Society CEO Richard Evans says managers should take advantage of this year's 'unique educational opportunities'
UKRC 2008 is approaching fast and if you haven't already registered for this year's event now is your chance.
This year the exhibition and conference programme have an even greater variety of education opportunities.
The College of Radiographers Industry Partnership Scheme (CoRIPS) is supporting a new initiative entitled ‘Education on the Stands’. The idea is to provide CPD value in the UKRC exhibition as well as in the lecture programme.
Here Society CEO Richard Evans explains how radiographers have been involved in ensuring the programme is relevant to them:
Do radiographers get a say in what gets onto the programme for UKRC?
UKRC is an event that is 'by radiographers; for radiographers'. The programme is decided on by a consortium of organisations including the SoR, The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, the British Institute of Radiology and the Royal College of Radiologists.
There are radiographers on the board and executive of this body. The position of UKRC President is open to radiographers and has been held by radiographers in the past. The President appoints a team of vice presidents to help organise the academic programme.
The current UKRC President, Dr Stephen Davis, is a radiologist but one of the four vice presidents is a radiographer and there are a good number of radiographers assisting the vice presidents in their various teams as they pull together the programme
Is there a strong delegation of radiographers who attend? How are they catered for specifically?
Just over 1000 radiographers attended last year but we expect there to be more this year. There are a number of significant improvements to the programme and especially the exhibition this year.
Exhibiting companies will be offering CPD opportunities within the exhibition and some are providing satellite teaching sessions from a specially constructed auditorium in the exhibition hall.
The value of attending UKRC has never been higher and I hope that many more radiographers, helpers, assistant practitioners and department managers will attend.
For a lot of managers, the cost and time implications of sending staff to UKRC is an issue. How can this be addressed?
David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS said at last year’s Chief Health Professions Officers Conference that money for staff development would not be cut back in 2008.
The UKRC organisers wrote to NHS chief executives earlier in the year to remind them of this encourage them to release training funds to ensure that as many of their imaging staff as possible can take advantage of the unique opportunities of UKRC.
Given the increasing number of speciality meetings which are now in the calendar what does UKRC have to offer?
UKRC is the only truly multidisciplinary meeting for the whole diagnostic imaging workforce in the world.
The opportunity to appreciate the whole spectrum of activity and development in medical imaging is not only stimulating and exciting. It can also provide virtually all of your CPD needs for under one roof, making the event extremely good value.
The exhibition seems to have reduced in size over the past few years and the trade seems disenchanted as more and more buying decisions are centralised and users have less and less influence. What can be done to keep them ‘on board?’
I do not hear radiographers telling me that they have no influence over purchasing decisions and I know that managers and modality specialists attend events like UKRC, RSNA and ECR especially to help them make purchasing decisions.
At the same time, it is clear that the costs of exhibiting at UKRC have to be justified by companies and they have been feeling the effects of financial constraint in healthcare just as we all have.
In many cases it is just not possible for companies to invest in large stands and bring volumes of equipment in to the exhibition. This does not mean that companies are not concerned to attract customers and build good relationships.
This year the “education on the stand” initiative has shown how industry is keen to show how much UKRC and the relationship with the UK imaging community is vital to working together to develop the very best services. Talk of “disenchanted” exhibitors seems rather at odds with the energy and enthusiasm being shown by companies committed to the success of UKRC 2008.
Programme update
New sessions added include Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Monday 02 June and
Education in the Exhibition.
For more information and live updates visit the UKRC website.
