NRRTW 2021 Free Webinars

NRRTW free webinars

Each day of National Radiographers and Radiation Therapist’s Week (NRRTW), we will be bringing you a #LookingToTheFuture themed free webinar presentation.
We thank all our presenters for providing their skill, knowledge and research to be shared to all MRPs, as they cover topics in medical imaging and radiation therapy, history, artificial intelligence and preliminary image evaluation.
Visit this page, our website, YouTube channel or the ASMIRT Facebook page each day of the week as a new presentation is launched every day – they are only available during NRRTW so be sure to watch them all by Sunday 14 November!

NRRTW 2021 feature webinars

DAY 6 – Phase-contrast CT: Future of breast imaging – Sarina Wan, Radiographer

DAY 5 – Formalising initial commenting by Australian radiographers -Siena Maurici Alex Tonks & Justin Varcoe

DAY 4 – The journey of a clinician researcher past, present and future by Associate Professor Sarah Everitt – Varian Award Winner 2019

DAY 3 – The Dawn of a New Age – Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Education by Dr Daniel Sapkaroski

DAY 2 – Lead or Dead: Do carers and comforters require lead aprons during general radiographic examination? by Trent Wilkie and Stacey McMahon, Medical Imaging Technologists – Royal Children’s Hospital

DAY 1 – The evolution of radiography by Michael Fuller, Senior Radiographer and Clinical Educator

WEBINAR SCHEDULE

MONDAY 8 NOVEMBER

The evolution of radiography
Michael Fuller – Senior Radiographer and Clinical Educator

Contemporary radiography is a complex, varied and sophisticated profession that is deserving of recognition and celebration during National Radiographer and Radiation Therapists’ Week. This week provides the Medical Radiation sciences with the opportunity to reflect on where we have been and ponder the possibilities of where we are going. My presentation considers the evolutionary path of radiography since the discovery of X-rays by William Roentgen in 1895. My emphasis will be on the development of radiography in Australia and will include some observations and reflections drawn from my professional experiences over the last 40 years.

TUESDAY 9 NOVEMBER

Lead or Dead: Do carers and comforters require lead aprons during general radiographic examination?
Trent Wilkie and Stacey McMahon, Medical Imaging Technologists – Royal Children’s Hospital

Parents and carers of paediatric patients are often required to provide comfort and support during radiographic examinations. Historically, we have provided a lead apron for those supporting in such cases. This often-raised questions as to the risks associated with radiation, along with increasing anxiety around imaging from either the ‘unprotected’ patient, or the parent, or both. So we decided to investigate; Do we still need to use lead aprons given dose reductions over the years as our technology has improved? Were we just doing it ‘because we always have?’ What are our scatter doses really like and when are lead aprons worth using? Our research lead (pardon the pun…) to a protocol change that has improved workflow, reassured parents and carers of the low doses of our examinations and empowered our staff to provide up-to-date information on scatter dose in general X-ray.

WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER

The Dawn of a New Age – Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Education
Dr Daniel Sapkaroski, Medical Radiation Practitioner, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Dr Daniel Sapkaroski is a medical radiation practitioner (radiation therapy), clinical researcher, medical videographer and a software developer, working at Monash University and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Daniel specialises in fully immersive VR educational and clinical training environments, which was also the focus of his PhD.
His research has focused on creating the world’s first fully immersive VR clinical environment, which includes haptic feedback and real world dynamic conversations with avatars powered by AI allowing to simulate clinical setting scenarios and furthermore improve clinical training through immediate feedback.
His most recent work focuses on reducing MRI and CT simulation patient anxiety and claustrophobia through a guided fully immersive VR environment, and this is the main focus of this 20 minute presentation.
You can view some of Daniel’s work at PMCC here:
Kids see birds, butterflies and snowflakes in the RT bunker
Peter Mac’s Super Hero Kids

THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER

The journey of a clinician researcher: Past, present and future
Associate Professor Sarah Everitt – Varian Award Winner 2019

Sarah Everitt has an interest in lung cancer, PET CT and imaging toxicity assessment and predication, and this is where she focussed her PhD. Sarah holds academic appointments at both Monash and Melbourne Universities and has formed her career around her enthusiasm for research and collaborations. Upon being the recipient of the Varian Award at the recent ASMIRT-NZIMRT 2021 Conference, in her online presentation she communicated her involvement in clinical research, her passion for finding solutions to problems with unique examples of her work and how this has influenced her career.

FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER

Formalising initial commenting by Australian radiographers: A valuable future practice?
Siena Maurici, Alexandra Tonks & Justin Varcoe, Radiographers and Student State MI Prize Winners – NSW

Allie Tonks, Justin Varcoe and Siena Maurici completed a Master of Diagnostic Radiography together at the University of Sydney and are employed as Graduate Radiographers. Coming from backgrounds of Science and Health Management, Allie and Siena were both NSW Branch Student Representatives for the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy and actively participate in leadership roles within the field. With a background in project management and consulting, Justin consistently drives the team to success. Their areas of interest collectively include radiographic interpretation and the value of role extension to optimise patient care and management in a multidisciplinary environment. They explore this topic in depth in this short prize-winning presentation.

SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER

Phase-contrast CT: Future of breast imaging
Sarina Wan, Radiographer

Sarina Wan recently completed her final year of a Bachelor of Applied Science in Diagnostic Radiography at the University of Sydney. During her degree, she undertook an honours project investigating phase-contrast imaging. Phase-contrast imaging is a technique allowing for increased radiological quality in diagnosing breast images. In this presentation, Sarina details how she explored the optimum x-ray energy that was required to produce the best quality images for future clinical implementation of this technology. Her honours project focusses on phase-contrast CT and the future of breast imaging, and how x-ray energy effects the image quality of the breast.

SUNDAY 14 NOVEMBER

Catch up or replay and watch all six presentations!

Videos will launch Monday 8 November 2021 at 9am AEDT