The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) has announced the winners of its distinguished author awards for 2019, presented to the best peer-reviewed articles published in the group's journals.
The Radiologic Technology Distinguished Author Award in Honor of Jean I. Widger was awarded for an article entitled "Safety Resources and Processes in MR Imaging Departments," published in the January/February edition of Radiologic Technology. The authors of the paper are Asher Street Beam, James Ketchum, Audrey Wilson, Chris Scoles, Ikia Celestine, Layna Phillips Blaylock, Tyler Patrick, and Zack Gray.
The paper was an original research study that analyzed practices at MRI departments to identify current standards of safety practices, common safety resources in use, and gaps in workflow practices. The authors discovered that techniques like proper patient screening and the appropriate use of barriers and ferromagnetic detection systems help ensure patient and personnel safety and that the safety practices of MR technologists were key to ensuring patient safety.
The Radiation Therapist Distinguished Author Award in Honor of Harold Silverman was given to a paper entitled "Evaluating Radiation Oncology Patient Education Materials," published in the spring 2019 issue of Radiation Therapist. The authors of the paper were Amy Heath and Karol Huenerberg.
The article focused on the literacy skills required to understand patient education materials for radiation oncology procedures. They evaluated 152 samples and found that approximately one-third were current and relevant. What's more, they found the average reading grade level for the reviewed materials was 8.9; only 37% of the materials analyzed fell into the suggested reading grade level of between third and seventh grade.
The winners will be honored on June 27 at the Virtual Special Meeting of the ASRT House of Delegates.
