Professional Service: AAMD Annual Conference

In 2017, the annual conference for the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists

(AAMD) was held in Indianapolis, Indiana from June 11th through June 15th. With my clinical

site being only a couple of hours away in Columbus, Ohio, I tried to take advantage of the

location by attending the meeting June 11th through the 13th. The conference provided me with

a fantastic opportunity to network and attend lectures given by some of the brightest Dosimetrists

within the field. The AAMD also offered workshops geared toward studentspresenting us

with advice for certification exam preparation and tips for a successful job interview.

While at the conference, I had the chance to volunteer by checking-in attendees for

lectures in order to receive continuing education credits. After registering for the conference,

each attendee received a wrist band that was scanned in order to keep track of who attended

certain lectures. This task allowed me to give back to the professional organization while still

being able to listen and learn from the presentations. Some of the lectures I volunteered for

included: IMRT and VMAT: a look at current and future best practice by Anthony Magliari,

Treatment planning techniques for larger body habitus patients for Breast/Chestwall and

regional lymph nodal irradiation by Ruth Ann Good, Hybrid VMAT/IMRT approach to

traditional cranio-spinal irradiation (CSI): a case study on planning techniques and delivery by

Catherine Cadieux, and finally Do you have to be a RTT before a CMD? The ongoing question

given by Nishele Lenards.

Overall, the annual meeting was a very positive experience and I am happy I was able to

attend and volunteer. The conference provided me with an environment to gain more knowledge

and insight of planning techniques outside of my clinical experience and classwork. The
meeting also allowed me to meet with some of my classmates and my program director, Nishele

Lenards, to finally put faces to the names I had been seeing for so long via online coursework.

Nishele Lenards giving her talk of whether or not Radiation Therapy experience is an advantage
prior to Dosimetry education.

A picture of some of my classmates and I at the annual meeting. I am third from the left in the
back row.