2019 Annual Meeting

Martin Sherriff, B.App.Sc., R.T. (MR)
Chair, 2019 Annual Meeting Program Committee

Ashok Saraswat, M.S., BEd, R.T.(R)(MR)
Chair, 2019 Abstract Committee

Martin Sherriff, B.App.Sc., R.T. (MR), Chair, 2019 Annual Meeting Program Committee

Hi One and All,

Welcome to the 28th Annual Meeting of the SMRT (Society of MR Radiographers and Technologists). This meeting will be held in the beautiful city of Montréal, Canada on May 10-13, 2019.

Montréal is a fabulous city, known as the Paris of North America. Montréal is the capital city of the predominantly French speaking province of Quebec, but don’t worry English is widely spoken and understood! It boasts many great restaurants and bistros, some great sights to visit such as Mont Royal, and it’s the home of the famous Montréal Smoked sandwich and of course the indulgent Poutine (both are an absolute must!) The meeting will be held at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal which is at the north end of Old Montréal with its cobbled streets, plazas and many cafes.

Ashok Saraswat, M.S., BEd, R.T.(R)(MR), Chair, 2019 Abstract Committee

This will be the second visit to Montréal for the SMRT Annual Meeting; it was last held here in 2011. And following last year’s meeting in Paris, it promises to be not only a great educational meeting but also an excellent opportunity to network, socialise and meet similarly enthusiastic MR Radiographers and Technologists from around the world.

The focus of the Montréal meeting is to prepare MR Radiographers & Technologists for the rapidly advancing technologies that are strongly influencing the MR World. The educational program is aimed at maximising available CME credits and CPD points for MR Radiographers & Technologists. Educational sessions will include the Physics of MR Safety, Body Imaging and PET MR.

For the last few months, I have been blogging about the upcoming meeting and will continue to do so. Moving forward, I will be announcing key presenters and their topics. You can follow my blog on the SMRT webpage, and via social media including Slack. If you’re not a ‘Slacker’, I encourage you to sign up! Leading into the Paris meeting we introduced Slack to attendees and members of the SMRT. If you’ve never had an opportunity to attend the Annual meeting previously, Slack is great portal to meet other attendees prior to and during the meeting. It is also a great medium to continue conversations after a session, or the meeting for that matter. Slack is free and easy to use, even for the computer illiterate such as myself!

The SMRT Annual Meeting in Montréal begins on Friday evening with poster presentations. Presenting a poster is a huge opportunity to share your own work and any interesting MRI developments from your workplace.  It’s also an opportunity to learn from other Radiographers and Technologists. Following the poster presentations we hold a reception for the Abstract award winners which is a great occasion to catch up with old friends and meet new attendees.

On Saturday evening, there will be time to wind down and get your feet moving at the SMRT Welcome Reception. Many of the invited speakers will join us which is a perfect opportunity to mingle with ‘gurus’ of the MR world.

There are a few registration options available for the Montréal Annual Meeting and registration costs are significantly less than the 2018 meeting. Firstly, the 4 day meeting package which includes the SMRT weekend meeting, social events, and full access to the ISMRM meeting on Monday and the exhibition hall. The 3 day meeting package includes the SMRT weekend meeting, social events and access to the 2 hour session of the ISMRM/SMRT Joint Forum on Monday. Lastly, individual day registration is available for Saturday and/or Sunday.

On behalf of the SMRT Annual Meeting program Committee, the SMRT Policy Board and Executive, we look forward to meeting many new and old faces in Montréal!