|
MEMBERS
MAKING NEWS
Editor’s note: The first Member Making News features President-Elect
Barry Southers, M.Ed., R.T. (R)(MR).
He was interviewed briefly and his replies follow as well as a link
to his professional biography.
 Barry
Southers, M.Ed., R.T. (R)(MR)
SMRT President-Elect
SMRT Member since 2008
What attracted you
to working with Magnetic Resonance?
When I started working in Radiography, I knew MRI was an up and
coming imaging modality. MRI had, and still has, the ability to
image the body like no other modality, and I wanted to be a part of
that. I began working in MRI in 1996 in Louisville, and at the time,
MRI was still a relatively early field. We had imaging sequences
that were regularly over 8 minutes in length! To see the progress
and advancements the field has made over the past two decades is
remarkable. I feel very fortunate to be given the chance to work in
this field.
When did you first learn about the SMRT?
I first learned of the SMRT, and ISMRM, in the early to mid 2000’s.
I was working at a MR research lab conducting functional MR and MR
spectroscopy experiments. A lot of the researchers at the lab were
regular attendees to the ISMRM Annual Meeting, and I began to
research this organization. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of
the SMRT! After a couple years I submitted an abstract and was
fortunate to earn an award, be invited to the SMRT Annual Meeting to
present my work, and the rest is history. I have been a loyal member
since.
How did you become so active within the SMRT?
After I won an abstract award and presented my work, I was then
asked to be a guest speaker at the following SMRT Annual Meeting. I
met many of the SMRT leaders, especially Ashok Saraswat (previous
SMRT Policy Board member), and really admired the work they did in
running an international MR organization. I was nominated for the
Policy Board in 2008 but did not get elected, and then in 2009 I was
nominated again. Fortunately, I was elected to the Policy Board and
thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Policy Board. As President-Elect,
I truly feel honored to have been placed in a position such as this,
and will do all I can to perform the job as well as so many other
previous SMRT Presidents have. The SMRT truly is a great
organization and I am proud to be a member.
Tell what made you decide to complete the advanced education you
have pursued.
Back in college before I even went into Radiography, I always knew I
wanted to further my education someday, so rather than enroll in a
hospital-based Radiography program, I chose to enter the Radiography
program at the University of Kentucky. After graduation, I was
driven to complete my Bachelor’s Degree, with aspirations of
eventually becoming an anatomy teacher. Once I did this, I found a
program at the University of Cincinnati where I could earn my
Master’s Degree in Medical Education. It was a perfect fit, since I
wanted to get into teaching for several years, and completing this
degree would set me up to do so. In 2009, I began working in the
Advanced Medical Imaging Technology program at the University of
Cincinnati, teaching as a Visiting Professor in the MRI curriculum.
After earning my M.Ed, I moved to a permanent position in the
program and have been instructing MRI students since. It is a
wonderful opportunity to instruct students on MRI physics, anatomy,
physiology, and pathology, and to be a part of educating the future
of our profession.
Who was most influential in your MR career so far?
I think one of the most influential people would be Bill Faulkner.
Several years ago, I went to a MR registry review course in Las
Vegas run by Bill Faulkner and absolutely loved the way he presented
the material. It seemed effortless, yet I knew a lot of preparation
was necessary to conduct a MR registry review course. Aside from
teaching in a professional, collegiate setting, I also have always
been interested in presenting at medical imaging conferences and
seminars, and Bill gave me the spark to hone my presentation skills
and try to begin speaking at conferences. To date, I have now
presented over 60 times at conferences around the world, and owe
Bill Faulkner a big “thank you” for that.
Where would you like to see the SMRT efforts extended for your
year as President?
We are working on a lot of exciting, new opportunities and projects
at the SMRT, but one effort I would love to see would be to build
our membership, as well as educational opportunities, to Asia,
Africa, and South America. We have members in these places, yet I
would love to increase our member numbers in these areas. As
mentioned, I would also love to increase educational opportunities
in these areas as well. It is wonderful that the ISMRM and SMRT
Annual Meetings are being held in Asia (Singapore) in 2016, but I
hope this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many
incredible MR professionals worldwide, and in these areas
especially, so increasing our exposure in these areas would be a
huge step in improving the already stellar work being done there.
Barry Southers
Click here to read Barry's Bio
|
