The quality of the ECR’s sessions for radiographers has been given a welcome seal of approval from the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS) who recently elected the ECR as their official annual scientific meeting. EFRS president, Prof. Graciano Paulo, from the college of health technology of Coimbra, Portugal, has been coming to the ECR for more than a decade and firmly believes the upcoming congress boasts one of the best selections yet for radiographers. Here he gives his personal preview of ECR 2013 and each of these sessions, all of which you can find in the ECR 2013 Interactive Programme Planner by searching for ‘radiographers’.
Read on for Prof. Paulo’s preview of all the sessions for radiographers at ECR 2013 …
The ‘ESR Meets’ programme, as well as being an extremely popular part of every ECR, serves a very valuable purpose. The sessions have not only reinforced relationships with numerous European national societies since the programme’s introduction in 2003, but they have also represented the ESR’s first official connections with several societies, sometimes from other continents and, more recently, from other disciplines. This year’s partner society, the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA) takes the ‘ESR Meets’ programme one step further …
E-HPBA president, Prof. Pierre-Alain Clavien, from Zurich, Switzerland
It may feel like 2013 just began yesterday, but we’ve already turned the first corner into February, which means the ECR is not so much creeping up on us as sprinting at full speed. So, in the five weeks remaining before March 7, what can you do to make sure you get the most out of this five-day festival of everything radiological? Here are our five top tips to get you off to a good start.
ECR badges, patiently waiting to be mailed
1) Get your badge mailed to you
Nobody wants to turn up full of enthusiasm on the first morning, only to spend the first 30 minutes in the longest queue of the whole congress. Be one of the smart ones; register before February 6 and get your congress badge and CME stickers sent to your home. You’ll be glad you did when you waltz past the waiting masses at the onsite registration desks.
At ECR 2013, ‘ESR meets’ will mark Latin America’s return to the congress. After Argentina in 2010 and Brazil in 2011, Chile will be a guest of honour within the popular programme, which promotes dialogue between radiologists from all over the world. ECR delegates will be given the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in Chilean radiology and appreciate the local realities of this faraway, yet culturally similar country. The ESR spoke with Professor Miguel Ángel Pinochet, president of the Chilean Society of Radiology, ahead of the meeting.
Professor Miguel Ángel Pinochet from Santiago, president of the Chilean Society of Radiology
The Radiological Society of South Africa (RSSA) will be a guest of honour at ECR 2013, as one of the three national radiological societies participating in the ‘ESR Meets’ programme. The society, which represents radiologists from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, is the second African radiological society to have been invited to take part in the popular programme. In a dedicated session that will hopefully begin a new area of collaboration between African and European radiologists, the RSSA’s delegation will focus on two of the biggest health issues in the region: HIV and tuberculosis.
RSSA President, Doctor Clive Wyndham Sperryn from Cape Town.
Professor Carmen Ayuso from Barcelona, president of the Spanish Society of Medical Radiology (SERAM)
The European Society of Radiology (ESR): What are the latest advances and remaining challenges in ischaemic stroke imaging?
Carmen Ayuso: The latest advances in this field are the generalised use of diffusion-perfusion and perfusion CT in evaluating the penumbra area in stroke patients, and the selection of good candidates for endovascular rescue after endovascular treatment failure. The accurate measure of the real penumbra volume based on these techniques and their accurate correlation with clinical evolution remain a challenge.
In March 2012, we met with ECR 2013 president, Professor José Ignacio Bilbao to interview him for ECR Today, the daily congress newspaper. He talked about the ECR’s scientific programme, how he plans to increase multidisciplinarity and interactivity next year, as well as his passion for architecture.
ECR 2013 congress president, Prof. José Ignacio Bilbao
ESR: What will be the main highlights of ECR 2013’s scientific programme? José Ignacio Bilbao: We will have a categorical course devoted to the evaluation of tumour response, which is a major issue. We will focus on how to evaluate response after any kind of therapeutic treatment or palliative procedure. It is not an easy course but it has a very well balanced programme.
Our blog superstar, Prof. José Cáceres, is one of the most popular lecturers at the ECR. So popular that his Mini Course on chest radiography was fully booked way in advance of ECR 2012 and quite a few people were disappointed that they couldn’t get in. So we spoke to the man himself, to answer those people who asked for his lectures to be held in a larger room.
ECR 2011 delegates flock into the Austria Center Vienna
Vienna has long been a popular tourist destination, as any visitor in search of last minute accommodation will bitterly tell you.
But holidays are not the only reason to come and relish the remnants of the Habsburgs’ golden age, and a trained eye will often be able to spot many visitors carrying congress bags instead of back packs.
For the past 12 years, in the beginning of March, these bags have invariably displayed the logo of our own European Congress of Radiology (ECR), but many other professions, medical or otherwise, also choose to meet in Vienna. So many, in fact, that the city has recently topped a chart of the most popular congress destinations in the world… for the sixth time in a row!
Prof. Maximilian Reiser meets young radiologists in the Rising Stars Lounge at ECR 2011
‘Invest in the Youth’ (IITY) is a name that speaks for itself. Not only does it describe the programme’s own purpose extremely clearly, but it also serves as an excellent reminder to all the ESR’s officers, committees, and members of one of the main objectives of the ESR: inspiring and supporting future generations of radiologists.
The programme has given thousands of students and residents the chance to experience Europe’s foremost radiological congress for free, and this year a record number of places will be available thanks to the personal commitment of our ‘ECR VIPs’. Dignitaries, speakers, moderators, awardees and other invited guests attending ECR 2012 have generously donated their own reimbursement payments to the IITY budget, in an extremely encouraging show of support for the ESR’s rising stars.
