About VSNMT - Overview and History
Overview
The VSNMT is an organisation representing the interests of nuclear medicine technologists. Nuclear medicine technologists are university trained health professionals and are an integral part of the medical community. They work in partnership with medical and nursing professionals to deliver healthcare to the general community. The VSNMT actively collaborate with other professional organisations to advance the interests of our members and the public.
The VSNMT is governed by a general committee and has established several expert sub-committees to address specific matters.
The VSNMT manages the intern program for graduate technologists in Victoria. This is administered by the Nuclear Medicine Intern Committee in partnership with the accreditation board of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Membership of the VSNMT is drawn from nuclear medicine technologists engaged in public and private healthcare, academia and industry. The society is supported by corporate members whose subvention is greatly appreciated.
History
The VSNMT had its origins in the 1960’s when professionals working in various laboratories within the Melbourne public health system came together to share ideas and experiences. The advent of rectilinear scanners coupled with an increase in laboratory tests produced a rapid expansion in the demand for nuclear medicine services. This in turn resulted in a need for suitably trained staff to perform these tests.
A ‘medical nucleographers’ course was established in 1966. Students received in house training at the Peter McCallum Cancer Institute and specialised coursework at RMIT. Graduates from this program who were specifically trained to work in nuclear medicine began to be deployed in hospital departments.
A society of medical nucleographers was formed and this organisation became the precursor to the VSNMT.
Through the early 1970’s several attempts were made to form an Australia wide technologists group. These were unsuccessful and in 1975 the VSNMT as we now know it was formed. The group became an incorporated society in 1994 and has operated in its present format since that time.