Supporting Our Residents: Obligation and Privilege
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When we think about the future of radiology, technological advances naturally come to mind. However, the real future of any profession lies in its people—in our case, the future is our residents.
Training residents is a perk of academic life and also a large responsibility involving time and effort. Most radiologists use a Socratic method of teaching in the reading room, to focus trainees with questions and answers. However, this is just a small part of helping develop our future colleagues—radiology now encompasses both diagnostic and interventional procedures, which continue to expand with advances in technology.
As radiology has grown in scope, so too has our job as teachers and mentors. We are now responsible for developing future leaders and superspecialists. Just as "it takes a village to raise a child," the task of nurturing residents falls not only on academic centers but also on the radiology community as a whole. Mentorship extends beyond residents to fellows and junior colleagues. As a community, we must guide our upcoming colleagues and instill a sense of professionalism while maintaining the focus on patient care, which is why we all became physicians in the first place.
RSNA has long proven its dedication to radiology's future, launching on July 1 the new Resident Learning Portfolio (see article in the June 2008 issue of RSNA News). RSNA 2008 continues the tradition of activities aimed at helping residents, with such course offerings as "Sustaining a Radiology Residency Program: The Roles of the Chair, Program Director and Resident" and the RSNA/AUR/ARRS Introduction to Academic Radiology Program. As always, the Residents Lounge and Residents Reception offer residents a place to network during the annual meeting.
While technology holds promise for our future, the true promise lies in the hands that will hold the technology—our residents.
