A group of medical specialty societies has sent a letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) asking the agency to allow healthcare personnel to fulfill requirements for radiotracer handling through virtual training programs.
The NRC has a variety of work experience and training requirements that healthcare personnel must meet before they are authorized to work with eluting generator systems that are used in the preparation of radioactive drugs. However, the COVID-19 emergency has made it difficult to meet these requirements because the commercial radiopharmacies that perform this training have been closed to visiting trainees and may not open for the foreseeable future.
Therefore, the letter asks the NRC to allow the use of virtual training to meet the agency's radioisotope handling requirements. Signatories to the letter include the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
"We believe this experience requirement can be satisfied virtually, via demonstrative educational webinars during the duration of the public health emergency," the letter notes.
