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History
of the Association of Program Coordinators in Radiology
Dianna
Otterstad
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Past President, Association of Program Coordinators in Radiology
The
Association of Program Coordinators in Radiology was conceived
in the spring of 1998 during a conversation between Jerry Arndt,
MD, former program director at Baylor University Medical Center,
Dallas, and George Curry, MD, program director at the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Following the
1998 annual meeting, Dr. Arndt, founder of the Association of
Program Directors in Radiology, told Dr. Curry he was considering
new projects for the APDR, and Dr. Curry suggested an association
for program coordinators.
Dr.
Curry and Dr. Arndt then approached Dianna Otterstad, program
coordinator at UT Southwestern, about the feasibility of such
an organization. During the following year Dr. Arndt and Dianna
had several discussions about the best way to start an organization
of program coordinators, and Dr. Arndt began to make inquiries
to the APDR officers and directors to get their reaction to such
a project.
Immediately
following the 1999 APDR meeting, Dr. Arndt recommended contacting
as many coordinators as possible to determine if there was sufficient
interest in a coordinators’ organization to pursue the
matter further. The newly-installed president of the APDR, Dr.
Murray Janower, and several other APDR leaders supported such
an organization, and Dr. Arndt felt this would be a favorable
year for organization. Dr. Arndt and Dianna developed a survey
and emailed it to approximately 50 coordinators. The response
was overwhelmingly positive. Dianna then wrote to Dr. Janower,
president of the APDR, regarding the possibility of a coordinators’ organization,
and in July 1999 Dr. Janower invited the program coordinators
to attend the next annual meeting scheduled for April 2000 in
Orlando, Florida.
About
this time Sherry Bucholz of Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane,
Washington, volunteered to assist with organizing the meeting,
a most welcome offer. Since we did not have a mailing list at
that time, the meeting announcements were addressed to “Residency
Program Coordinator” and sent to all radiology programs
listed in the green book. Sherry and Dianna wrote an invitation
letter that was included in the coordinators’ registration
packets.
Thirty-five
coordinators attended the inaugural meeting of the Association
of Program Coordinators in Radiology in Orlando. We held two
organizational meetings and decided on an official name for our
organization. The membership of the APDR approved the concept
of a program coordinators’ organization at its Orlando
business meeting.
Following
the Orlando meeting, we went to work in earnest. The Membership
Committee conducted a survey of all radiology program coordinators
and compiled a complete database with names and contact information
for all coordinators. We conducted our first membership campaign
and began planning for the 2001 meeting in Toronto, Canada. We
submitted an official letter of request and the APCR Rules of
Operation to the APDR Board of Directors, which they officially
approved at their December 2000 meeting. The last remaining step
would be approval by the APDR membership in Toronto.
The
Toronto meeting was a great success, with 59 coordinators attending.
Dr. Coralie Shaw, who succeeded Dr. Janower as APDR president,
announced that the APDR had officially approved affiliation of
the APCR with the APDR. APCR members are designated as Coordinating
Members of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology
and receive all mailings of the APDR except the journal. Membership
dues for the first year were fixed at $50. Thus, the long road
to official recognition and acceptance was completed, and the
Association of Program Coordinators in Radiology looked forward
to a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with the
APDR.
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