At its September meeting, the RSNA Board of Directors endorsed RSNA sponsorship of a meeting on medical simulation. The Board also named participants in some of the Society's international programs and approved appointments to RSNA committees for the coming year.

Measurement the Focus of Medical Simulation Meeting

RSNA will be a sponsor of a 2009 meeting on performance measures in medical simulation. The meeting will be chaired by Steven L. Dawson, M.D., an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and clinical interventional radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Dawson leads the Simulation Group—also known as the SIM Group—at MGH and is also founder and chair of the non-profit Advanced Initiatives in Medical Simulation.

Dr. Dawson will present "When Opportunity Knocks: Simulation as a Learning Tool in Radiology" during the RSNA 2008 opening session.

During the two-day simulation meeting next year, interventional radiologists will define a set of procedures that can be simulated, or are currently simulated, in order to create a list of performance measures. The group will then identify points in the simulations where these measures could be assessed to track trainee performance, with the goal of ultimately providing the measures to simulator manufacturers.

"This meeting will establish performance standards that are created by interventional radiology for simulators that were invented by interventional radiologists and which teach interventional radiological procedures," Dr. Dawson noted in his meeting proposal to RSNA. "Assessment of expertise in these procedures should derive from our estimates of expertise, not those of another specialty."

In another collaboration, RSNA will cosponsor with SNM the 2nd Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging Symposium, to be held April 30– May 1, 2009, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

International Program Participants Named

The RSNA International Visiting Professor (IVP) teams for 2009 will travel to Argentina, Bolivia, Estonia, Mexico and South Africa. The IVP program annually sends teams of North American professors to lecture at national radiology society meetings and visit with radiology residency training programs at selected host institutions in developing nations. The goal is to foster teaching and a cultural exchange between radiology departments in the U.S. and those in other countries. The RSNA Committee on International Relations and Education administers the program.

The 2008-2009 Derek Harwood-Nash International Fellows are Ali Yikilmaz, M.D., of Turkey, and Irene Nakano, M.D., M.Sc., of Brazil. The fellowship enables a faculty member from an international institution to study at a North American institution for 6 to 12 weeks.

RSNA Committees Gain New Members

Appointments to RSNA's many committees were approved by the Board, in consultation with the committee chairs. The Board extends its appreciation to the hundreds of highly skilled and generous volunteers that assist RSNA in meeting its mission.

Beverly B. Huckman and R. Gilbert Jost, M.D., have been named 2009 secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the RSNA Research & Education (R&E) Foundation. James P. Borgstede, M.D., Burton P. Drayer, M.D., G. Scott Gazelle, M.D., Ph.D., and Vijay M. Rao, M.D., have been named as R&E trustees. Theresa C. McLoud, M.D., was appointed for a second 3-year term as trustee.

Outstanding Researcher, Educator Named

The 2008 RSNA Outstanding Researcher is Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D., of Boston. The 2008 RSNA Outstanding Educator is Richard B. Gunderman, M.D., Ph.D., of Indianapolis. Drs. Weissleder and Gunderman will be honored prior to the President's Address at RSNA 2008.

The search for a new RSNA executive director is under way. The Board has engaged the services of executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International to help find appropriate candidates. The process is expected to take six to nine months.

Hedvig Hricak, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. h.c.
Chairman, 2008 RSNA Board of Directors

Note: In our continuing efforts to keep RSNA members informed, the chairman of the RSNA Board of Directors will provide a brief report in RSNA News following each board meeting. The next RSNA Board Meeting will be at RSNA 2008.