Radiation Therapy (also called Radiation Oncology) is the medical discipline whose goal is to cure or control certain disease processes or conditions, primarily cancer, with the use of high energy, ionizing radiation. The North Texas Society of Radiation Therapists website is designed as a forum for the exchange of information and ideas for radiation therapists, medical dosimetrists, educators in the field of radiation oncology, radiation oncology administrators, physicists, physicians, and other interested individuals in the radiation oncology community of north Texas.
The Spring 2012 Symposium will be held April 21, 2012, in the Hitt Auditorium at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Dallas.
If you would like your email address added to a group email listing from the NTSRT, please send us an email. We will add you to the group list using the address on your email. Your address will not be shared! Thanks!
Officers were elected during the Spring 2011 Symposium business meeting. We would like to welcome incoming President Jay Dwyer (former Vice-President), new Vice-President Catie Wallace, and new Secretary Betsy Shaw.
And a great big THANK YOU to our retiring President Matt Helmick, who takes a rest after 6 years of service to the NTSRT as President and Vice-President. His hard work and tireless efforts for the North Texas radiation therapy community should serve as a model for future officers of our Society.
NTSRT BUSINESS MEETING
2009 Spring Symposium
April 25, 2009
MINUTES:
Present: Matt Helmick (President), Janine Egerton (Treasurer), Lynda Biggs (Secretary)
Call to Order---NTSRT PRESIDENT Matt Helmick at 12:45 pm.
Minutes were approved by Jay Dwyer and seconded by Sherry Hallway & Ken Shaddock.
Old Business: None
Officer Reports:
A. President’s report : New lap top computer and accessories were purchased for the podium and speaker's presentations
B. Vice President’s report : none
C. Secretary’s report: minutes submitted
D. Treasure Report: Attached
New Business:
A. Need to elect a new secretary at the Fall 2009 Symposium
B. We will have to start paying for the food servers in future symposiums. We may need to increase the registration fee. We need to form a committee to consider raising the registration fee. Volunteers for this committee were Jay Dwyer, Nichole Ringwald and Penny Wallace.
Meeting was adjourned at 1:00 pm
NTSRT BUSINESS MEETING
Fall Symposium
September 6, 2008
Present: Matt Helmick (President), Sandy Prater (Vice President), Janine Egerton (Treasurer), Lynda Biggs (Secretary)
Call to Order – NTSRT President Matt Helmick
I. Board Reports
A. President’s Report: No report
B. Vice President’s Report: No report
C. Secretary’s Report : Minutes Submitted
D. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer reported on current savings account and CD Balances (contact Treasurer for details of report)
II. Old Business — No old business
III. New Business
A. Get a new computer for podium
B. Voted and approved to get new computer
IV. Adjournment
NTSRT BUSINESS MEETING
SPRING SYMPOSIUM
APRIL 11, 2008
MINUTES
Present: Matt Helmick (President), Janine Egerton (Treasurer), Lynda Biggs (Secretary)
Call To Order---NTSRT President Matt Helmick @ 12:30 pm
Officer Reports:
President’s Report: No Report
Vice President’s Report: Position is Vacant
Secretary’s Report: Minutes Submitted
Treasure Report: Attached
Old Business:
Life members voted in at the Fall Symposium 2007 will be presented with Certificates at the Fall Symposium 2008.
New Business:
Vote to remove the additional $5.00 new membership fee—PASSED
Volunteers for getting speakers for the 2008 Fall Symposium
Volunteers for Vice President Positions — Sandy Prater accepted the position
Announcements:
Lana Bass gave a memorial tribute for Linda Cluff.
Adjournment: 12:45pm
Reported by Lynda Biggs, NTSRT Secretary April 11, 2008
NTSRT Business Meeting
2007 Fall Symposium
September 8, 2007
MINUTES
Present: Matt Helmick (President), Brenda Clark (Vice-President), Janine Egerton (Treasurer), Ron Multhaup (Secretary)
Call To Order - NTSRT President Matt Helmick
I. Board Reports
A. President's Report: No Report
B. Vice-President's Report: No Report
C. Secretary's Report: Minutes Submitted
D. Treasurer's Report: Treasurer reported on current savings account and CD balances
II. Old Business - No old business
III. New Business
A. Six volunteers have signed up to get speakers for 2008 Spring Symposium.
B. As always, volunteers are needed to find speakers for future symposiums. As an incentive, if you get a speaker and the speaker presents their lecture then your fees for that symposium are waived. If interested, please contact Matt or Brenda.
C. Elections - Lynda Biggs was elected as the new NTSRT Secretary.
D. Lifetime Members - The following members were selected to become lifetime members of NTSRT: Lana Bass, Vicki Benton, Ken Shaddock, and Gary Whitley.
IV. Upcoming Events - The Spring 2008 Symposium will take place on April 12, 2008 and the Fall 2008 Symposium will take place on September 6, 2008 at Methodist Medical Center.
Reported by Ron Multhaup, NTSRT Secretary
Notice from ASRT: "Effective Dec. 1, 2003, the ASRT will no longer require sponsors of ASRT Category A approved activities to submit copies of sign-in attendance sheets for tracking. The sponsor is still required to keep attendance documentation for three years in the event a participant needs to validate attendance. ASRT members must send copies of their individual attendance certificate, by mail or fax, if they would like the credits tracked in their CE record. The ASRT will allow 30 days for sponsors to adjust to this new rule. Sign-in sheets submitted to the ASRT after Jan. 1, 2004, will be returned to the sponsor with a letter stating the new policy."
FYI, Symposium registration fees schedule: $45 for NTSRT member pre-registration, $55 for NTSRT member registration at the door; $55 for non-member pre-registration, $65 for non-member registration at the door. Proof of membership will be required in the form of your membership card. If you pre-register, a copy of your membership card must accompany your pre-registration materials or your pre-registration materials will be returned to you.
The length of an annual membership will now be one year from the date listed on your membership card, rather than a simple calendar year (January to December). We ask that all renewals fill out a renewal form to help us keep membership information current.
The following recommendation of the NTSRT Fund Committee, March, 2004 was approved by the membership at the 2004 Spring Symposium.
The NTSRT Fund Committee was composed of Lamar Pena, chairperson, Ken Shaddock, Marie Racine, and Lana Bass.
Statement from the Fund Committee:
Over the years, the issue of what to do with the money the NTSRT accumulates has been a thorny one. The amount the Society has in its accounts is not insubstantial, but is also not limitless. Most suggestions for what to do with these funds revolve around humanitarian projects (transportation for indigent patients, donations to national and local cancer agencies, etc.), which reflect the altruistic personalities and interests of our membership. Other suggestions involve grants or scholarships for events or education. The committee considered all of these suggestions and conducted some research into not only the needs of the community, but the practicality and logistics of the proposals.
Our research and discussions revealed some important points and surprising information.
Despite the situation of any particular patient or with respect to any individual cancer center, there is no need for the NTSRT to use its funds to provide transportation for patients within the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. According to the committee`s research, existing agencies provide adequate service. Identifying and contacting needy patients is the more pertinent issue, which does not fall within the scope of the Fund Committee.
Donations to agencies, and scholarships to individuals, while worthwhile projects in and of themselves, are loaded with logistic and practical difficulties. It became obvious during our committee discussions that the NTSRT does not possess the administrative infrastructure necessary to choose which individuals, organizations, or groups should receive money, plus we have no effective mechanism for determining how much to give or how to distribute the money.
The administration of these services would necessarily involve making decisions representing the will of the entire membership of the Society. Because of the size of our organization and the diversity of opinions held by our membership, finding consensus has, in the past, been almost impossible.
A bigger problem than finding consensus is finding volunteers to take these administrative positions. Currently, the Society has a group of officers who oversees the general functioning of the Society, and performs duties associated with conducting educational events and business meetings. Finding candidates to fill these officers positions has been very difficult. The question arises as to how difficult it will be to find volunteers for a Fund Disbursement Committee.
The issue of oversight and accountability of this Committee is one that must be considered as well. Unless the amount of money disbursed for any purpose is negligible, it is in the interest of the Society and the Committee that the decisions made by the Committee be reviewed and the funds audited to prevent possible improprieties. This would require the establishment of oversight and audit procedures and the appointment of persons to conduct these procedures.
It is clear from our experience that the NTSRT is not administratively equipped to meet these demands. Our goals to this point have been limited, but, I believe, commendable. We provide radiation therapists, dosimetrists, radiation physicists, radiation administrators and other interested individuals educational opportunities in accordance with requirements of state and national accrediting and licensing organizations. We also provide radiation therapy professionals an opportunity to further their career goals through networking at Society symposiums and providing a forum through the NTSRT website for exchange of information.
At current levels of volunteer participation, we are able to successfully meet these goals. To broaden our administrative responsibility may overtax our available resources, diminish our effectiveness as an organization, and affect our ability to attract candidates willing to serve as officers or committee members.
As a result of these considerations, the committee was able to agree on a modest proposal. The committee felt we could do something that would be personally useful, and that would have some financial benefit for the recipient. Therefore, the following proposal has been suggested for approval.
Proposal of the Fund Committee:
Each year, provided the Society is financially sound, the Society shall, through a lottery system, pay for annual memberships in the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) for two full members of the NTSRT.
Speaking on behalf of the officers, thank you for your participation in the NTSRT.
IN MEMORIAM
We recently lost a friend and fellow radiation therapist. Linda Cluff lost her fight with cancer on April 10, 2008. Linda worked in the Dallas area for over 30 years both as a radiographer and a radiation therapist. She worked in a time when there were no radiation therapists and had on the job training. Later she went back to school at the Baylor School of Radiation Therapy, graduated and passed the radiation therapy registry. Linda had a son, Michael, who graduated from Texas A&M with an architectural engineering degree and she always called him her greatest accomplishment. She served her colleagues as a state of Texas delegate to the ASRT. She also served in many offices of the TSRT including Chairman of the Board and President. She was on the committee that succeeded in gaining state licensure for all radiologic technologists in Texas . She was a long time member of our society, the NTSRT. Linda was an outspoken leader, a very knowledgeable therapist, and had the driest wit of anyone you could ever meet. She was a good friend and will be greatly missed.
- Lana Bass
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE TSRT
The following letter was sent from the TSRT to officers of the NTSRT. It contains information concerning membership in the NTSRT and changes which are soon to occur which will impact not only the NTSRT as an organization but also individual members. Please read this letter carefully.
(TEXT)
TEXAS SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGISTS, Inc.
March 20, 2002
Dear TSRT Affiliates,
The TSRT Board has reached a point where some very difficult decisions must be made for TSRT and all of its affiliates to continue to exist. In operating the executive office and continuing legislative efforts, TSRT has reached a point of severe financial difficulty . So much so that the real possibility of bankruptcy exists. If that happens, all local affiliates would cease to exist. Any local affiliates wishing to continue operation would have to apply individually to ASRT for recognition. Further, there would be no approval mechanism for state direct and indirect credit: This means that each technologist would be responsible for demonstrating to TDH that a class qualifies as direct or indirect by maintaining a syllabus with objectives, outline, and speaker credentials for every class they attend. TDH would have to more closely scrutinize their review of renewals and possibly increase renewal fees to compensate.
It is time for all technologists in Texas to bear some of the financial burden. Therefore, the TSRT Board had decided to assess the following fees. Beginning June 1, 2002 all affiliates will be assessed a $160.00 annual affiliate charter renewal fee. This will help defray the cost of running the executive office. Also beginning June 1, 2002 all non-TSRT members will be charged a $5.00 fee per credit hour attended at the affiliate levels. Technologists should not be allowed the same privileges of TSRT members without bearing some of the cost. Note that to join TSRT, it only costs $25.00 per year. To pay a fee of $5.00 per credit hour for an average of 12 hours per year would cost a technologists (sic) $60.00 per year. Very simply, all technologists attending meetings at the affiliate level benefit from the efforts of TSRT and to date that benefit has been free for all non-TSRT members. While TSRT would like to be able to provide its services for free that is no longer possible. For TSRT members nothing changes and we appreciate your support at both the local and state level. For non-TSRT members, we are simply assessing a fee for services rendered. Please contact the TSRT Executive Office at 877-986-8818 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
(Signature)
Lisa Ganus
TSRT Executive Office Manager
CC: TSRT Officers and Board
(END OF TEXT)
You may contact TSRT or download a TSRT membership application at http://tsrtorg.tripod.com (TSRT website).