The Society of Nuclear Medicine moved one step closer to a name change at its winter meeting last month.

By a two-thirds vote, a House of Delegates gathering during SNM's 2012 Mid-Winter Meeting, held in Orlando, Fla. at the end of January, approved a proposed amendment to the bylaws that would change the society's name to "Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging."

An SNM spokeswoman told DOTmed News by e-mail that the new name was suggested "as a way to more accurately portray where the society is and where it is heading," as it includes scientists, technicians and clinicians who focus on non-nuclear molecular imaging. Some members apparently said their schools or departments had already changed their name to include molecular imaging in the title, she said.

SNM's name change process got underway last year, the society said. At the request of its board of directors, a Name Change Task Force was organized in January 2011, and presented its recommendations to the board in April 2011, the society said. The force was chaired by Carolyn Anderson.

The final step before a name change could go through will be a vote by the members, scheduled to be held June 11 at the society's annual meeting, this year in Miami Beach, Fla.

And yes, the acronym would likely have to change, SNM said.

In other news, the nuclear medicine society said its winter meeting was a success: almost 650 doctors, technologists, scientists and others attended the meeting, a 17.5 percent increase on attendance numbers in the 2011 meeting, also held in a sunny clime (Palm Springs, Calif.).

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