Courses and Schedule

ASRT@RSNA 2025 Courses

Each course is approved for 1 Category A+ CE credit.

Your registration also includes access to the Associated Sciences Program and the RSNA Technical Exhibits.

Course
Date
Time
Speaker

Tuesday, Dec. 3

  • Medical Imaging Labor Shortage — Health Care Systems and Academic Institutions Partnering for Solutions

    11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

    Tim Scalise, M.S.S.H.R., R.T.(R)(N)
    Tanya Nolan, Ed.D., R.T.(R), RDMS

    Description

    Labor shortages in medical imaging have become a safety, quality and financial burden on most health care systems across the United States. This interactive course — offered from both a health care system and an academic institution’s perspective — explores the root causes of the shortage and proposes collaborative solutions. The speakers will emphasize strategies that increase the number of students graduating from local academic radiologic sciences programs while enhancing their skills. The long-term goal is cultivating future-ready, qualified clinical instructors.


    Objectives

    • Identify challenges facing health care systems regarding labor shortages in imaging services.
    • Examine strategies to enhance partnerships between health care systems and academic institutions to improve student throughput while maintaining high educational and clinical standards.
    • Discuss approaches to developing student skill sets that align with clinical workforce demands, ensuring graduates are prepared to transition into both clinical and mentoring roles.
    • Analyze the successes and challenges of collaborative initiatives and explore the past, present and ongoing efforts to sustain and strengthen workforce development in medical imaging.
  • Current Trends in Internationalization of Medical Imaging Education and Practice

    1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

    Sean Richardson, Ed.D., R.T.(R)(CT)

    Description

    Are today’s health care professionals equipped for globalization and international health issues? The health care industry continues to call for higher education to produce graduates who will offer a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Health care delivery requires current and future health care professionals to demonstrate global learning, skills and competencies. An internationalized medical imaging curriculum provides a framework of values and practices for the skills and literacies of a changing world. Global and international education can teach the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to function effectively in an interconnected world. The goals of global and international education should be to prepare students to operate in a globally competitive workforce; increase students’ understanding of different cultures, religions and political systems; instill a globalized view of world events; and promote world peace. One approach used in the U.K. among physicians is an internationalized curriculum that includes a clinical overseas attachment, allowing students to train abroad.

    This course discusses current trends in the internationalization of medical imaging education and practice.


    Objectives

    • Explain the internationalization of higher education with a concentration on medical imaging education.
    • Describe the benefits of internationalization for higher education and medical imaging education and practice.
    • Discuss approaches, trends and barriers to the internationalization of medical imaging education.
    • Illustrate possible avenues for the implementation of an internationalized medical imaging curriculum.
  • Imaging Awareness: It’s Not Always Straight Forward

    3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

    Tim Blackburn, Ph.D., DABR, R.T.(R)
    Avril Spencer, R.T.(R)(CT)
    Shane Arrington, M.H.A., B.M.Sc., CNMT

    Description

    Some patient communities face additional barriers when seeking health care. From scheduling to the final report, members of the health care imaging team can help facilitate positive health outcomes for vulnerable patients. This session will address some of the barriers to positive health outcomes and ways to overcome them in today’s environment. Technologists who identify within these communities as both provider and patient will offer their perspectives.


    Objectives

    • Recognize the importance of providing respectful and appropriate imaging experiences for patient populations whose backgrounds or identities may differ from the provider’s own.
    • Identify potential barriers patients may face when seeking or receiving care, including legal, anatomical or personal considerations that may affect communication and imaging practices.
    • Explore strategies for educating health care team members on respectful and patient-centered care practices and fostering allyship. Consider initiatives such as employee resource groups to promote a supportive environment.
 

Wednesday, Dec. 4

  • Breast Imaging: AI Vs. CAD — What’s the Big Deal?

    8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.

    Nikki Gidwaney, M.D.

    Description

    The speaker will discuss how artificial intelligence is being implemented within breast imaging, as well as other aspects of patient care in breast centers. We will demonstrate how artificial intelligence can co-exist with the radiologist to improve workflow and highlight the differences in AI compared to computer-aided detection. Additionally, we will discuss how AI can help radiologic technologists with workflow and quality measures.


    Objectives

    • Develop an understanding of the various artificial intelligence tools available in breast imaging and how they affect the patient, technologist and radiologist.
    • Evaluate the differences between AI and traditional computer-aided detection tools.
    • Identify applications of AI that may be useful in attendees’ practices.
  • Harnessing Generative AI in Medical Imaging: Insights and Critical Appraisal

    9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.

    Ryan Duggan, B.H.Sc., RTR, MHI

    Description

    The rapid evolution of generative artificial intelligence presents transformative opportunities in medical imaging but also necessitates a critical understanding of its capabilities and limitations. This session will provide a comprehensive overview of generative AI focusing on chat-based applications, such as ChatGPT, and their implications for medical imaging professionals. The course will begin by defining generative AI and its relevance to health care, outlining the mechanisms that enable these systems to generate human-like text and interact in real time. A recent study evaluating ChatGPT’s performance on a Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists-style entry-to-practice exam will be reviewed, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses and potential as a supplementary tool for education and training. To guide medical imaging professionals in navigating AI developments, a framework for critically appraising AI-powered applications will be presented. This framework will emphasize the roles of transparency, performance and clinical applicability. Special attention will be given to the integration of AI in medical imaging and its potential to enhance quality, workflow efficiency and patient outcomes. The session will conclude with takeaways for medical imaging professionals that will equip attendees with the knowledge and tools to engage with AI advancements responsibly and effectively within their practice. Attendees will leave with a balanced perspective on the promises and challenges of generative AI in medical imaging.


    Objectives

    • Gain an overview of generative AI.
    • Understand the performance of ChatGPT on CAMRT-style entry-to-practice exam.
    • Learn a framework for critiquing AI-powered applications.
  • Multidisciplinary Osteoporosis Care and the Radiographer’s Role in Fracture Liaison Services

    11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

    Rosie James, M.Sc.

    Description

    Osteoporosis and fragility fractures are preventable outcomes of aging that are, unfortunately, still underdiagnosed and undertreated. This session will provide an overview of the radiographer’s role in fracture prevention and osteoporosis management through multidisciplinary care and fracture liaison services. Attendees will learn about opportunities for osteoporosis screening within existing patient pathways and how to support patients. The speaker will also discuss the future of early osteoporosis diagnosis using new and innovative technologies.


    Objectives

    • Define osteoporosis and explain the benefits of screening programs for early detection and fracture prevention.
    • Discuss the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the management of osteoporosis and fracture prevention.
    • Describe the radiographer’s role in a fracture liaison service in the U.K.
  • Aristotle Meets Kotter: The Role of Communication in Driving Successful Change Management in Health Care

    1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

    Stefanie Manack, M.S., R.T.(R)(M)(VI), CRA, CMQ/OE

    Description

    In 1995, John Kotter published what has since become the stalwart guide to successful change management. His 8-Step Change Model centers communication as a key component in driving successful change efforts. We know how important communication is to change management, yet poor communication is still the No. 1 reason change efforts fail. Communication to create changes in behavior is far more complex than simply delivering information. The speaker will discuss Aristotle’s beliefs about this concept in the 4th-century B.C., and how John Kotter applied these communication principles in the modern era. Take a quick trip to ancient Greece to learn more about the three types of rhetoric, why we respond or don’t respond to each type, and how to leverage this foundational aspect of communication science in change efforts.


    Objectives

    • Define the three types of rhetoric as a means of persuasion and how they affect changes in behavior.
    • Identify the basic framework of John Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model and why linear communication delivery fails to change behavior.
    • Recognize and apply the basic concepts of rhetoric and communication science to accelerate the transformation to change champions.
    • Demonstrate an understanding of the connection between the art of persuasion, the science of communication and successful change management efforts via a review of research and examples in health care change management.
  • Managing Patient Anxiety in MRI: Achieving Near-Zero Refusals

    3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

    Mark Cohen, Ph.D.
    Jared Gilbert, M.S.

    Description

    Patient refusals and anxiety prior to and during magnetic resonance imaging examinations result in compromised health care and substantial cost to the imaging center. While claustrophobia is a real symptom, it frequently can be managed proactively by attending to a variety of simple factors. In more than 35 years of handling human subjects in research settings, the speakers have experienced a near-zero refusal rate, even though the examination times are often many times longer than typical clinical scans. The speakers will describe the factors in research settings that can be translated directly to imaging centers and that will lead to increased efficiency, income, improved diagnostics and improved patient satisfaction.


    Objectives

    • Identify patient-management processes that lead to distress.
    • Implement improvements in managing anxious and claustrophobic patients in magnetic resonance examinations.
    • Select appropriate methods to reduce anxiety.
  • Hard Conversations, Stronger Teams: Resolving Conflict with Purpose

    3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

    Jennifer Clayton, MBA, R.T.(R)(CT)
    Ashley Willner, R.T.(R)(CI)

    Description

    Navigating conflict can be a difficult but necessary part of life. This interactive session will provide tools through collaboration which will empower each of us to tackle those difficult conversations with the goal of having as positive a resolution as possible. Having tools to navigate through conflict can empower us to approach challenging situations with confidence instead of avoiding them.


    Objectives

    • Identify key principles that support constructive and respectful dialogue in moments of conflict.
    • Apply at least two conflict resolution tools to real-world scenarios through guided collaboration and discussion.
    • Demonstrate increased confidence in initiating difficult conversations by using structured approaches shared during the session.

Registration fee includes:

  • All ASRT@RSNA 2025 courses.
  • Associated Sciences courses.
  • Other educational offerings from RSNA.
  • Access to the RSNA technical exhibition.