Marti L. McCulloch, BS, MBA, RDCS, FASE, Immediate Past Chair

The Scientific Sessions in Montreal were well attended, with approximately 3,100 attendees. The sonography tracts were at capacity or overflowing and, according to the initial review of evaluations, extremely successful. The following are highlights of popular sonography sessions and special events.

The 2 ^nd Annual ASE Foundation Awards Gala & Research Fundraiser was held at the historic Le Windsor in Montreal to honor the 2011 award recipients. The Lifetime Achievement Awards for physician and sonographer went to Pravin M. Shah, MD, and David B. Adams, RCS, RDCS, FASE. Both gave touching speeches and had their families in attendance. The Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award went to Jonathan Lindner, MD, FASE, and the Meritorious Service Award to Diane Millman, JD—the first time an ASE award has been given to a non-medical person. Judy Hung, MD, FASE was chosen to give the Feigenbaum Lecture, and Governor Howard Dean, MD gave the Edler Lecture (both were excellent!) The Council on Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Founder’s Award was given to James C. Huhta, MD. The gala was a wonderful event with excellent food and wine, short speeches, and music and dancing afterward—definitely an event to remember!

The Global Educator’s Summit for Cardiovascular Ultrasound was moderated by Bonita Anderson, Merri Bremer, Carol Mitchell, and Richie Palma, all very well known educators in the profession of echocardiography. This year’s summit had a global theme, comparing what is done in Australia with respect to Bonita Anderson’s program and other countries versus what is done at multiple educational sites within the US. The summit was an open round-table discussion that brought educators together in an effort to discuss best practices and methodologies to further the professional growth and development of cardiovascular sonographers. Topics included international cardiovascular ultrasound education practices, development of international programs, and the use of social media for remote learning.

The Council on Cardiac Sonography recently added the Sonographer Lifetime Achievement Award which mirrors the Physician Lifetime Achievement Award and will alternate every other year with the Distinguished Sonographer Teaching Award. The award’s first recipient was David B. Adams from Duke Medical Center. David was recognized with this esteemed award at the Gala, with both his peers and most of his family, including his children, brother, and nephew, in attendance. All award winners received books crafted especially for them with pictures (historical and present day), letters and words of wisdom from friends and peers. Let’s just say that David’s book was full! Congratulations David—very well deserved!

The Alan D. Waggoner Student Sonography Award is an award that sonographers throughout should be proud of, as it promotes the professional growth and development of young sonographers. Nothing is more important than making sure our future is sound, with future leaders who are more than competent in their field of practice. The scholarship program was established in 2001 in recognition of Alan Waggoner’s professional achievements and service to the ASE. Funding from the ASE Education and Research Foundation provides five $1,000 scholarships for students enrolled in a cardiac ultrasound program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in the United States, or by an equivalent Canadian or international ultrasound program. However, due to the overwhelming number of excellent applications, the Sonographer Council asked to use leftover budget dollars to fund an additional five $1,000 scholarships for a total of $10,000 and ten recipients. Included with each scholarship is a one-year complimentary membership to the ASE, complimentary registration to attend the Scientific Sessions and limited travel support. This year the following students were chosen from a vast pool of applicants, signifying their intellectual merit and strength:

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  Jennifer Durst, University of Kansas Hospital, School of Allied Health DMS Program, Kansas City, KS

  
  
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  Nicole Chaney, Johns Hopkins School of Cardiac Sonography, Baltimore, MD

  
  
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  Jeanne Juneau, El Centro College, Dallas, TX

  
  
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  Stephanie Kolstad, Mayo School of Allied Health Sciences, Rochester, MN

  
  
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  Tania Robb, Johnston Community College, Smithfield, NC

  
  
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  Frances Rodriguez, St. Catharine College, St. Catharine, KY

  
  
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  Stacey Smith, South Hills School of Business & Technology, State College, PA

  
  
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  Katherine Strayer, Kettering College of Medical Arts, Kettering, OH

  
  
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  Deborah Jeanne Warner, Norton Healthcare Foundation, Louisville, KY

  
  
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  Kalyn Yeager, Hoffman Heart Institute, Hartford, CT

They were recognized during the ASE Business Meeting/Edler Lecture & Awards Presentation.

The Feigenbaum Cardiovascular Sonographer Student Travel Grant is supported by a grant to the ASE Foundation from Elsevier to honor the 20-year commitment and tenure of the former JASE Editor Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, FASE. It is presented to a sonographer student enrolled in an accredited cardiovascular ultrasound program and provides funding to assist the student to attend the annual Scientific Sessions or other ASE-sponsored educational course. This year’s award winner was Nicholas Pechon of Cardiovascular Technology in Lacombe, LA.

The UltraEcho, Ltd. Cardiovascular Student Travel Grant is designed to provide partial funding for sonography students who would otherwise not be able to attend the ASE Scientific Sessions. The travel grant is based on financial need and the recipient is awarded $1,000. This year’s recipient is April Lloyd from Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, MA.

A new highlight was “3 of a Kind: An Echo Game,” which replaced “Who Wants to be an Echo Millionaire?”. The educational game was developed and hosted by David B. Adams, RCS, RDCS, FASE, and the ever-entertaining Randy Martin, MD, FASE served as MC. The game had three captains: Mark Monaghan, FRCP, PhD, FESC; Harry Rakowski, MD, FASE; and Vera Rigolin, MD, FASE. They led the audience participation teams, which were divided into sections and utilized an audience response system. The event was very well attended, with an overwhelming win by Captain Vera Rigolin, MD, FASE and her audience team. Even though there was a minor glitch with scoring system, the event was not only entertaining but educational, with spirited competition.

A few sessions were particularly popular and should be highlighted. Most noteworthy was the fact that all right heart talks were filled to capacity, supporting the saying “the right heart is the new left heart.” In addition, the diastology sessions were well attended, with great feedback. Finally, a quality session near the end of the meeting was fantastic and well attended. “How to Put the ‘Q’ in Quality” touched on lab development, appropriateness criteria and continuous quality improvement, with speakers who were both entertaining and educational; the session was fantastic!

The staff and volunteers did a spectacular job with coordinating the content and topics for the program and should be commended for a great meeting. As always, we are continuously trying to improve the sonographer sessions and value your feedback. If you have any suggestions, comments or ideas for improvement please forward your thoughts to SonographerChair@asecho.org .

This month’s Sonographer Volunteer is Rick Meece. Rick is an cardiac imaging specialist with St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennesse. He has a extreme passion for three dimensional imaging and lectures extensively on the subject. Find out more about Rick in the Sonographer Section of www.asecho.org . While you’re there, be sure to learn about sonography in Australia from our highlighted international sonographer, Bonita Anderson of Queensland, Austraila.