Professional Volunteering: VSRT Annual Conference

April 9, 2016
I volunteered at the Virginia Society of Radiologic Technologist Annual Seminar on
Saturday, April 9th, 2016. It was hosted at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference
Center. Each year they hold a conference for all the VSRT members in Virginia Beach but
anyone is able to sign up to attend. They hold lectures over three days with lecture options in
different disciplines in the morning then large lectures for the all attendees in the afternoon. At
7am, I headed down to registration to see where I could help and spent of the rest of the day with
the proctor of one of the lecture rooms.
I helped the lecture proctor by passing out evaluations, ensuring everyone was signed in,
and stamping everyones booklets to help the attendees earn credits through the VSRT. They
placed me in a lecture room that pertained to radiation therapy so I also was able to enjoy hearing
the talks. Since the radiation therapy talks had smaller attendance, we were able to have more
discussions as a group and hear other perspectives or methods at different areas in Virginia,
Maryland, and even Michigan. Even though I was given easy tasks from the VSRT, it helped me
to understand how the ASRT/VSRT log their credits and track how many people were in
attendance.
The first lecture was about personal dosimetry monitors and the direction the technology
is moving. It was interesting to hear how advanced some of the new devices are such as real time
readings via the internet or a smartphone application. The second lecture was about the flow of
the radiation oncology department and the different roles that come together. The third was about
the necessary qualities of a radiation therapy student director and how their time is (and where it
would rather be) distributed.
Overall, I was excited to be a part of the VSRT annual conference and pleased with what
I was able to contribute in terms of dialog and learn from others while there. It is eye opening to
hear other professional talks and opinions. Some centers and methods were similar to what I
have experienced thus far and others were new to me. The dialog between all of us in the lecture
room was also enjoyable and questions from the audience were thought provoking. I enjoyed my
time at this conference even though it was small; it helped build my anticipation for the AAMD
2016 annual conference where I will be able to learn and hear from others who are experienced
in the field of dosimetry.

Proctor Table

Lecture Room

Virginia Beach

King Neptune
Statue