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President's Address |
1 Presented November 29, 1998, at the 1998 RSNA Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting. From the Department of Radiology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, 1278 Tower Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2Y9. Received and accepted February 15, 1999. Address reprint requests to the author.
Index terms: Radiological Society of North America, 84th scientific assembly and annual meeting • Radiology and radiologists • Radiology and radiologists, history
If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change. Giuseppe di Lampedusa (1)
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has always been progressive and has not permitted resistance to change to affect its striving to reach its mission. At the close of this century—a 100-year span that has included world wars, major shifts in government, and rapid scientific and technologic advances—we will be concluding a period in which radiology evolved from a curiosity of photography to an integral part of effective health care. As RSNA presidents in years past have pointed out, this Society was founded only 15 years after this century began. Since then, the RSNA has supported the advancement of radiology with its emphasis on the promotion and development of education and research.
Yet, such support would not have been possible without those who have made certain that the Society remains true to its core mission. In 1937, Eugene P. Pendergrass, MD, with other RSNA leaders, worked tirelessly to guide the Society through the dark days of the Great Depression. They represented the RSNA in Atlantic City at the historic meeting of the Inter-Society Committee. Here, they clarified the role of the RSNA as the organization that would provide continuing scientific education to radiologists, physicists, and allied scientists. The subsequent growth of the radiology community, the expansion of the profession's scientific knowledge base, and the advancement of radiologic technology have resulted in the expansion of the Society's educational offerings and the promotion of radiology research.
Education is at the heart of the RSNA mission. According to the Society bylaws, "The purpose of the Radiological Society of North America is to promote and develop the highest standards of radiology and related sciences through education and research. The Society seeks to provide radiologists and allied health scientists with educational programs and materials of the highest quality, and to constantly improve the content and value of these educational activities." In the following paragraphs, I will describe the changes and improvements in RSNA programs over the past 20 years, as well as give special attention to plans for the future, particularly as all of these changes ultimately enhance the quality of the Society's educational commitments.
EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL REACH
The introduction of personal computers a few decades ago, followed by their continual improvement in processing power, speed, and ease of use, has resulted in changes in the way education is provided by the RSNA. Society publications, for example, can be accessed online through the RSNA Internet site, "RSNA Link." Journal-based continuing medical education with accompanying category 1 credit has also expanded online. Now, physicians can receive up to 3 hours of category 1 credit by scoring at least 80% on a quiz in RSNA EJ. Also, up to 24 hours of category 1 credit can be earned each year by completing the continuing medical education exercises in RadioGraphics.
As personal computer use proliferated, the RSNA realized that it also had to offer education in the use of electronic technology as it applies to health care. Consequently, infoRAD was established as part of the RSNA scientific assembly in 1990 to focus on computer applications in medicine (Fig 1). It is overseen by the RSNA's Electronic Communications Committee, which is responsible for evaluating computer software and hardware, magnetic and optical disk storage devices, and electronic data transmission that facilitate scientific communication.
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In the 1970s, the RSNA began exploring ways to extend its educational reach by preserving selected refresher courses presented at the scientific assemblies. Over the next 2 decades, the Society developed a library of educational materials. More than 200 courses were offered on slides and audiocassettes, and, as the technology became available, videocassettes and CD-ROMs. Inevitably, a centralized division of the Society was needed to coordinate continuing medical education in radiology primarily through electronic formats and distance learning. By 1993, the RSNA Board of Directors established a permanent Learning Center to retain educational material from the annual meetings and other sources on electronic media. Establishing an RSNA Web site (Fig 2) has been another effort of the Society to provide easy, quick access to all programs, including those dedicated to education.
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A recent sign of the RSNA's response to the increasing educational needs of its members was the construction of new RSNA headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois (Fig 3). The four-floor, 100,000–square foot structure is designed to better accommodate the growing Society and its programs. This new building will provide substantial cost savings in the future.
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In addition, the Orange County Convention Center is newer than most of McCormick Place. Consequently, it is more adaptable than McCormick Place to state-of-the-art, convention-related electronic hardware.
It is fair to ask what meeting attendance might be in Orlando when many people love to come to Chicago. Other medical organizations have noted a rise in attendance when they held their annual meeting in Orlando. For example, the 1992 meeting of the American Dental Association in Orlando reported an attendance of 42,000, an increase of more than 13,600 from the 1991 meeting in Atlanta. More than 30,000 attended the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in 1996, an increase of more than 3,000 from the 1995 meeting in New Orleans.
Over the decades, the Board of Directors has grappled with difficult decisions relating to the scientific assembly and the Society's commitment to education. When the hotel environment was no longer adequate for providing continuing education in the radiology sciences, the Board, after long debate, decided to move the annual meeting from Chicago's Palmer House (Fig 5) to the McCormick Place convention center in 1975. As the increasing number of educational opportunities resulted in a continual expansion of the scientific assembly, subsequent Boards decided to split the meeting between the East Building and the newer North Building. Eventually, part of the scientific assembly was moved into the recently constructed South Building (Fig 6). In retrospect, each of these decisions was necessary to ensure continued growth for the annual meeting, which, in turn, was necessary to give attendees up-to-date educational opportunities. These same factors led to the recent Board's decision to move the annual meeting to Orlando in 2005.
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On December 1, 1998, the Board of Directors reversed an earlier decision to hold the scientific assembly in Orlando in 2002 and 2003 and announced that the annual meeting would be held in Chicago for those 2 years. This announcement was made at a press conference held in McCormick Place during the RSNA annual meeting and included Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and representatives from the local labor unions, the Chicago hotel industry, and the convention industry. The Society's decision was based partly on the fact that Chicago had made certain labor and hotel concessions to make labor less costly for exhibitions and downtown hotel rooms more available to attendees and partly on the fact that the Orlando convention facilities would not be ready to house the RSNA scientific assembly comfortably.
Over the next 100 years, however, the concept of a scientific assembly may change drastically. By the dawn of the 22nd century, will information become so easily accessible electronically and will "hands-on" experience be so easily accomplished through virtual reality that the need to convene physically at a single location may become unnecessary? While electronic communication will make education more readily available, I believe there are other reasons why people gather for the RSNA scientific assembly. I predict little major change in the scientific assembly over the next 10 years, but I would not hazard a prediction for 100 years in the future.
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH
RSNA leaders in the past and present have asked, "Should our organization play any role in education beyond the boundaries of North America?" Upon request, the Society has tried to respond to the needs of international radiologic societies. Also, at the 1997 scientific assembly, the international community accounted for 31% of the professional registration, 52% of the papers submitted, and 63% of the exhibits submitted. Approximately half of the manuscripts submitted to RSNA journals come from outside North America.
Advances in communication technology have enabled the RSNA to expand from a regional association nearly 9 decades ago to an organization supporting radiology worldwide. In keeping with its core mission, the Society supports international education. The International Visiting Professor Program involves sending a visiting radiologist to teach at a host institution with a radiology residency training program in a country requiring educational assistance. In addition, the RSNA recognizes that often the educational needs of an international institution are best served when an individual faculty member studies at a North American institution. Consequently, the RSNA Research and Education (R&E) Foundation, in collaboration with the Committee on International Radiology Education, established the Derek Harwood-Nash R&E Foundation International Fellowship. Candidates for this fellowship must be promising international scholars who are embarking on a career in academic radiology and can show that specific educational goals can be met by study at a North American institution. Also, the RSNA, through its Visiting Scholar Program, provides a maximum of $5,000 to bring an individual to the scientific assembly who otherwise could not afford it. The Board of Directors also approved two annual editorial fellowships, sponsored by the Publications Council and the Committee on International Relations and Education. These fellowships provide an opportunity for young radiologists to learn radiology journalism. One fellowship is offered to RSNA members from North America, and the second to members outside North America. In 1996, the Board of Trustees of the RSNA R&E Foundation made Seed Grants available to international and North American citizens. The purpose of the Seed Grant is to assist young investigators in testing hypotheses and defining objectives before they apply for major grants from corporations, foundations, or government.
FUTURE OF CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION
As the new century approaches, your RSNA continues to enhance its educational projects. In 1998, a committee of three RSNA Board members and the executive director reviewed the Society's activities pertaining to the production and distribution of all publications and educational products. The committee concluded that societal structural changes were needed to improve the coordination of educational and publication activities. In other words, the time had come to step back and evaluate the Society's educational efforts at a macroscopic level, thus improving the RSNA's coordination of its various educational objectives. The committee recommended development of a 5-year plan, which was presented to the Board this past June, to document the structure, administration, and goals of RSNA publishing and educational endeavors.
In particular, the committee stated that the Board appoint just two editors—one to document all science and one for all educational products. The science editor is Anthony V. Proto, MD. He is the current editor of Radiology. A search for an education editor commenced early in 1998. The education editor is William W. Olmsted, MD. He currently serves as the editor of RadioGraphics.
In addition, the RSNA Board of Directors learned that "hands-on" courses made available all year were popular and that the focus on electronic products by the Learning Center was limited. Therefore, the RSNA plans to offer continuing education programs at times other than during the annual scientific assembly. The plan is to develop a series of seminars on special topics, such as computers in radiology. Because such courses would be for specific audiences, not necessarily the entire membership, these additions would be funded by the attendees and not by general dues revenue.
The ad hoc committee also concluded that although the R&E Foundation was set up to stimulate and facilitate both education and research, most of this money has been used for research only. In an effort to further support academic radiology, the RSNA Board of Directors has decided to contribute $10 million to the R&E Foundation to establish an educational grant program. The earnings from the $10 million endowment will be used for the development of programs designed to promote quality educational resources. Although the guidelines for the use of these funds have not been approved at this writing, it is expected, following appropriate consultation, that they will be complete in early 1999. My hope is that the funds will be used not only for the creation of new educational materials, particularly on electronic media, but also to address the challenges facing us for revision of our educational programs in academic institutions. Bruce Hillman, MD, in reference to medical imaging in the 21st century, said (2):
Further advances in medicine that will significantly improve health care are likely to require innovations that detect and treat disease at the level of early functional change, perhaps even before any microscopic morphological alterations. However, the training of radiologists—still focused on gross anatomy and pathology—is a poor preparation for the new way these specialists will need to think early in the 21st century.
In these days of health care reform, our academic institutions are being forced to commit more time to clinical workloads and, therefore, have less time for teaching and research. It is time to provide some sources of funding for these institutions to investigate and introduce newer educational programs using modern technology.
Where did the RSNA find $10 million? For many years, the Society has set money aside for its new headquarters. These funds were invested wisely, and the return has been excellent. Due to low-interest bonds, however, it was more cost-effective to finance the new building and leave the capital in investments with a high return. Nevertheless, the RSNA will need your continued support for the R&E Foundation to ensure the Foundation will maintain its commitment to the RSNA mission.
CONCLUSION
The RSNA will remain true to its core mission. It will adapt and take advantage of 21st century advances in technology to carry out its educational objectives. It will be known as an international society as the world community of radiologists is drawn closer together. The current RSNA Board of Directors is laying the groundwork to make certain your Society continues to effectively support education well into the future.
References
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