SDMS '09: Inspiring, Learning, Shopping, Honoring and Partying
The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography's Annual Conference kicked into high gear this weekend with sessions and events designed for inspiring, learning, shopping, honoring and entertaining.
Inspiring
After the official welcoming address from outgoing SDMS President Shannon Boswell, Victoria Labalme took the stage to deliver Friday morning's Keynote Address, titled "Crazy, Busy, Nuts: Getting Off the Conveyor Belt of Life."
"What are we running from and what are we running to in our lives, and how do we get off this crazy conveyor belt of life we're on?" Labalme asked in her presentation's central question. Invoking the imaging of a prism in an entertaining, humorus, fun-filled talk, Labalme told her audience of several hundred that they'll find the answer ultimately by focusing on three key aspects of all relationships: how they look, how they listen and how they love---in relation to both themselves and to others. "We need to celebrate the people in our lives and we need to celebrate ourselves," Labalme said. "There's so much we wish we were or weren't. We need to ask ourselves, why do I so infrequently want to be the person I am?"
Labalme was followed by Kevin Evans, PhD, FSDMS, who delivered the McLaughlin Memorial Lecture. Titled "The Crisis of Leadership: Relighting the Volunteer Spirit," Evans' presentation served as part call to action and part tribute to his friend and mentor, Stephen McLaughlin, an SDMS luminary who died of brain cancer in 2005, as he encouraged his audience to make service and volunteerism within their chosen field a priority in their lives.
"As a leader, are you building a strong resume or are you building a strong legacy?" Dr. Evans asked in his 50-minute presentation, in which he repeatedly referred to McLaughlin as a prime example of the kind of capable, inspiring leader urgently needed to help the SDMS, and sonography in general, to move forward in the years ahead.
Learning
Laurence Needleman's General Session, titled Understanding Arterial Stenosis: Clinical Significance, Sonography and Doppler Diagnosis and Interpretation, closed out Friday morning's offerings but kicked off the conference's central educational sessions that ran throughout the rest of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Attendees could choose from more than 53 sessions offered in four tracks: abdominal, cardiac, Ob-Gyn and vascular sonography.
"I just came from the session on emergency ultrasound imaging and that was really interesting," Alison Flynt, manager of ultrasound at Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial Hospital, said Saturday morning. "The courses on neonatal and MSK ultrasound were also very interesting."
The SDMS conference is "great, and it always gives you the most up-to-date information," said Kate Davie, BS, RDMS, a sonographer at Greenville (S.C.) Memorial Hospital, as she toured the exhibit hall on Friday with fellow sonographers Wendy Storm, RT(R), RDMS, RVT; of Monroe, La.; and Meredith Harris, BS, RDMS, Davie's co-worker at Greevnille Memorial.
Shopping
There were, in fact, some shoppers in attendance. Flynt, for her part, said she was intent on checking out options for new ultrasound technology to replace some of her department's equipment, which is getting a little long in the tooth. "A lot of our equipment is seven years old," she said, noting that buying decisions are getting harder to put off despite the tough economy. "We need to bring some musculoskeletal ultrasound into our department," she said.
Depending on who you spoke to among the vendors, meanwhile, traffic in the SDMS Exhibit Hall was up, down or about the same as last year's.
"I think it's definitely slower at this point," said Courtney Ernst, manager of clinical science and applications, ultrasound, for Hitachi Medical Systems America Inc., as she stood beside the company's booth, which featured live demonstrations of sonography technology. "I also think its a lot smaller this year," Ernst added, in terms of overall vendor attendance and booth sizes. According to SDMS officials, about 65 vendors participated in the exhibitors hall this year. "We're getting a lot interest in our elastography, but we're still hearing a lot of 'we have budget freezes in place.' We've been here a day and a half and gotten maybe two leads," Ernst said.
Over at the Toshiba booth, meanwhile, Cassie Beck Murvay, ultrasound product manager, said Friday morning that traffic at her booth was "probably about the same as last year. It's definitely just as busy as it was last night." (Thursday was the Grand Opening of the Exhibit Hall.). Several staffing companies, such as Aureus Medical Group and Resouces on Call, said they were getting many inquiries about opportunities, especially from the sizable student contingent at this year's conference.
Honoring and Partying
The SDMS also took time out to honor its own. Friday evening's Awards Dinner recognized the achievements and contributions of sonographers and students from around the United States. The awards dinner was followed by the "Tennesee Two-Step," an evening of dancing and partying to the live country music of Layne Wrye.
Be sure to check out additional information and photos from the SDMS conference and events coming soon to the ADVANCE website. And if you attended the SDMS conference let us know in the comments section what you thought of the conference!