Meeting & Agendas

The meeting was called to order by M. Ziegler. All members and guests were approved as written. Each member/guest introduced him/herself and their site of employment. Ms. Swearengin provided each attendee with handouts for the meeting.

Although several new sites for Abdominal, Gyn, and Vascular were piloted this past year, some clinical sites are declining to accept students due to training new hires, heavy case load, and/or staffing levels. The students are better prepared for off-campus clinical scanning (see previous discussion of clinical course changes), but there are still times when students cannot obtain scan experiences. • Ms. Swearengin stated that the Program needs an action plan to address the paucity of OB clinical sites and scanning experiences for the DMS students. OB continues to be sporadic in the Radiology departments and access to OB office practices has not only been limited, but has been denied in some cases. Ms. Swearengin asked the committee for recommendations. • The committee discussed the OB clinical situation with Ms. Roel remarking that she has had some contact with one of the local indigent medical care providers and that we might be able to work with this group to obtain OB volunteers for the on-campus clinical sessions. Ms. Swearengin and Ms. Roel will explore this possibilty. • Dr. Lines expressed the need for a very formal process for scanning OB volunteers in the on-campus clinical sessions, especially if findings are noted. Ms. Swearenging stated that a process is in place and has been utilized for many years, but that the process can be updated if needed. • Ms. Swearengin stated that OB volunteers have been referred by one or two mid-wifery groups in Austin. She also stated that there have been recent re-organizations and combinations of OB practices, which have limited the Program’s access to potential sites. • The Program will work on an Action Plan to address the need for more OB scanning experiences. This may involve more outreach from the Program to local OB practices and involving the DMS students in other departments in the hospitals where OB scans are performed.

The Programs feel that communication with off-campus clinical instructors is good but could be better. The Sonography Programs continue to work towards a large meeting where all clinical instructors can receive information about the structure and content of the Programs. Additional feedback to students in the on-campus clinical sessions has proved beneficial to improving communications between students, fauclty, and off-campus clinical instructors, physicians, etc. • Ms. Swearengin noted that some clinical agencies are tying employee wage increases to documentation of work with students and students are evaluating these employees in a more detailed fashion.

There were some general discussions about faculty staffing and the need for adjuncts in the DMS and ESC-VT Programs.

ARDMS school report will be requested in July, 2012 for discussion at the next Advisory Committee meeting: March, 2013.

The DMS Program faculty will develop an Action Plan to seek out additional clinical affiliations for OB scanning experiences: completed by December 2012.

The committee members approved the November 2010 meeting minutes as recorded.

Tracking effectiveness of curriculum changes through college’s Student Success Initiative process

CAAHEP accreditation status – reaccreditation awarded until November of 2013; will submit self-study with fees by end of summer semester; site visit in 2013.

9 of 12 graduating class of 2011 have earned RDMS (AB) (OB), 2 have earned ARDMS (AB), and 1 will sit for exams after this date As of this date, all 17 DMS students have passed ARDMS SPI exam

Current class cohort – total of 17 DMS students this semester with projected graduation date of December 15, 2012. There is a total of 9 ESC-VT students (7 DMS, 2 DCS) in their final ESC-VT semester (graduation May 10, 2012) DMS and ESC-VT Programs are following the National Education Curriculum for Medical and Vascular Sonography, the guidelines of AIUM, ACR, ACOG, and SVU, and the ARDMS content outlines for the respective specialties. Continued use of hybrid-classroom, hybrid-online, and online courses in the curriculum. The use of these formats for course delivery allows for more time in the classroom for questions and use of the Sonography lab for demonstrations when needed. Continuing to use all-day on-campus clinical session for each semester (2 8-hour days off-campus and 1 8-hour day on-campus clinical). Instructors are able to provide additional feedback to students and students have ample time to complete Proficiencies, Benchmarks and Challenges. Students are critiquing their scanning and images by reviewing their DVD recording and images in the PACS system. Students are completing Technical Reports and Self-Assessments for all scanning experiences, live and simulated. A list of assigned simulator cases for each semester must be completed. Feedback from off-campus clnical instructors (discussed by M. Ziegler and from clinical visit reports) indicate that students are better prepared for off-campus clinicals and are able to obtain more scanning experiences and scanning time. (The DMS and ESC-VT Programs continue to monitor case totals) All evaluations for the Spring semester are completed during the on-campus clinical session utilizing standardized simulator cases and volunteers from the college and local community. Open Lab sessions are offered on Saturdays at the Eastview Campus and have been very well attended. The Sonography Programs continue to participate in school tours and other outreach activities when feasible; both the Health Sciences Admission and Information Office and the Sonography website continue providing interested individuals with up-dated Sonography Programs information, including information and guidance in the application process.

The 2010 graduating class took longer to secure employment with a few waiting a year to find a job. The 2011 graduating class shows several have jobs at this time, but the majority of this class is continuing on in the ESC-VT Program. Many jobs are now PRN rather than FT. • The committee discusssed the stability of the job market in Austin at this time. M. Ziegler stated that ARA may be hiring one or two, depending on staffing levels in the coming months. The St. David’s system and Scott & White Hospital in Round Rock will not accept applications from graduates who do not have their ARDMS credentials (St. David’s requires the RVT credential); ARA requires all sonographers to have the RVT credential at time of hire or within a specified time frame (usuallly one year). The Seton Family of Hospitals system does not perform vascular exams in the Radiology departments, so graduates without the RVT credential (did not complete the ESC-VT Program) may find employment in Seton facilities. There are other limited employment opportunities in OB facilities, but many OB practices, especially high-risk OB practices, require sonographers to have significant experience in OB sonography.

The Health Sciences Division has discussed the impact of social media on HIPAA compliance and ACC and the HS Division will be updating HIPAA training to include more information on social media. • Ms. Swearengin reported that there were incidences in the past year when the HS Progressive Discpline Process was initiated for students that violated HIPAA rules via social media. HIPAA with emphysis on social media was presented to all Sonography students.

Dr. Klein discussed changes to Financial Aid rules for certificate level programs (loss of funding for short/low credit hour certificates) which directly impact students in the ESC-VT Program (ESC-VT is < 17 credit hours). There were several VT students this year that withdrew from the VT Program due to financial issues; all were able to find employment. ACC will be looking at the impact of these changes on all programs and students. Ms. Garza and Ms. Swearengin stated that attrition in the VT Program can affect the number of graduates required by the state of Texas. If there are not enough graduates, the state may require the college to close the program. Dr. Klein also stated that the college is dealing with decreasing state funding, so the college is implementing higher minimum “to make” numbers for courses. • The committee discussed the impact of employers offering jobs to students; can result in students withdrawing from the VT Program. These losses can endanger the entire program for current and future students. ACC requirements for courses “to make” may also affect all Sonography Programs since the total cohorts for each Program are small. • The Sonography Programs will continue to monitor these situations and the college’s response to these changes.