Volume 26, Issue #2 Fall 2015 Newsletter for the Arizona State Society of American Medical Technologists

AZ SunTech Volume 26, Issue #2 Fall 2015 Newsletter for the Arizona State Society of American Medical Technologists Dental Assistants/Lab Technicians/Medical Assistants/Phlebotomists

Arizona SunTech Newsletter Published under the sponsorship of the Arizona State Society of American Medical Technologists

(AZSSAMT) Articles represent the opinions of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent the policies or views of AZSSAMT or AMT

Editor reserves the right to edit any article accepted for publication.

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In This Issue: State Officers

Page 2, 3

President’s Letter

4

Councilor’s Letter

4-6

Editor’s Letter

6

Registration

7, 8

Article

9-11

Delegate Reports

12-14

Upcoming Events

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State Officers President

Jeff Wooley, RMA Cell (520) 431-5710

Vice-President

Email

[email protected]

Email

[email protected]

Email

[email protected]

Linda Klock, BSOE, RMA Cell (520) 507-5534

Treasurer

[email protected]

Dianna Ross, RPT Cell (480) 390-9537

Secretary

Email

Fred Morley, MT Cell (480) 208-2982

Committee Chairs and Members State Editor

Chloe Fox, RMA Cell (480) 430-3892

Editing Committee

[email protected]

Dianna Ross, RPT, Fred Morley, MT, Curtiss Taylor, RPT, Cell (602) 622-0223

Scientific Committee

Email

Email

[email protected]

Chair Dianna Ross, RPT, Curtiss Taylor, RPT, Fred Morley, MT

Placement and Publicity Committee Chair Curtiss Taylor, RPT, Dianna Ross, RPT, KC Doby, MLT, Jan Sesser, RMA Cell (602) 971-2064 Email [email protected]

Legislative Committee Chair Jeff Wooley, RMA Awards Committee Chair

Curtiss Taylor, RPT

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Membership Committee Schools Subcommittee Scholarship Committee

Chair Fred Morley, MT, Dianna Ross, RPT, KC Doby, MLT Dianna Ross, RPT, JoAnne Thompson, RMA, Lisa Short, RMA Chair Dianna Ross, RPT, Jeff Wooley, RMA, Linda Klock, BSOE, RMA

National Medical Assistant Week

Janet Sesser, RMA

National Lab Professionals Week

KC Doby, MLT

Proctoring Chair

KC Doby, MLT

Board Members at Large

Dustin Martinez, MLT

Cell: (602) 348-1266 Email: [email protected] Jan Sesser, RMA, Curtiss Taylor, RPT, Denise Kelter, RPT, Lisa Short, RMA [email protected], Chloe Fox, RMA

Past Presidents Fred Morley, MT Robert Newberry, MT, Janet Hopple, MT, Glenda Bailey, MT, Joyce Sanft, MT, Robert Tomb, MT

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President’s Message Welcome Arizona AMT Members… I hope that this summer has brought you and your family fun and exciting times. Hopefully, you have taken advantage of some of the awesome continuing education that the AMT has to offer. This year continues to bring some changes to the leadership and programming of the state society. It is our continued mission and vision of your 20152017 Executive Board to make your state society more accessible and transparent, in addition to being a useful tool for your success through continuing education. We are now in our 76th year as a national certifying body, for over nine Allied Health disciplines. The AMT continues to offer one of the highest levels of quality healthcare workers in the world. As current members, it is our job to educate ourselves and strive to continue the success that AMT offers. Over the past year, we have seen a large increase in Medical Assistants either returning to AMT for re-certification, or MAs that are actually taking the test for the first time using the “Work Experience” route. Please continue the great work in educating and explaining to everyone involved, the reason that national certification is so important. With national certification comes the responsibility to make ourselves the best we can be. Many of our past AMT members who worked so hard for their national credentials have allowed them to lapse for various reasons. Most of you know someone that has been or can be nationally certified through the AMT. I continue to challenge each and every one of you to each to bring either an old member back or a new member to the AMT. Your fall AZSSAMT educational meeting is being developed by one of our favorite state society members, Dianna Ross of Apache Junction. Our assembly committee is excited about these new sessions and fully committed to making the fall session the best it can be for our members. We have some really inspiring speakers lined up already. We are building the site contract and the programs as we speak, and we believe that excellent programs will be presented for all certifications of AMT. The National Convention was held in beautiful Kona, Hawaii this year from June 22-26. The resort that the national office chose was absolutely beautiful and very relaxing. This year, Arizona sent five delegates to Hawaii, and they all had a wonderfully fun and educational experience. In typical AMT fashion, this conference was a success and offered a week of outstanding continuing education and networking. The AMT National Conference will be in Memphis, Tennessee in 2016. If you are interested in attending, please check out the conference website on the AMT homepage.

Our next meeting will be held October 9-10, 2015, at the Windemere Resort at 5750 E Main St., in Mesa, Arizona. The telephone number there is 480-985-3600. Reserve the date now- we look forward to seeing many of you on that day!If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Vice President Dianna Ross. Jeffrey Wooley, RMA (AMT) President, AZSSAMT

District Councillor Message Summer is about over and we are looking forward to the cooler weather and fall colors. It doesn’t seem like it’s been nearly two months since we all gathered in the beautiful island of Hawaii. This convention was a resounding success. One of the largest and best in recent history. Some numbers:  Registrations: o Guest-full time -------------------------56 o Members--------------------------------254 o Non-Members------------------------- 9 o Students-------------------------------- 17 o Total--------------------------------------336

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Attendees by Certification (some registered attendees have multiple certifications) o AHI---------------------------------------- 25 o CLC---------------------------------------- 2 o CMAS------------------------------------- 3 o CMLA------------------------------------- 1 o COLT-------------------------------------- 4 o MLT--------------------------------------- 15 o MT----------------------------------------129 o RDA--------------------------------------- 1 o RMA--------------------------------------105 o RPT---------------------------------------- 50 o Total--------------------------------------335  First Timers --------------------------------------- 38  Room Block at 112% with some members at other hotels  Total Banquet tickets 394 + 7 AMT staff  Total Welcome Party Tickets 436 A big thank you to AMT staff in making this such a great meeting! Let’s make the 2016 meeting just as awesome! It will be held at the Peabody Hotel. Memphis, TN. Dates are July 18-22, 2016. Be sure and get it on your calendar! Let’s show Tennessee the AMT hospitality! Attached is the 2016 Memphis flyer for information. The 2017 meeting will be in the Central District. As of yet no location has been selected. Some possibilities are: New Orleans, LA; Biloxi, MS; St. Louis, MO; Oklahoma, OK; Dallas, TX, and Kansas City, KS. Big congratulations to all the 2015 award winners. AMT is gifted to have so many dedicated members that excel in their field. The Western District again did great in awards. I am so proud to be your District Councilor and wish to take this time to single out our Western District award winners.  Honor Roll: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Northwest, Oregon, Rocky Mountain, & Utah  Norman Frankel Outstanding Student Award: Tameria Thomas, MA student @ San Joaquin Valley College, Visalia, CA  State Society Publication Awards: 1st place Newsletter-Oregon-Susan Beard, MT & William Dettwyler, MT Co-Editors; 2nd place Newsletter-California, Nicole Weiss, AHI, RMA, RPT, Editor  American Kidney Fund Special Award: Marty Hinkle, M Wyoming – a Kidney Action Hero  Distinguished Achievement Award: Rhona J. Furney, RMA Colorado; Juanito Jojo Naval, Jr., MT-New Mexico; Anita M. Ott, RMA-Colorado  Exceptional Merit: Jill M. Carlson, RMA-Colorado  Pillar Award: Roxanne Lee Erskine, MT-Washington  Friend of AMT: Richard J. Anderson (Edna’s husband)-Oregon  Becky Award: Kenneth E. Hawker, MT-Utah (past Western District Councilor and a great mentor)  O.C. Skip Sinner Armed Service Award: Thomas John Wilhelmi, MT-Arizona  Special Recognition Award: Ronald B. Lepoff, MD-Colorado (this award is for outstanding activity and service to AMT and its members)  Phlebotomist of the Year: Lucy Leyva, RPT-Wyoming  RMA Medallion of Merit (MOM): Sheryl Rounsivill, RMA, RPT, CMAS, AHI-California WOW that is quite a list-congratulation to all of you; it is my honor to serve with you all! The current AMT National BOD members are: AMT OFFICERS  Everett Bloodworth, MT, AMT President  Jeffery Lavender, MT, AMT Vice President  Heather Herring, RMA, MT, AMT Secretary  Jeannie Hobson, RMA, RPT, CMAS, AHI, AMT Treasurer AMT Board of Directors

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        

Kenneth Hawker, MT Peggy Oliver, MT Christopher Seay, MT Jerry Hudgins, MT (newly elected in Hawaii) Deborah Westerveldt, RMA, COLT Carole Aston, Public Member Mary Burden, MT – Immediate Past President Kim Cheuvront, MT – Judiciary Councilor Edna Anderson, MT – Executive Councilor

It is an honor to serve as you District Councilor. I have learned a lot in my short tenure. Thank you to Ken Hawker and Edna Anderson as well as all the District Councilors for welcoming me and helping me through this first year. I am in awe of all the dedication AMT members show. Thank you for allowing me to serve you. Sheryl Rounsivill, Western District Councilor

Scenes from our Scientific Meeting in Tucson, April 2015

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Editor’s Letter Hello and welcome to our Fall Issue of The Arizona SunTech Newsletter! We are looking forward to seeing our members at the Scientific Meeting October 10th! It’s such a nice way to earn some CEs, get acquainted with your Arizona AMT chapter, and enjoy a terrific lunch! Maybe even win a door prize! National Medical Assistant Week is also coming up October 19-23, 2015. The theme for this year is “Patient Care is Our Passion.” If you do something exciting to commemorate being a medical assistant, why not write a brief summary of it, or take pictures for us to include in upcoming newsletters. Don’t forget to make travel arrangements for our National Convention in Memphis, Tennessee, next summer! Chloe Fox, RMA You can contact me at [email protected].

Students: We would love to get you involved in our newsletter. Show off your medical knowledge and insights or learning experiences! Write a brief article for The Arizona SunTech on any of our allied health disciplines between 200-500 words. Submit it to Jeff Wooley, RMA, Chloe Fox, RMA, or Dianna Ross, RPT. If accepted and published, you will receive a gift certificate for lunch or dinner on us, your State Board!

Don’t forget to earn your continued education credits (CEs). It’s not hard: you get them by working in the field, attending our educational meetings (such as our Fall Scientific Meeting, for example!) and getting involved in your local chapter by becoming part of a committee. Or you can use STEP Online. You can complete a webinar or read a brief article, then take a short quiz. Your issues of Topics and Issues and AMT Events also contain CEs. Make sure to track your CEs on AMtrax so that you receive credit.

http://www.americanmedtech.org/stayCertified/CEoptions.aspx

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The Arizona State Society of American Medical Technologists Presents our

Fall 2015 Scientific Meeting Date: Saturday, October 10 Location: Windemere Hotel and Conference Center Mesa, AZ 85205

Cost for registration includes the Workshops, the Business Meeting, and lunch and snacks on Saturday, October 10.

If you have questions, please contact Dianna Ross ([email protected]), Jeff Wooley ([email protected]), or Lisa Short ([email protected])

Please print this portion out and send in.

Name---------------------------------------------AMT#--------------------------------------Student and/or Active Duty—no cost Non-Member $15____ Number Attending (Including Guests_____)

Member $10____

Total Cost____

Please send this registration form, along with a check or money order made out to AZSSAMT and mail it to: Dianna Ross , RPT 325 S. Mountain View Road Apache Junction, AZ 85119

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The Arizona State Society of American Medical Technologists Fall 2015 Scientific Meeting Schedule for Saturday, October 10 8:00-8:30am

Registration Arizona State Society President’s Welcome

9:30-10:30am

Susan Mason

“General Risk Management”

Classes TBA Break. Coffee and pastries will be available Classes TBA 11:50am-1:00pm

Lunch: Your choice soups and salads

Classes TBA 3:00-5:00pm

Business Meeting All attendees are invited and encouraged to attend.

Remember: your attendance and registration enters you for a chance to win one of several fun giveaways! Don’t miss out! We will update our speaker schedule as soon as it is finalized, and post it up on National’s website.

Many of us, when we graduate, are excited. Looking forward to the new start, new career. We write resumes and start sending them out, only to realize we can’t find work. No one is calling us. So we hire a resume writer to write that perfect resume. Sometimes we spend a lot of money doing so. Still with the same results. We contact the school placement service with still no luck. Some of us give up all together after 6 months or a year. We get discouraged and say I’m too old or too young, no experience, or no one is willing to hire me. I know how you feel. I was there myself. It too me six months and hundreds of resumes to get my first job. What happened? Mostly I hadn’t prepared and didn’t know how employers hired people. I ended up

Don’t sit around and do nothing when it’s slow. Keep busy. There’s plenty to do and all eyes are on you. With that said, here we go. First things first. Let’s get our work history together. What do I mean by that? Accuracy. Month, day and year of who I worked for. With so many applicants, employers want accuracy. They want to know that you’re honest and dependable. Most do background checks. These checks include work history. You say “I can’t remember, I don’t know the exact dates”. I didn’t know either. So the question is, where do we find this information? The social security office is a good place to start. They will charge you but it’s worth it. You’ll have to fill out a form entitled “request for Social Security earnings”. Another resource is the background check on yourself. If you’re short on cash you can always request public information on yourself. It’s free. For those of you who have just started the employment journey, there are still a lot of companies that want to hire inexperienced people. That way they don’t have to undo bad habits of the experienced. Another good

speaking to a counselor at a training center in Phoenix. Here’s what she shared with me and I was able to get my first job after finishing school. Let me say one more thing for those still in school or starting their externship. Your externship is your first opportunity for a hands-on interview.

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option is to volunteer, especially if you want to work in a hospital. You learn your way around the building. Keep a good attitude, even if all seems hopeless.

obtain fingerprint certification. Must possess a valid driver's license and be eligible for coverage under the company auto insurance policy.

Next on the list is to get certified. Certification is almost a given now. It will soon be required--whatever your career choice may be. Certification shows you’re willing to go the extra length. You’re the person that has a sincere desire to do well, to learn and improve. You’re the one that takes pride in what you do. Certification speaks volumes, not to mention that it improves your pay. Nice little perk! A.M.T. has a great national certification program. American Medical Technologists is also non-profit and is nationally recognized. If offers scholarships to further you in your education. The organization allows you to become involved and help others in their career path. There are seminars twice a year so you can network with others and learn new and exciting things to benefit your new career. There are national seminars around the country. Again, more exciting opportunities to network and become involved.

This position requires a high school diploma or equivalent. If selected for an interview, you will need to provide this documentation upon interview.

This came straight from Indeed.com and is an actual qualifications description. “Oh no!” you say, “I don’t have 6 months

experience!” Some schools will tell you to include your externship as experience. Let’s stop here a moment. It is my experience, as I have been there at one time, that employers are looking for working experience. If you look at the applications that employers have online, several companies state, “externships do not qualify for experience”. Some do, but most do not. Remember what I said earlier. They want someone who is honest on the application. Sounds hopeless right? Just remember, “All

Once we’re certified we can look at the hiring process. Most of us know or should know that hundreds of people are graduating and looking for the same job you are. Picture yourself having to go through stacks and stacks of resumes and applications. Not a fun process, and can take too long. Because of this, most of the resumes are hand-picked by a computer, so we need to learn to write a resume to appease the senses of these machines. The computer doesn’t care how pretty the resume is. It’s not impressed with pages and pages of non-essential information! Unless it can see and recognize that you have met the “Qualifications” listed in the job description, your resume will be tossed. Here’s an example of qualifications- --- Minimum age

professionals start as amateurs”. A lot of companies are willing to hire people straight out of school. Don’t be discouraged. Apply anyway. Looking at the qualifications, this is what I would list (under a heading of (“Qualifications”)I am 18 years old Have graduated high school or I have a G.E.D. I have good reading, writing and math abilities Good organizational skills Basic knowledge of Dept. resource materials

requirement of 18. Must be a high school graduate,

If you don’t have experience in your new field, don’t list that you do. Finish with the rest of the list, the driver’s license, ability to get fingerprint card or have a fingerprint card and good driving record. If you have a lot of tickets, try another job. You get the point. The computer goes down the list and compares notes to see how many qualifications you meet. Let me leave you with a simple but effective example of a “resume

or have achieved equivalency through the GED exam. Good reading, writing and math abilities are required. Good organizational skills are also required. Basic knowledge of department resource materials. Previous experience of at least six months in a clinical laboratory setting. Phlebotomy positions may substitute completion of a phlebotomy school for experience. Basic computer skills required. Position may require ADHS Fingerprinting Certification or the ability to

for the computer”. Create your resume starting with the following:

Name Address

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within the first couple of seconds, with just a glance, do you meet our needs their qualifications. Are you certified, did you graduate, if so where? And of course, how can I get a hold of you. You can get their attention quickly and easily with a simple resumes like this. It speaks volumes. I won’t cover the cover letter or application in this article except to say, they too are important. I will however offer some pointers on the application.

City, State, Zip Telephone E-mail - (Stay away from e-mail address that look like [email protected]. (They won’t be amused) Get one, if you don’t have it, that says firstname.lastname@gmail or yahoo etc. JOB TITLE This is the job title listed in the job description such as Phlebotomy tech I QUALIFICATIONS We listed them earlier.

First, be prepared. Some companies time how long it takes to fill out the application. This applies to online applications as well. Be prepared. Work history (ten years if you have it), where have you lived (again, last ten years). References, include professional. Letters of recommendation, awards for work etc. Have this all put together. I have them listed on my computer so when I fill out a application, it doesn’t take long and my applications don’t have different information from one to another. Have the list of schools you attended. When, where, and did you graduate, are you licensed, when, where, the list goes on. Make it simple for yourself. Do your homework before you start looking for work. It’s a numbers game as well. Make a goal of a minimum of one resume a day. I did 120 in two months. It works well if you are prepared. Make it a clean looking resume. You might want to practice for the interview. Putting a resume together as I have described will get you plenty of calls. Be prepared for that as well, know how to answer the questions. Looking for jobs just out of school or even with experience can be painful and discouraging. Be as prepared as possible. Keep your chin up. It works it really does. You worked hard to get through school, so apply that same effort to getting a job.

WORK EXPERIENCE Keep it simple, list them, if you can get 10 years on one page resume, great! If you don’t have it, that’s ok. List volunteer work etc. Start with the most recent. List it like this: From (mm,yyyy), To (mm,yyyy), Employer, City, State 11/2009 – Present Barneys Medical, Jollytown, AZ 06/2008 – 11/2009 Somtimes Medical, Ididit, AZ

And continue. EDUCATION High School or G.E.D. College or Trade School CERTIFICATIONS R.P.T., American Medical Technologist C.P.R. and First Aid, Maricopa Medical

You need to customize several resumes to meet 1st) the job title and 2nd) meet the qualifications. Each job has different listings. Keep it simple. Make sure if fits on one page. Don’t put “see references next page”. The computer doesn’t care about references. Skip the heading “OBJECTIVE”, everyone already knows what it is and again the computer doesn’t care.

Details are covered in the “Cover Letter”. This is where you can sell yourself. The resume is to get the attention of the computer, so it will send it to a human who wants to know the same thing, do you meet the “qualifications”. Because they still have stacks of resumes to look through, even after the sorting process, and they want to know

Curtiss Taylor R.P.T/A.S.S.A.M.T

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Photo courtesy of Betsy Hurd, MT, RMA (AMT)

Delegate Reports from Hapuna Resort in Hawaii 2015

AMT Conference 2015 Kona Coast Hawaii I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the AMT 2015 National Conference that year as a delegate for the State of Arizona. On June 21st the Arizona delegates arrived on the beautiful island of Hawaii. It was quite a shock when we all realized that the airport is actually built on top of volcanic rock. For the Arizona delegates the temperature wasn’t too far off from what we are used to in June, except for the fact that they had about 60% more humidity then we usually have! When we arrived at the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort, we found the most gorgeous, well-appointed resort that one could chose to stay at, and it looked as if it was straight out of a travel magazine. The conference started on the morning of the 22nd and the General Assembly was very well done. At the beginning, we were blessed by two Hawaiian natives doing one of their ritual chants. The president gave a few words and made introductions, before the keynote speaker took the stage. Mike Rayburn, a musician and comedian, did a very motivational speech on “What if...” From there, the conference continued as anticipated, with various sessions throughout the course of the day. Depending on your preferences or discipline, there were many topics to choose from. Among my many classes, I attended a new one that had never been offered before at the national conference, called “Dealing with Difficult People.” The instructor talked for about an hour on a variety of ways to stay focused and work to deescalate a challenging situation. Changing the class format to one hour sessions was really a great decision, as it allowed for the attendee to be involved with more sessions than usual. For the most part, the conference was business as usual and because of the setting, it was nice that we changed the dress code to casual. It was really neat seeing all the people so relaxed and sporting their Hawaiian garb. This year’s business meeting was much shorter than in the past, as all of the committee members made their announcements and there were a few minor agenda items that were voted on. As always, the process of getting credentialed for the delegates was just as fun as the mass entrance to the annual meeting. Overall, I found this conference to be very informative and beneficial. The facilities we used and the surroundings were inspiring and breathtaking. For those that have never had the opportunity to attend the national conference, it is highly encouraged that you consider attending one in the near future. In addition to the valuable information gained through the class sessions, it is an awesome experience to get a chance to meet and network with people from all the other states and learn about the challenges and opportunities that they each experience.

Jeffrey Wooley, RMA

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AMT National Convention The National Convention is in Hawaii, you say? Go, you ask me? Oh, yes, I would love to go to Hawaii. So I am offered the opportunity to be one of the representatives to attend the National Convention for the Arizona State Society! Thank you to all for the opportunity! So now to plan the trip…….Registration….check….Hotel reservations….check….Airline tickets…..6-hour flight over water….hesitation (I hate to fly over water with no landing pad)……hesitation………ok, why not-- I can always take Dramamine (right). So I am off, holding on very tightly to the arm rests (no, I didn’t break them). Oh, my gosh, the view is breathtaking when flying over the water! Landed safely (no Dramamine!!) The hotel/resort that National picked couldn’t have been better! The speakers were magnificent, the view spectacular! With the speakers, the fellowship, and the view, I was rejuvenated!

I couldn’t have asked for a better time. My favorite speaker was Mike Rayburn; his seminar was “What If?” He challenged everyone to have the “What If” in every aspect of our lives and to become a virtuoso in our worlds. Seeing old friends and making new friends was very exciting! I met a gal from Pennsylvania who had lost her job recently, but was not giving up on attending the National Convention. She said she has attended every one (six altogether) and was not going to miss this one either. She stated, and I agree completely, “when attending a National Convention, I feel I have a huge family and I will never give up a Convention and miss seeing my family.” AMT is family and once you become a member of AMT you are gaining a great family! I am a proud member of the family of AMT! I am very excited to have another opportunity to attend the Tennessee Convention next year! Thank you to the Board, and our members to allow this great opportunity! I am grateful to be part of a wonderful FAMILY! Dianna Ross, RPT

Greetings to AZSSAMT Members First let me give a Grand Canyon-sized thank you to the Arizona members for allowing me to be a delegate at the national convention. This is a family gathering for me, since I have known some of the members since the 1970s. Try to attend the national educational and convention next year in Memphis and develop your own AMT family. It turned out to be another gratifying trip, as AMTIE awarded me another scholarship. These scholarships will help me become a better test item writer for our national MT/MLT certification examinations. Already I have been able to pass much information along to other members of our committee that improve the writing of these items. Our committee will be meeting again this September to update and review the items. Our educational programs were great again! Georgia McCauley, PhD, MT (AMT), presented an abnormal WBC morphology seminar that was great. Her hematology tips are always great, and I pick up teaching tips also. Her RBC morphology was given at the same time my Mesothelial vs. Malignant cell in body fluids was presented. Let me say HI to my new AMT friends from Flagstaff who were at my presentation, I forgot to ask permission to print their names so will just say HI. Again, do make plans for the educational meeting and convention next year in Memphis. You will grow your AMT family and learn many new tips on our profession. Fred H. Morley MT (AMT)

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Photo courtesy of Betsy Hurd, MT, RMA (AMT)

As a delegate, I attended the Western District Meeting. It is a great opportunity to congratulate recipients who received national awards. It is also a time to meet the people who help and serve us as District Counselors and AMT National Board Members. I love being a member of AMT because it is a membership-driven professional society that recognizes allied health professionals in a number of disciplines. Medical assistants is one of those disciplines and their membership is AMT's majority membership. RMA's have enriched AMT as a national certification agency. AMT encourages all disciplines to take part in all aspects of AMT. That means RMA's can be involved in AMT's state and national positions and meetings. At the Western District Meeting someone voiced that the National Meeting did not give RMA's enough continuing education topics and sessions. AMT takes this concern seriously. If you look at our National AMT program, you will note that all Key Note speakers address topics that. An be utilized by all health care groups. All our general sessions take on subjects of interest to all of us. Now we have what is called our "Educational and Scientific /Courses". AMT does not address any of these sessions a just for one group or another. All sessions are open to all and to label one as just for MT's or RMA's would be exclusionary and prejudicial. You can attend any session that is of interest to you or your workplace. I took on a lot of the scientific/lab stuff while I was an RMA. A bunch was over my head, but you can learn something wherever you go. If you feel that RMA's need more sessions, contact the home office and ask for the Scientific/Speakers department at the AMT National Office. Telephone 800.275.1268 or go online http://www.americanmedtech.org or E-mail [email protected]. Why am I giving you this information? You can choose your topics and find a speaker. You can be a speaker. Your boss or MA instructor could be a speaker. Be proactive and eschew passivity. It is time do this soon because speakers are sought after soon after or even before the 2016 meeting. You have the knowledge and experience to add to expedite sessions that would serve all of us. Be strong! You can do this! Get going and get involved. Remember to go on AMT's website and attend our state meetings. Arizona has meetings for continuing education twice a year- usually in October and March. By the way, we have a number of RMA's involved in our state society. You should meet them. They want to meet you. Contact our president Jeffrey Wooley [email protected]. Ask to be on a committee or be a speaker at our next meeting. You can do this.

Betsy Hurd, MT,RMA (AMT) 06/30/2015 The National Convention in Kona, Hawaii, this year was fantastic. The resort was beautiful, and there were so many members to interact with. The presentations throughout the day were informative and the speakers did a great job of presenting the information. The education exceeded the presentations; several times I encountered a wealth of knowledge simply by saying hello to a new person. I am new to AMT in comparison to the vast majority of veteran members, but I immediately get the feeling from each person I meet that I am in the family and that they would do anything to help me progress in my career. I am very thankful to be a part of such a wonderful organization. Dustin Martinez

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Dates to Remember 2015 October 10

AzSSAMT Fall Scientific Meeting

October 19-23

National Medical Assistant Recognition Week

2016 March TBA

National Dental Assistant Recognition Week

April

AzSSAMT Spring Scientific Meeting

TBA

July 18-22

National Conference at Peabody Hotel, Memphis, TN

Arizona SunTech Editor Chloe Fox, RMA 1855 E. Emelita Ave. Mesa, AZ 85204

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