Cast your vote and let your voice be heard! Your profession is counting on you.

The SDMS 2008 Elections "Virtual Voting Booth" is open today through Monday, June 30. To cast your vote, simply go to: http://www.sdms.org/members/vote/default.asp

A voter's guide with candidate pictures and statements can be accessed at the SDMS Virtual Voting Booth. You must be an SDMS member in good standing to vote. SDMS membership categories which include the ‘right to vote’ are:

• Active
• Fellow
• Advanced Practice Sonographer
• Associate

• At-Large Director (3 positions)
• International At-Large Director (1 position)
• Finance Committee (1 position)
• Nominating Committee (2 positions)

The 2008 SDMS Sonographer Salary & Benefits Survey is now available. This exclusive SDMS member benefit provides sonographers with a critical resource and valuable information including:

• What is the annual income for the average sonographer?
• What do sonographers who hold more than one credential get paid?
• What is the impact on sonographer pay from on-call time and overtime?
• What is the average number of scans being performed per day and by what specialties?
• What benefits are employers paying for?

Attendees:
Registration for the 2008 SDMS Annual Conference is now open! To register online or to find out more about the conference, including deadlines, pricing and other information that will help you plan your trip to Connecticut this fall, please visit: http://www.sdms.org/meetings/.

Vendors:
Check out our exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities still available at http://www.sdms.org/meetings/resources/2008EP.pdf.

SDMS is pleased to announce the release of new continuing medical education (CME) policies and procedures which affect all CME providers who offer SDMS CME credit. SDMS CME credit is offered by hundreds of CME providers and is accepted by national sonography registries including ARDMS, CCI, ARRT, and CARDUP. The new CME policies and procedures become effective July 1, 2008 and represent the most comprehensive revisions to the SDMS’ CME approval process in more than a decade.

In conjunction with the release of the new SDMS CME policies and procedures is a new, online application and CME management system offered by SDMS to CME providers. The new system streamlines the application process, speeds processing and reduces errors.

The SDMS CME Tracker system has also been expanded and integrated with the new CME application and approval system. All attendance/participant rosters for CME activities approved after July 1 must be submitted electronically to the expanded SDMS CME Tracker system. SDMS members will now see ALL reported CME activities in their CME transcript in the SDMS website’s Members Only area. It will take one year to fully implement but then all SDMS CME credits issued by any SDMS-approved provider must be reported to the SDMS CME Tracker system. Watch for the SDMS CME Tracker logo on CME activities as this is your assurance that a CME activity is being tracked by SDMS.

SDMS is updating its list of sonography educational programs. If you know of a sonography school or institution teaching ANY sonography specialty in your area, please let us know. We are interested in any school/institution with a sonography program regardless of accreditation status.

Don't worry about duplicating information someone else may also submit - we'll take care of eliminating duplicates. You may submit as many schools/institutions as you wish.

6. SDMS Webinar Scheduling Survey

SDMS is preparing to launch a series of FREE* online web seminars ("webinars") as an exclusive member benefit. The webinars will:

• Provide FREE CME
• Cover a wide variety of topics
• Feature world-class presenters
• Be one-hour in length
• Be automatically tracked by SDMS CME Tracker

We are seeking your opinion on the best time/day to schedule the SDMS webinars. Complete our short survey at:

SDMS is pleased to announce that it is re-introducing more than 30 CME articles, in a variety of topic areas, to its list of free CME activities available to SDMS members.

In the past, JDMS CME articles expired after 3 years. In response to requests from SDMS members, SDMS volunteers from the SDMS CME Review Committee have worked tirelessly over the past several months to review expired JDMS CME articles. The JDMS articles, originally published between Nov/Dec 2001 through Nov/Dec 2005, were evaluated to determine if the CME articles were still accurate and relevant for today’s sonographers. Many were determined to be still useful and relevant to sonographers and have been re-introduced in the Members Only area of the SDMS website. The JDMS articles and CME post-tests are offered FREE to SDMS members as a benefit of membership.

Note: Because the answers are provided when a member completes a JDMS CME post-test, none of the JDMS CME tests may be repeated. Please check your CME Transcript (http://www.sdms.org/members/CMEreport.asp?year=ALL) if you are unsure whether you previously completed a JDMS CME activity.

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Every October, SDMS and other sonography organizations join together to promote Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month to increase the public’s knowledge about sonography. This year’s new Sonography - sound it out! design will help you promote sonography awareness in your workplace and community!

For these and other SDMS pride and educational products, check out the SDMS 2008-2009 product catalog at http://www.sdms.org/pdf/catalog.pdf

Complete the survey by June 9, 2008!
SAGE Publications, publisher of the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JDMS), is sponsoring an ad perception study of the May/June issue. This survey is conducted by Readex Research, an independent research firm.

In an effort to provide you with the highest quality journal, we need your opinion/contribution. Please follow the link below to complete our short survey regarding the advertising and products featured in JDMS. Your answers are confidential and will only be used in aggregate tabulation.

Don’t forget to enter the drawing at the end of the survey for a chance to win an Apple iPod Nano 4GB. Thank you for your participation.

This offer is provided by Readex and is not endorsed by or affiliated with Apple Computer, Inc.

10. SDMS Sonography Puzzles

SDMS Sonography Puzzles are a series of online crossword and word search puzzles that sonography educators can incorporate into their educational programs or can be used by students and sonographers just for fun. The puzzles are interactive and a fun way to learn sonography-related terminology.

A new puzzle will be added each month and announced in SDMS Sound News. The puzzles may feature a broad or specific topic theme (e.g., anatomy or kidney anatomy). The interactive puzzles can be completed online (using Adobe's free Flash player) or you can print the puzzle for later use.

This month's puzzle, titled "General Sonography" was submitted by the 2007/2008 Medical Diagnostic Sonography Class at Palm Beach Community College.

The News & Notes column includes links to web-based news articles of interest to sonographers. The articles do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the SDMS. To submit articles, send the URL to webmaster@sdms.org.