congress. I was also invited to the UKRC Presidents Dinner representing ISRRT. We were commended on assisting in boosting the International reputation of the meeting.

Whilst in Manchester I met with the Deputy Chief Librarian and a senior archivist of the John Rylands Library at the University. The ISRRT archives are now safely in this facility and thanks to Terry West, Sandy and James Peters of the Library, are in a much more organised form. It may be possible at some future time to seek a local student who, for a reasonable fee, can more formally catalogue the material and have it accessible from the internet. I met with SoR President Michael Graveling and also CEO Richard Evans and thanked them for their financial support of the recent Survey.

Tim Way, the President of the Australian Society and their CEO David Collier attended the CAMRT Conference as well as the UKRC. Sal Martino the CEO of the ASRT and Dianne Mayo their President were also at the CAMRT Meeting.

If I had to summarise the Board activities since Durban in particular, I would have to say that we have had some excellent success with Education Workshops, have built on and expanded some of our established relationships for the financial benefit of ISRRT and made some significant advances with new contacts. I feel however that we need to show more initiative in seeking out projects by actively pursuing our Regional representatives and determining the needs of our member Societies. We have the expertise available and we should make sure that we use it.

My thanks for the time and efforts you have put in on behalf of the Society.

I would however encourage your prompt and timely responses to Sandy so as to make his workload easier – I know how much time he spends following up requests and emails when he frequently has no feedback.

With just over 12 months to the 2010 Council Meeting and Board elections, I would also encourage you to look to the future and any ongoing or new roles you may seek on the Board. I know how much time it takes to fill our roles to the best of our ability and how difficult it can be to fit this work in with day to day commitments. Sandy and I would be happy to discuss any aspects of your roles with you at any time.

Rob  George                                                                                                                         President , ISRRT June 2009