My AHRA Volunteer Experience

By Rudy Apodaca, CRA

November 2012—I have been a member of AHRA for several years and have benefited from the education, networking, and every aspect of being a member. After the 2011 Annual Meeting I received a call to join and lead a zone for the Member Development Campaign. Well, you know what comes to mind when we get a call of this nature. How could I find time to participate when I find it trying to fulfill all my work duties and strike a work life balance? During these times of “do more with less” at work, it seems the pendulum often falls on the work side more often than the personal side. Yet I felt compelled to find a way to serve this great organization that has served me so wonderfully over the years.

But just how was I going to fit one more thing into my life when it seemed to be already bursting at the seams? I stopped to think about how have I approached all the other things that are requested of me while still fulfilling the core duties at work and remaining a good spouse after 34 years of blissful marriage?

It certainly takes a village! I am very fortunate to be surrounded by a very talented and engaged team of radiology professionals. Our radiology director, Ed Jones, and some of his up and coming leaders were more than willing to make this, as they say, “a team sport.” Two of Ed’s supervisors and fellow AHRA members, Carmen Utecht and Patrick Anderson, agreed to co-lead this campaign for our zone. So we embarked on this worthwhile endeavor with enthusiasm and optimism. We all knew the reality of today’s healthcare situation and knew we would have to get creative and really present the value of AHRA to radiology leaders.

Our charge was zone three, which was comprised of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. These states did not have the heaviest of populations, but there were still many prospective great imaging administrators and leaders. We asked for and received volunteers in each state and “hit the road” mostly electronically and telephonically, partnered with our great AHRA resource experts from the home office.

It was a great experience as we got to know people we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to network with, and yes, we had success. It was a great experience as it really did take a team approach. All three of us took on duties and rotated reporting out our progress at the scheduled calls. Nothing like a little competition; no one likes to get on a call and report no new members. So we made it to the end, but certainly it does not stop there as we are not just members of AHRA, we have taken ownership by volunteering. We found it inspiring to be a part of this impactful campaign.

Rudy Apodaca, CRA is the VP of clinical support services at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert, AZ. He can be reached at Rudy.Apodaca@dignityhealth.org.