RESTON, Va.--Two new competitive grants--aimed at supporting the launch of a new degree program for a nuclear medicine practitioner--are being awarded by the SNMTS Professional Development and Education Fund with support from its Corporate Friends. The two 12-month $20,000 Nuclear Medicine Practitioner Program Grants are funded by PDEF and its Corporate Friends: Biogen Idec, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Capintec Inc., GE Healthcare, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Inc. and MDS Nordion.

"SNMTS is proud to announce the creation of these new grants, which will help universities, colleges and related institutions launch a new master's degree-level program for imaging specialists," said SNMTS President Valerie R. Cronin. "Developing this new level of health care provider will have a tremendous impact on the field of imaging specialists," she said, adding that there could be programs available as early as the 2007 fall term.

Recently, SNMTS evaluated the need and the desire for an advanced level of clinical practice for nuclear medicine technologists, explained the director of imaging services in the Catholic Health System of Western New York in Buffalo. As the profession has matured--and with changes in health care occurring over the past few years--technologists have taken on roles in the clinical practice setting that are considered over and above the entry-level practice domain, she noted. "Today, technologists may be asked (under supervision of a physician) to administer interventional drugs and/or obtain an informed consent for specified procedures, similar to work performed by a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant," said Cronin.

"A nuclear medicine practitioner would be able to provide a broad range of services under the supervision of a physician in a variety of settings," explained Martha W. Pickett, chair of the SNMTS Advanced Practice Task Force. "This new clinical role offers an opportunity for significant career advancement for technologists," added the division director of the Nuclear Medicine Imaging Sciences Program in the College of Health Related Professions at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.

The deadline to complete the online application is June 15. Additional information and the application can be found at www.snm.org/grants. Recipients will be announced in August. Eligible applicants are representatives from U.S. colleges or universities or consortia of institutions.

For more information about these grants or to learn more about the PDEF or making a contribution, please contact Kathy Bates, SNM's director of development, via phone at (703) 708-9000, ext. 1028. Information is posted on SNM's Web site at www.snm.org/grants.

About SNM
SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular and nuclear imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances; provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed resource in the field; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging. SNM members have introduced--and continue to explore--biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at www.snm.org.

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