Joanne Metler one of 17 in state to earn PET/CT Certification
Joanne Metler (Barrington), professor and coordinator of the Diagnostic Medical Imaging Nuclear Medicine program at College of DuPage, is one of only 17 people in the state of Illinois to earn the most recent PET/CT Certification.
PET/CT, or Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography, provides doctors with more complete imaging results by marrying the physiology information gained from a PET scan and the anatomy information from a CT scan. This allows doctors to better diagnose and treat diseases ranging from cancer and heart disease to Alzheimer's.
“I felt it would be a disservice to try and teach a new, sophisticated modality without having the expertise behind it,” Metler said. “Nuclear medicine technologists need to be trained as this ever-changing technology becomes more widely used.”
The Nuclear Medicine program teaches students to perform and analyze diagnostic and therapeutic patient procedures using radiopharmaceuticals, computerized gamma cameras and other equipment. The PET/CT procedure is the first modality that can image cellular metabolism, using organic molecules such as sugar attached to a radioactive tracer.
“For example, someone who is diagnosed with cancer currently goes through a course of chemotherapy that may last six to eight months, and the doctor cannot test to determine if the course is working until it is over,” Metler said. “A doctor can now use PET/CT scans to evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy after a patient finishes the first cycle of treatment, which lasts just a few weeks.”
Metler took the first certification exam seven years ago and was one of only two people in Illinois to pass it. As a result, she developed a PET/CT course five years ago that is required as part of the Nuclear Medicine program. Technologists who were certified before the development of PET/CT are also enrolling in the course.
Because of the evolution of the technology, Metler said the current certification is much more comprehensive.
“It's an exciting development in our field,” Metler said. “We are ahead of the game by having a PET/CT course already in place and are prepared to meet the educational needs as required by this changing technology.”
For more information about the Nuclear Medicine program or the PET/CT course, call (630) 942-3065, email metler@cod.edu or visit www.cod.edu/NuclearMed.