May 2012 Update from the President's Desk

This month, Spectrum focuses our attention toward and onto the wider world stage and in doing so draws attention to several other aspects of the activities conducted on your behalf by our peak professional body, The Australian Institute of Radiography. 

Of particular concern is the continuing effect of the Global Financial Crisis which, as many Aussie expatriates are choosing to come home and overseas graduates are looking toward Australia, is resulting in increasing pressure on our already contracting job market. Our Overseas Qualifications Assessment Panel, having been recently reconfirmed as the arbiter of qualification standards for immigration purposes, is continuing to work to its foundation standard that no fully accredited Australian MRS graduate will be displaced by a lesser qualified overseas practitioner.

There are, however, differences in our environments that will need to be proactively addressed over time.  For example, on a country by country basis, larger national populations will produce a greater research pool and capability, a deficit that we in Australia must work hard to overcome, whereas conversely, larger workforces may be directing larger populations toward greater specialisation and overcompartmentalisation of skills.  This is being evidenced in some overseas applicants for whom a particular imaging or radiation therapy modality is either all they have practised for many years or been regarded as a separate course and unfortunately left out of their portfolio of skills.  As always, Australia’s opportunity to observe the healthcare trends of rest of the world will need to inform us whether these are acceptable or erosive changes.

This then leads me to announce that the AIR’s Competency Based Standards document is in the final stages of a major overhaul, both in style and content.  As this document encapsulates what we do and therefore who we are, many of you will have already been consulted on this crucial process and other members should look for an opportunity to participate. Discussion and the opportunity to do so with your colleagues is important. So too is the need for each of us to continue to represent the standards of our professions, on an individual basis with each of our patients and on the wider workplace, state and national stages.

You will be receiving this issue not long after your national Annual Scientific Meeting for Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMMIRT) has been successfully run for 2012 in Sydney, its theme, ‘Nationally Connected’ and related content brilliantly speaking to an ideal - the A.I.R. representing our members and our professions, working hard to capture and realise our position and stake in healthcare, education and as a respected participant and contributor on the national and international stage

• A trio of our colleagues from New Zealand shared their experiences in working to continue their diagnostic and therapy services against a background of the destruction of their city.The fact that Christchurch was long held in NZ to be the most geophysically stable of their cities, reminds us that sudden changes can both be devastating and bring forth the best in us.

• The second iteration of the co-hosted Student Conference produced a wealth of presentations, rivalling in quality and scope the value of their fully accredited colleagues and pointing to a bright future.

• Two critical elements of our immediate future were rolled out, the Chairs of the new Medical Radiation Practitioner Board of Australia (MRPBA) and the Inter-Professional Advisory Team (IPAT) for Advanced Practice giving us an insight into changes that will impact our working lives.

• and of course the various concurrent mainstream sessions, in both RT and DI, were populated with an amazing array and quality of choice and subject scope.     

Meanwhile, here at Spectrum, in widening our outward focus we must also be continually aware of the underpinning minutiae of our interests, work and workplaces ‘at home’ in Australia. I commend to you the articles detailing the provision of our services in association with major events such as the Grand Prix, in the Armed Services and for Customs and Border Protection.

Finally, recently and at the Sydney ASMMIRT, I farewelled two colleagues from the AIR’s Board of Directors - Mr. Christopher Pilkington, Board Member for South Australia and Mr. Timothy Way, Board Member for Queensland. For myself personally and on the members behalf I must record a sincere vote of gratitude for the manner and extent to which they have both given of themselves to take on the huge responsibility of overseeing the affairs of this organisation. Although they brought two completely different styles to their roles, their enormous professional experience, erudite counsel, vigorous debate and good-humoured friendship has made my role highly rewarding and will leave the AIR forever a better organisation.

In closing, at the conclusion of my first year as President, I would also like to thank the new incoming Board Members, Mr Patrick Eastgate (Queensland) and Ms Julie Olsen (South Australia) the continuing Board Members and the staff of the AIR, ably led by our Chief Executive, Mr. David Collier, for their continuing support and another great year.Yours Sincerely,Bruce Harvey,President, Australian Institute of Radiography.

Bruce Harvey
President