A New Way Forward

Tanya Whittle

09:00-10:00

Old ways won’t build new roads. In a post pandemic world, we are faced with creating a new way of living and working. The world changed. We changed. We can’t go back. We can’t stay here. We must move forward. Tonya will share a message of empowerment as we embrace a New Way Forward.

Tonya is an author, speaker and guide whose mission, as a high-performance coach and women’s empowerment coach, is to inspire greatness by helping women achieve their full potential. An expert in human behaviour, Tonya understands the social, emotional and mental blocks that hold people back from their own greatness and helps them overcome these blocks so they can live with more purpose and passion, realizing their fullest potential.

Looking Back, Moving Forward: Lessons from a Retired MRT

Irene O’Brien

10:30 – 11:30

Irene will explore the age old notion of “If I knew then, what I know now”. She will give lessons to the MRTs in the audience about being the best MRT and valuing patient care based on a long career in many different positions.

Irene O’Brien is a retired RTR, former CAMRT Board member, chair of the committee on Edication (Radiography) and 2013’s Welsh Memorial Lecturer. Irene’s more recent gigs include a none-year stint in the Middle East state of Qatar as clinical faculty, accreditation guru and Dean of the School of Health Sciences. Irene is looking forward to sharing some of her experiences as a practitioner, educator and life ling learner with this year’s conference attendees.

Connect with Me: A Patient Perspective

Robert Meany

12:30-13:30

While navigating the hospital system after being diagnosed with cancer, Robert has many insights to share from the patient perspective. Since volunteering with Eastern Health, he has become familiar with MRTs and the contributions they have to the continuum of care. In his talk Robert will be sharing his patent journey and sharing the message on how important it is to connect with each and every patient MRTs encounter.

Robert works with Bell as a Senior Project Manager and resides in St. John’s with his wife and son. Robert is a cancer survivor and recently celebrated his 8-year cancer free (remission) milestone. He is currently a Newfoundland Provincial Cancer Care Patient and Family Advisory Council volunteer. Robert’s role as an advisor sees him engaged in many meaningful activities. These include supporting increased awareness of and access to cancer care patient navigators, promoting early access to palliative care, enhancing medical imaging processes, participating in planning for client experience week events and patient safety week activities, and suggesting website enhancements to ensure easy access to information for patients and their families.

We are Resilient! MRIPs during pandemic: what we learned and where we go from here

Melissa Sponagle

13:45-14:45

During this presentation we will explore MRIP resilience, compassion, empathy, and willingness to work during the pandemic. We will use our real-world data to discuss relationships of demographics, intrapersonal traits, and job roles to develop an understanding of how this can help inform future interventions. Moving forward this data can support enhancement of individual and health system resilience during crisis.

Melissa Sponagle is a proud MRT from the east coast! Upon graduation from her MRT program she worked both in a nuclear medicine department and a cyclotron and radiochemistry facility while completing a Masters of Education in Lifelong Learning. In 2017 she joined the Health Sciences team at Dalhousie as an educator before taking on the role of interim Director of Education at CAMRT last year. Currently, Melissa is a Senior Legislative Policy Analyst with the Nova Scotia Government’s Department of Health and Wellness working on all regulated health profession files. Her interests include health policy modernization, peer capacity building, citizenship, and lifelong learning. When not volunteering or working she can be found on her patio taking in the fresh salt air and a sunset with her family.

Bringing the Joy and Laughter Back to What We Do

Brenda Robinson

15:15-16:30

How important is laughter in your life? How important is laughter in your workplace? Positive relationships often begin with laughter and fun. Do we maintain relationships with the same ingredients? We don’t always have to go “out” or “out of your way” to have fun. Learn to bring more joy, laughter and fun into your everyday life and work. We don’t stop laughing when we grow older, we grow older when we stop laughing.

Topics:

• Laughter is contagious
• Laughter is shared
• Laughter is motivational
• Laughter increases productivity
• Laughter increases positivity
• Celebrate laughter

Brenda Robinson has been fortunate enough to work for over 30 years in the training and development field. She has spoken at conferences, developed and delivered workshops, provided organizational consulting and coached people for success in their roles on teams and in their diverse workplaces. Brenda’s passion is for creating positive, productive learning environments. Her research and development focus is on “people skills”. She works tirelessly to build resources to support people to communicate more effectively, work together more productively, and get the best results possible for themselves and their organization. She continues to address new challenges to provide services to assist individuals and teams to effectively manage change, stress, priorities, and develop new work habits for a changing working world. Brenda has a positive approach to everything she does. She believes in balancing who we are and what we do. She puts equal energy into her work and her family. Her grandchildren are her treasures. She and her husband Len have been married for over 40 years. Their 5 children continue to be their focus. Brenda grew up on a farm close to Minnesota, Manitoba and values the rural experience. She stays connected to family in Manitoba and now spends time in two settings – Sherwood Park and Victoria. Her desire to share her research and resources has lead to the publication of two books. She also markets an audio CD set and has video currently in the works. Brenda received her Bachelor of Arts from Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba (Major in English) and her Masters of Education from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. Join Brenda to listen, laugh and learn about other people, about yourself, and about other stuff we may need and want to know.