HENRE 2 Year 1 AGM

HENRE 2 Year 1 AGM

University of Malta15th-19th February 2006

Venue: Corinthia San Gorge Hotel, St Julian’s Bay, Malta

HENRE II AGM & CONFERENCE REPORT

The first HENRE 2 AGM took place in Malta on 15-19th February. Fourteen European countries from the HENRE member countries were represented at the meeting (listed in ANNEX B). It was attended by 30 delegates including representatives of the Institute of Health Care, University of Malta, various National Radiographers Societies, a ‘Tuning Educational Structures’ representative and Erasmus exchange students studying at the University of Malta.

Day 1- Thursday 16th February 2006

Chairpersons: Val Challen and Paul Bezzina

Welcome and Introduction and Brief summary of proceedings

Val Challen, on behalf of St Martin’s College Lancaster, warmly welcomed delegates to the AGM and Conference and thanked them for their interest in HENRE Mark I and its continuation as HENRE Mark II. Thanks for also given to the Institute of Health, University of Malta for hosting the event and providing the various IT and other facilities to enable the Conference to function successfully. Paul Bezzina was personally thanked for all his hard work over a number of months in organising the venue and support facilities. VC explained that she had stepped in at the last moment as Chair of the AGM in the place of Mel Dow who was absent due to illness. She explained that the programme and events had been organised and developed by Mel and that she was simply there to ensure smooth running of all the preparatory work previously undertaken. Thanks were given to both Mel and Annali Bone for their hard work prior to the conference.

It was noted that several new members were in attendance and it was hoped that they would find the experience of HENRE Mark 2 membership as worthwhile as had the members of HENRE Mark 1.

Official Welcome to Malta by the Institute of Health, University of Malta

Paul Bezzina explained that Dr Sandra Buttigieg, the Director of the Institute of Health, University of Malta was taken ill in the night so was unable to be with conference on its first day but hoped to be present tomorrow. In Dr Buttigieg’s absence, Paul welcomed delegates to the AGM and trusted that the event would prove to be both successful and rewarding.

Apologies

Apologies were read out by Val Challen who noted that it was the delay in announcing the dates of the AGM which made travel and other arrangements difficult for some partners.

Presentation : Summary of HENRE 1

File: Malta 06 AGM PP1 Val ChallenHENRE 1

Val Challen gave a brief outline of the achievements of HENRE 1 as outlined in the powerpoint presentation

Points arising:

1. How do we ensure all partners receive dissemination materials?

Action points put forward:

HENRE administrator to obtain lists of Radiography Educators throughout Europe and contact suitable recipients through National Associations. Network members to assist in providing contact details to HENRE Administrator.
HENRE Co-ordinator to authorise the use of the Logo and link to the HENRE website for use by National Societies, Colleges and Universities.

2. Feature required on website to be able to look up institutions and contacts.

3. Feature required on website for potential partners to request and receive information.

Presentation :Outline of HENRE 2

File: Malta 06 AGM PP2 Val ChallenHENRE 2

Val Challen outlined the format of HENRE II following the successful bid written by Mel Dow and presented to the EC. Note was taken of the how the work of HENRE I is built on by HENRE II and also the added issues related to research, Tuning III and the social impact of radiography across Europe with an emphasis on radiation protection issues.

Val Challen in her capacity as Chair introduced the first two invited guest speakers

Guest Speaker 1

Grace Jaccarini, Head of Nursing, University of Malta, Malta

Title:‘The Challenges of the Nursing Developments in the Tuning Project’- this presentation provided an overview of the Tuning project phases I, II and III from a nursing perspective. It also made parallels with all health professions’ challenges of the Bologna agreement.

File:Malta 06 AGM PP3 TUNING G Jaccarini

Guest Speaker 2

Ann Sykes, Associate Head (AE), School of Health Care Professions, University of Salford, UK

Title: ‘The importance of the educationalist in radiography education: implications for HENRE and clinical radiographers in Europe’- this presentation provided a wide view of the educationalist and his/her areas of activity and standards. It also looked at the impact of the educationalist for the development of the radiography profession and how this further had the potential for impact on the HENRE project. It ended with a thought provoking Aesop fable entitled ‘The tale of the ass and his purchaser’

File: Malta 06 AGM PP4 Educationalist A Sykes

The delegates were assigned to groups to undertake 4 separate workshops. All delegates throughout the conference were provided with the opportunity to undertake all four workshops.

Workshop Sessions 1 & 2

Two workshops took place before and after lunch

Delegates form 4 workshop groups to work on:

1. Tuning – Each group creates a poster using a concept map on the subject of what Radiography is and what a Radiographer is.

2. Lifelong Learning – Each group was asked to carry out a Diamond 9 activity to identify aspects of professional identity.

3. Group discussion on the Synergy between Learning & Teaching and Research.

4. Science and Society – The group is asked to consider questions relating to Radiation Dosage.

The Subgroup Co-ordinators led each workshop while the delegates formed four groups to work with each co-ordinator in four sessions over the two-day period.

Feedback for all workshops took place on Day 3.

The Chair introduced the third guest speaker of the day

Guest Speaker 3

Carmel J Caruana, Biomedical Physics, Institute of Health Care, University of Malta, Malta

Title: ‘From broad subject-specific competencies to tutor-expertise-specific elements of competence: a case study in biomedical imaging physics for diagnostic radiography’- this presentation looked at the issue of Subject-Specific-Competences and how each of these are subdivided into a set of subsidiary competences called ‘elements-of-competence’. Taking an example from radiography of a subject specific competence: “be able to use medical imaging devices effectively and safely within their specific scope of practice” , the presenter identified a number of learning domains pertinent to the competence and showed how at least 25 elements of competence were necessary for just one of the learning domains i.e. biomedical physics.

File: Malta 06 AGM PP5 Competencies CJ Caruana

Subgroup Co-ordinator Briefing Sessions

The Chair explained that the 4 sub group co-ordinators would make presentations related to the aims and objectives of each sub group. Two briefing sessions were undertaken on Day 1 to be followed by two further briefings on Day 2.

Briefing 1

Graciano Paulo, University of Coimbra, Portugal ( representing Carena Eaton, University of Salford, UK)

Title: ‘TUNING subgroup’- this presentation provided a background to the HENRE subgroup 1 and how the work undertaken by the subgroup within HENRE will be taken forward into HENRE II

File: Malta 06 AGM PP6 SG1 Tuning G Paulo

Briefing 2

Gill Marshall, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘LIFE LONG LEARNING subgroup’- this presentation provided a background to the HENRE subgroup 3 and how the work undertaken by the subgroup within HENRE will be taken forward into HENRE II

File: Malta 06 AGM PP7 SG3 LLL G Marshall

Unscheduled Presentation on situation of EU Forum

Graciano Paulo, University of Coimbra, Portugal& President of the Portugese Society of Radiographers

Title: ‘Common platforms for a profession in Europe’- this presentation provided an overview to the possibility of creating a common platform within Europe for the recognition of radiography professional qualifications. The presentation was a precursor to a meeting to be held in Italy later in February 2006 to which all the leaders of radiography professional societies have been invited.

File: Malta 06 AGM PP8 G Paulo Common Platforms

GP explained the background to the forum. At the EuroMed conference in Malta in September 05 discussions took place on the proposal of a European Forum. It was observed that a European forum could not exist within the ISRRT because by nature the ISRRT is a non-political and non-governmental organisation and therefore it is not their purpose to solve political issues within Europe. The ISRRT proposed that the EU representatives should be free to form a separate society or organisation.

Close of Day 1 meeting

Day 2- Friday 17th February 2006

Introduction to proceedings for the dayby Val Challen

The Chair welcomed Phil Harris to the conference and introduced him to the delegates

Verbal presentation by Phil Harris to the group

Phil Harris, the head of department for radiography education at St Martin’s College, Lancaster gave a brief summary of the recent changes to International Activity within St Martin’s College.

It was noted that the securing of a fourth round of funding for HENRE 2 is a fantastic achievement and should be seen as a further opportunity to integrate Radiological Education into the EU. Many heartfelt thanks were given to Mel Dow who developed and wrote the successful proposal for HENRE II.

Outline of the changes:

St Martin’s College is currently undergoing Taught Degree Awarding Powers to become a University in its own right. The International office at St Martin’s has been phased out and new activities taken over by Tom Houghton, Head of the Business Development and Contracts unit within the Faculty of Health and Social Care. The delay to the AGM is a result of these changes and also the late issue of the contracts by the European Commission.

The Commission has allocated significantly reduced funds for this application which sends a message that HENRE should be becoming more self sufficient over time.

HENRE II needs to produce a strong product to take us into the future. The next few years will determine that quality of this product.

Thanks to Val Challen for stepping in at such short notice to chair the AGM in the absence of Mel Dow.

Welcome to the Erasmus exchange students and Guest presentation 4

The University of Malta have been operating credit transfer system for a long time. In 1992 Radiography moved into the University and now makes up a 10th of the student population.

The Erasmus exchange programme is important on an island such as Malta because as there is only one University and one hospital and therefore only one perspective on health care. It is important for students to gain experiences of other programmes.

Web address:

Paul Bezzina, University of Malta, Malta

Title: ‘Erasmus student exchanges’- this presentation provided an overview to the Erasmus Radiography Group (ERG) and how it has facilitated radiography student exchanges across Europe for a number of years.

File:Malta 06 AGM PP9 P BezzinaUniversity of Malta & Erasmus

The Erasmus Students undertaking exchanges in Malta at the present time were:

Donna McKernanUniversity of Ulster, Northern Ireland

Mark GilvarryUniversityCollegeDublin, Republic of Ireland

Bruno FerrieraESTSC, Portugal

Catriin LeimanTartuSchool of Healthcare, Estonia

Christel AdmiraalHogeschool in Holland, Haarlem, Netherlands

The students kindly gave an overview of their experiences and this was followed by a series of discussions on the value of student exchanges for both students and radiographers. An idea was put for the development of a European Student Association, it was recognised that this would need further thought and discussions related to funding issues etc. The idea was, however, generally welcomed by delegates to the AGM and conference some of whom, considered the possibility of inclusion within the HENRE II setup. Ideas are to be looked at by the HENRE management group initially.

Official Welcome to Malta by the Institute of Health, University of Malta

Conference was delighted to welcome Dr Sandra Buttigieg, the Director of the Institute of Health who despite her illness made a special journey to the conference centre and gave a very warm welcome speech which was greatly appreciated by all.

Subgroup Co-ordinator Briefing Sessions

Briefing 3

Phil Harris,St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘SCIENCE & SOCIETY subgroup’- this was a verbal presentation which covered the following issues:

Need for a European voice in raising the awareness in Radiation Protection.
As always times are changing for example; Individual dose records for patients.
Radiation Protection is and will continue to be an inter-professional affair but, in the future, with a much more public image.
Need for legislation but also a need to use it rather than to hide behind it.
Radiographers are the primary interface between medical use? of radiation and the public.
As we tie down individual doses and recording thereof can we free up access by the public to medical imaging services?
As high dose techniques become more frequent and record keeping becomes tighter will we reach a position where patients can self-refer?
Is such a prospect desirable for radiographers (or patients)?
How would it change the role of the radiographer?
Just one example of many aspects of radiation management which is changing, but to subsequent effects can be widespread.
RP is just one aspect if the science of medical imaging which is interfacing in an increasing basis with society.
Need to lead not to be lead.

Briefing 4

Judith Calvert, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘RESEARCH & TEACHING subgroup’- this presentation provided a background to the HENRE subgroup2 and how the work undertaken by the subgroup within HENRE will be taken forward into HENRE II

File:Malta 06 AGM PP10 SG2 Research and Teaching - J Calvert

Workshop Sessions

Workshop session 3

The Chair introduced the second guest speaker of the day

Guest Speaker 5

Phil Harris, Head, School of Medical Imaging Sciences, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘Research, Education and the Profession’- this presentation posed many questions about the nature of research and its impact on the radiography profession.

File: Malta 06 AGM PP11 P Harris Research, Education & the profession of Radiography

Workshop Sessions

Workshop session 4

Close of Day 2 meeting

Day 3 Saturday 18th February

Introduction to the day

Val Challen

Announcement that due to lack of numbers the proposed Science and Society subgroup will become a sub-section of Subgroup 1Tuning.

Workshop Sessions Feedback

Each workshop carried out over days 1 and 2 of the conference resumed to discuss the outcomes. The idea of running the workshops was discussed and organised at the Management meeting in Salford in September 2005.

It was noted that the involvement of the radiography students in the workshops on day 2 was particularly successful.

Instructions for workshop can be found in ANNEX A below on page 9 of this report. The Presentations can be found on the HENRE 2 webpage: AGM 2006.

Val Challen, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘Science & Society workshop feedback’- this workshop required participants to answer several hypothetical questions which might be posed by patients concerning radiation protection and come up with some possible answers. The feedback referred to a number of responses, the implications arising from the responses and some possible strategies which could be implemented by radiographers.

File: Malta 06 AGM PP13 V Challen Workshop feedback

Points arising: Carmal Caruana put forward the suggestion that there should be a section on the new HENRE website for resources.

Judith Calvert, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘Developing a synergy between research & teaching workshop feedback’- this workshop required participants to answer a number of questions concerning research undertaken by them in their home institutions. The feedback indicated that the majority of participants were able to undertake both teaching and research and that it influenced the curriculum but that more work was required to make this successful. Enquiry based learning is being undertaken by radiography students in many countries to a greater or lesser extent.

File: Malta 06 AGM PP14 J Calvert Developing a synergy between Research and Teaching

Points Arising: JF Dublin student used PBLs. Makes students more active in Learning and students become more responsible for own learning.

Gill Marshall, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK

Title: ‘What is a profession workshop feedback’- this workshop required participants to undertaken a diamond 9 exercise and to rank 8 statements about a profession in order of importance. In addition participants were required to provide one other definition to complete the 9 and to explain its inclusion. There appeared to be wide agreement between participants in a number of areas.

File: Malta 06 AGM PP15 G Marshall ‘What is a Profession?’

Points arising: CC points out that this is impossible to define because there is no discrete body of knowledge and skills that apply to just one profession.

PH Consideration over what constitutes ‘reward’ should be open for debate at future meetings.

Graciano Paulo, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Title: ‘What is a radiographer workshop feedback’- this workshop required participants toproduce a number of posters developed from concept maps of a.what radiography is and b.what a radiographer is. This presentation combines a number of ideas from the 4 groups

File: Malta 06 AGM PP16 G Paulo ‘What is a Radiographer?’

Points arising: It is important for representatives from English speaking countries to understand that to non-English speakers, some words have very specific meaning, and can be easily misinterpreted.

Prior to the formal closing of the AGM and a move towards the sub group meetings, the Chair gave a brief presentation of the expectations of the sub groups

Val Challen, St Martin’s College, Lancaster, UK