Posted by 
By Nick Gimmi, BS, RT(R)(CT)
December 2012—As one of the Osborn Scholarship recipients for 2012, I was able to attend the AHRA Fall Conference from October 16-18th in New Orleans. I am a new member and it was my first AHRA conference. As a newcomer and an educator, I felt the experience couldn’t have been better. AHRA made it easy for me to attend the conference. I attended the CRA exam workshop and the advanced track for three full days of conference time. The trip was a terrific learning experience.
The CRA exam workshop was really helpful in guiding me as a prospective exam taker on test taking skills as well as the different aspects of imaging management that would be included on the test. The information presented helped pave the way for me to consider taking the test in May next year. I know many of the attendees were satisfied with the content of the presentation and the manner in which it was presented.
The Advanced Track was very well attended through the very last session, with relevant sessions in current coding trends, IT strategies for the future, building relationships, asset management, and outpatient consumer trends, just to name a few. The presentation of the sessions was very professional and educational. The materials allowed me to take in as much as I could, with an opportunity to connect with the presenters and other attendees.
The focus of the meeting was developing a family atmosphere in which we were all considered relevant donors to the depository of information. I’m convinced that AHRA is truly here to assist its members and be relevant to their needs, as seen by the collaborative nature of the design team, staff, and speakers. I am an advocate for member involvement in one’s professional organization. I see the commitment that AHRA and its members have to educating and providing professional development to the medical imaging managers they represent.
I want to thank Ed Morgan and the AHRA Education Foundation for awarding me the 2012 Osborn Scholarship. The meeting was a great experience, and I thought New Orleans was a great choice as a venue. I met a lot of excellent professionals and came away with some great ideas that I will use when we open our new off site ER/imaging facility in January 2013.
Nick Gimmi, BS, RT(R)(CT) is the clinical operations manager at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in Arlington, VA. He can be reached at nicholas.gimmi@inova.org.
LINK 