| August 28, 2003
Dear Colleague:
The Council for Allied Health in North Carolina, the North
Carolina Area Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) Program, and
the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill are pleased to release, “Scanning the Radiologic
Sciences Workforce in North Carolina.” The report provides information
on radiologic technologists, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine
technologists, and
technologists who operate computed tomography (CT), magnetic
resonance (MRI), mammography, positron emission tomography (PET),
cardiovascular interventional (CV) and other radiology equipment.
Funding was provided
through a grant from The Duke Endowment.
The report is a culmination of the work of the Technical Panel
on the Radiologic Sciences Workforce, a collaboration of stakeholders
representing educators, employers, practitioners, and workforce
planning experts. The publication provides background on the
workforce in North Carolina, includes discussion of challenges
facing the profession and
provides potential solutions related to workforce planning,
education, employment, diversity, and data collection and workforce
surveillance.
We hope you find this publication informative and useful. Electronic
copies of the report can be downloaded at the Sheps Center website
at the following url: http://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/hp/
A press release can be found at the end of this message.
Sincerely,
Susan Dyson, MHA
Research Associate
susan_dyson@unc.edu
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>PRESS
RELEASE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
NEWS
Thursday, Aug. 28
N.C. likely to face radiologic science workforce shortage
By DAVID WILLIAMSON
UNC News Services
CHAPEL HILL - By state law, hairdressers and barbers must be
licensed to practice their trades, but that's not the case for
people who expose your body to potentially lethal radiation
during routine health exams and medical treatment. Although
many who operate X-ray, CT, MRI, PET scanner or nuclear medicine
equipment are highly qualified through training and experience,
others are not, analysts say. North Carolina does not regulate
its radiologic sciences workforce.
"People who operate these machines or administer radiation
therapy are not required by state law to possess any minimum
educational or certification standards," said Susan Dyson,
research associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Dyson
is lead author of a new Sheps Center report, "Scanning
the Radiologic Sciences Workforce in North Carolina," which
examines trends affecting that workforce across the state. The
Council for Allied Health in North Carolina and the N.C. Area
Health Education Centers Program also collaborated on the project,
which the Duke Endowment supported. Co-authors are Erin Fraher,
director of the Health Professions Data System; R. Bert Wilkins,
data coordinator; and Laura M. Smith, research associate, all
at the Sheps Center.
Information in the report came from extensive panel discussions
among radiologic and other professionals and a wealth of data
gathered through UNC-Chapel Hill, the N.C. Community College
System, hospital-based education programs and credentialing
organizations such as the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists
and the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board.
"The rapid expansion of technology in radiation imaging
and therapy often outpaces the capacity of educational programs
to prepare the increasingly specialized workforce needed to
operate this new equipment," said Dyson.
"We found that in North Carolina, health-care employers
will soon face a shortage of radiologic science practitioners
qualified and able to operate the increasing number of technologically
advanced imaging devices such as
fusion imaging. In some areas, this is already happening and
will only worsen in the coming years." If all slots in
current training programs are filled -- and student retention
improves -- the state can meet its needs in the short term,
but not over time, she said. This is particularly true for specialties.
Among other key findings were that health-care employers communicate
and collaborate insufficiently with educational programs about
future staffing needs, Dyson said. Often, large employers such
as hospitals will purchase
imaging equipment or expand their radiology departments before
informing educators about those moves. "One major recommendation
was that communication be improved by establishing a broad-based
organization responsible for regional collaborative health workforce
planning," she said. "Another was to expand specialty
training while maintaining the current number of primary training
programs across the state."
A looming faculty shortage in radiologic sciences training
programs is also likely to contribute to the upcoming shortfall
in the workforce, Fraher said. "Many faculty positions
remain unfilled for months," she said. "Directors
and faculty are several years older than the average practitioner,
salaries are higher in clinical practice than in educational
employment and proposed accreditation standards requiring advanced
degrees may impact the state's ability to educate this workforce."
Other recommendations center on ways to boost training programs
and recruitment, retention and diversity of radiologic science
faculty and workers. Another is to improve foreign language
skills, and yet another is to develop and maintain databases
useful for the state and professional organizations to monitor
the profession.
Frances Apple, past president of the American Society of Radiologic
Technologists and a longtime Duke University Medical Center
employee, said the state needs to ensure that the public has
educated and certified caregivers. Recently introduced in both
the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, the "Consumer
Assurance of Radiologic Excellence (CARE)" bill would require
federal minimum standards of education for the radiologic science
workforce. "If passed, this bill would prevent people in
North Carolina from taking X-rays with little formal education
at
all," said Apple. Despite its remarkable diagnostic usefulness,
radiation has well-documented potential hazards, and most other
states already protect patients by establishing minimum educational
standards for radiologic workers.
The report on the radiologic sciences workforce is the fourth
allied health workforce study conducted in North Carolina under
the joint collaboration of the Council for Allied Health, the
N.C. AHEC Program and the Sheps Center. Copies of "Scanning
the Radiologic Sciences Workforce in North Carolina" are
available at www.shepscenter.unc.edu/hp.
Note: Dyson can be reached at (919) 966-7922, Fraher at 966-5012.
Apple's number is (919) 489-6666.
News Services Contact: David Williamson, (919) 962-8596
Submitted By: David
Yoder |
