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Resident Report on the ACR Annual Meeting
The 77th annual meeting of the American College of Radiology (ACR) was held at the Hilton New York during September 23-27, 2000. The ACR is the economic, legislative and regulatory arm of radiology and radiation oncology practice including academic and private practice groups. The categorical course was cardiovascular radiology and was held during the first day (Saturday, 9/23). The course cost $100 and included a printed syllabus. The course was arranged into 30 minute lectures, vascular radiology prior to lunch and cardiac imaging afterwards.
The ACR has made an effort to increase resident and fellow attendance at the meeting and has sought representatives from the states and protectorates. Over 80 invitees were in attendance with most states and Puerto Rico represented. In addition, representatives from A3CR2 (the American Association of Academic Chief Residents In Radiology) were in attendance. New officers were elected including Christoph Wald (current Massachusetts Radiological Society (MRS) Resident and Fellow Section (RFS) president) as secretary of the resident physician section governing council. The vice-chair will be Douglas Lemley and the chair will be Shireesha Reddy. Christoph Wald and Mark Mullins were the co-representatives from Massachusetts.
No resident-led resolutions were submitted during this meeting. However, many of the resolutions had important implications for residents:
- ACR standard for radiologist coverage of imaging performed in hospital emergency departments (ED). Proposed wording would provide for 24 hour coverage by board certified (BC) radiologists. Vigorous debate surrounded this issue with arguments with pro’s including “radiology by radiologists” and patient-centered practice and con’s including manpower shortages and unnecessary examinations requested in off hours by the ED. It is believed that the referendum will be referred back to the submitting committee for re-evaluation but the prevailing sentiment is that it will eventually pass and that 24/7 coverage (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) by BC radiologists will become a reality. The resident section through Dr. Lemley pointed out that this would affect moonlighting which is necessary in many practices for coverage.
- An after-hours informational session was held on Tuesday morning and was attended by Dr. Michael Rapp, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Short talks were given by several attendees including Dr. John Patti of North Shore Medical Center, a member of the Massachusetts delegation. Questions and answers were again lively with issues as above (part 1).
- An ACR standard for radiological board certification to become renewable every 10 years starting in 2002 (current third year radiology residents) was included in this session.
- The MRS-RFS originated by Christoph Wald was promoted and the URL was handed out to residents and fellows. The feedback was positive and many residents requested information regarding starting a resident and fellow section in their state and/or website start-up.
The new chairman of the board of chancellors is Dr. W. Max Cloud of Wilbraham, MA. The president of the MRS and sponsor of the RFS at the ACR meeting was Dr. Robert Kirkwood of Springfield, MA. The secretary and new FACR was Dr. Johan Blickman of Boston, MA. Councilors included Dr. Janet Baum, Dr. Paul McKeough, Dr. John Patti, Dr. Donald Bachman, Dr. Peter Barrett, Dr. Samuel McFadden and Dr. Susan Stafford. Dr. Priscilla Slanetz served as an alternate councilor and was asked to vote during this session.
The entire proceedings can be obtained from Christoph Wald (Lahey Medical Center, Burlington, MA) or Mark Mullins (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA).
The next annual ACR meeting will take place 9/8-9/11/01 at the Hilton San Francisco. For your information, the written diagnostic and physics examinations are 9/13-9/14/01.
Report respectfully submitted by Mark Mullins MD PhD, secretary MRS-RFS.
Please refer questions to mmullins@partners.org or to the website.
Report from the ACR RFS Executive Council Meeting on 9/26/2000
During a meeting of the newly elected Executive Council of the Resident and Fellow Section it was decided to investigate potential ways of introducing a minimum time requirement for MRI training during residency in analogy to Nuclear Medicine and Mammography training.
Enhanced communication between the RFS EC and the resident and fellow members throughout the states during the upcoming year will be another focus. Improvements to the current RFS subsite on the ACR website (www.acr.org) will be introduced. Please direct questions or suggestions regarding desired features/functionality tocwald@csi.com.
The recent decision to introduce a match for the neuroradiology fellowships in 2002 was discussed during the RFS assembly. Shireesha Reddy and Doug Lemley pointed out that the fellowship program directors under the leadership of David Yousem MD had acted against the recommendations of the RFS. The ACR RFS will obtain information from candidates and program directors about the progress and result of this match process. This information will be circulated amongst the RFS when available. It was also mentioned that a unified application form for fellowship application is now available but not yet mandatory for application.
Lastly, the RFS EC will try to get more involved with the selection of future candidates for the list of potential successors to the current resident representative on the residency review committee.
Christoph Wald MD PhD
Secretary, ACR RFS