Dr. Phillips is a Professor of Radiology, Director of Head
and Neck Imaging, at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New
York–Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY. He is a member of the Applied Radiology Editorial Advisory Board.
I
had a story related to me the other day of a dog. Cute thing, belonged
to a friend. Ran away, as dogs can do, and got pretty far, but was
returned after he turned up at a shelter. Smart friend had put a chip in
his neck, and it was scanned by the shelter, and his ID was apparent.
Happy return! Shorter leash, taller fence. They put similar devices on
cars. Same story. Microchips are everywhere. You know where this is
going…
Expect a new mailing from your local friendly radiology
certifying folks—submit to having this chip in your neck, or else. Think
about it before you go crazy here. I don’t know about you, but those
certificates, and the nonsense to keep track of everything is making me
nuts. Okay, go with it…install your chip, CME is easy. You’re scanned
when you go through the door into the conference room, and scanned on
your way out. Everybody knows. Hey, with a position sensor in there too,
if you nod off and sleep, you LOSE CREDIT. “Sorry, but the chip
indicates that you were nearly horizontal during this session. No CME
for you.” Detector in front of your PC, as you study at home. Chip knows
you’re there, and having the material presented to you (which is about
the best we can hope for). It is talking with your PC, so don’t think
you’re going to do banking or surf endlessly and claim hours.
I’ve
run with this a bit, as I tend to do. The chip can also work with the
bank. The charge for your CME hours is debited from your account. Your
answers on SAM questions are sent to the chip (Bluetooth, I guess. Why
not?), and sometime later, your scores upload to the system. And, if you
get too many wrong, IT SHOCKS YOU! Ha! Perfect. Carrot and stick. We
can use the same technology that they use on the NJ turnpike so you can
run through the doors into the room if you’re afraid you’re going to be
late. No worry, it will capture you entering the room. If it can capture
you blasting through the tollbooth at 75 mph, it won’t have any problem
with you before enough coffee in the morning at RSNA, likely after a
late night out in Chicago. Just don’t fall asleep.
I think this is a plausible solution, and it answers a need. So, no way it will be realized.
Keep doing that good stuff. Mahalo.