HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Petasnick, J. P. Articles by Fritzsche, P. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Petasnick, J. P. Articles by Fritzsche, P. J.

Radiology and Epcot Celebrate New Millennium with a Patient Education and Information Exhibit¹

¹ From the Radiological Society of North America, 820 Jorie Boulevard, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Address reprint requests to J.P.P.

Index terms: Radiological Society of North America • Special communications

Recognizing that the public's interest in matters related to health care has increased over the past decade, and following a survey of a sample of RSNA members about public information and education materials, in 1998 the Board of Directors decided to expand the Society's public information and education program. The purpose of this expansion is to enhance the public's awareness of radiology and radiologists. Since the Board's decision, the Society has expanded its newsletter, RSNA News; developed a public information Web site, Radiology Resource; conducted annual campaigns of press releases on focused and timely topics; and issued monthly press releases on articles of general interest from the journal Radiology.

In the same year that the Board began this new public information program, there arose an opportunity to tell 12 million people per year about the contribution of radiology and radiologists to their health care. As part of its Millennium Celebration, the Disney Company planned to feature all new exhibits in the Epcot Innoventions Pavilions and was interested in an exhibit on health care. Through an intermediary, Disney and RSNA learned of their mutual interests—Disney's interest in telling the story of how medical technologies will improve peoples' lives in the new millennium, and the RSNA's particular interest in featuring those who develop and use diagnostic and therapeutic technology, radiologists. Following discussions in the fall of 1998, the RSNA Board of Directors decided to participate in a project with Disney's Epcot theme park to celebrate the millennium.

RSNA accepted the role as the primary sponsor of the exhibit that is designed to showcase radiology and radiologists, not the RSNA. The RSNA Board then appointed an ad hoc committee to oversee the development of the exhibit. The Board's Exhibit Committee includes Peggy J. Fritzsche, MD, as Chair, David B. Fraser, MD, Seymour H. Levitt, MD, and C. Douglas Maynard, MD. The Committee worked with the Epcot creative team, helping to educate them on the practice of radiology and providing direction for the creative development of the exhibit. The Epcot creative team then provided feedback and preliminary plans to the Committee.

The exhibit, tentatively titled, "Radiology: Medicine's New Vision" will occupy 3,002 square feet of space in an Epcot Innoventions exhibit hall. It will be the only exhibit featuring a medical topic. The entry to the exhibit will be similar to the opening of a giant magnetic resonance (MR) imaging machine, with the walkway resembling the carrier table and the entrance resembling the circular portal. Four etched-glass panels on either side of the entrance walkway will display stylized versions of the skeletal, circulatory, and nervous systems, as well as the musculature of the human body.

View larger version (63K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1.

Following the presentation in the first Hall, the guests will be "pulsed" into a pathway to the 20-foot-high New Horizons Dome. Guests will view six 1–2-minute dramatizations of the role of radiologists in patient care. At the conclusion of these presentations, the guests will then exit out of the Dome space and enter the Exploration Zone.

The Exploration Zone will consist of four kiosks: one information kiosk and three interactive play stations. The information kiosk will provide guests the opportunity to visit Radiology Resource, the RSNA-ACR patient education Web site (though not in real time). The information kiosk will also be used to explain the training and certification of radiologists, acknowledge exhibit participants, and provide a list of radiologic societies and additional information. The three interactive play stations will feature three games that will convey to players the object of and technology involved in functional imaging of the brain, radiation oncology, and interventional radiology.

The exhibit will be staffed by hosts trained by RSNA and Epcot who will take part in the presentations, answer questions, and inform people about where they can obtain further information.

The cost of the exhibit during the initial year is projected to be $4.15 million. The exhibit will be maintained for an additional 2 years at an annual cost of $1 million. After the first 3 years, there is an option to revise and continue the exhibit for additional years. The RSNA Board has accepted the role as the primary sponsor of this public education/public information exhibit to improve public awareness of radiology and its impact on patient care. But the Board has invited other radiologic societies and commercial entities to participate. There are five levels of participation available: Major Sponsor, Sponsor, Donor, Contributor, and Endorser. A Major Sponsor contributes $1 million or more, a Sponsor contributes between $500,000 and $999,999, a Donor contributes between $100,000 and $499,000, and a Contributor contributes less than $100,000 to support the project. All levels will be acknowledged within the exhibit and in promotional efforts related to the exhibit.

Because the Board of Directors wants the exhibit to represent all of radiology, in order to make that possible for other societies unable to provide financial support, the Board has established the category of "Endorser." Simply, a society can endorse the concept of the Epcot Millennium Celebration Radiology Exhibit, and the society's endorsement will be acknowledged within the exhibit and in promotional efforts. Endorser status is available only to not-for-profit radiologic societies.

The RSNA Board of Directors is happy to announce that the American College of Radiology has become a Sponsor and the American Roentgen Ray Society has become a Contributor for the Radiology Exhibit.

The exhibit is scheduled to open in mid-September for a test run and then to officially open at the end of September 1999, in conjunction with the opening of the Disney Millennium Celebration. We encourage members of the radiology community to visit the exhibit.

This Article Figures Only Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Petasnick, J. P. Articles by Fritzsche, P. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Petasnick, J. P. Articles by Fritzsche, P. J.