Planes, Trains and Automobiles: RSNA 2025 Travelers Brave Chicago's Historic Snowfall - Part 3
Reflecting on the experience and the meaning of RSNA
This is part three of a three-part series chronicling the travel challenges and successes of several undaunted RSNA annual meeting attendees. Read part one and part two.
In part one of this series, several radiologists set out from various locations, bound for Chicago to attend RSNA 2025.
In part two, we learn about the unique experiences of the travelers, each personally motivated to make it to the annual meeting and reluctant to surrender to the forces that might stop them.
When his flight was diverted to Cleveland, David Yousem, MD, MBA, considered a flight that would get him to Chicago via Denver but feared it, too, would be delayed. He decided to drive 346 miles.
After a flight cancelation, RSNA Past President N. Reed Dunnick, MD, and his wife Marilyn Roubidoux, MD, a professor of radiology at the University of Michigan Medical School reworked their plans to fly from Ann Arbor, MI, to Chicago in time to attend the Past Presidents’ Dinner.
Instead, they flew to Milwaukee with another RSNA attendee they had met at the airport. They planned to take a train to Chicago from Milwaukee, but ended up taking an Uber for the 80-mile trek.
Troubles Persist, Travelers Persevere
After being rerouted to Indianapolis, Roberto Muñoz Estrada, MD, took an Uber ride that lasted nearly six hours.
After 12 hours on the road, M. Alejandra Bedoya, MD, and a group from Toronto arrived in Chicago around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday. “I’m glad we did it—for our team, and for the people who came to hear our presentations, she said.
Dr. Yousem’s flight did eventually leave Denver, he heard—13 hours after it was originally scheduled. In his rented vehicle, he arrived in Chicago close to 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, and he presented his scientific paper a few hours later.
Unlike some of his colleagues, David Rubin, MD, a musculoskeletal radiologist and 30-year veteran of the RSNA annual meeting, was able to get on a train. It's a mode of transportation he enjoys for travel to Chicago.
Thirty minutes outside Chicago, Dr. Rubin’s train stopped briefly to let some freight traffic pass. “We then started rolling about 1 mile an hour and a few seconds later there was a loud ‘clunk,’ and the train suddenly stopped,” he said.
When the conductor later explained the issue, it seemed that there was ice between the rails, causing the engine to derail and fall between the tracks at the switch. He and the other passengers were eventually transferred to buses that brought them safely to Union Station.
Resilience and Teamwork Shine
Dr. Rubin and colleagues worked together to cover their presentation schedules. Though the trip was challenging, he reaffirmed his confidence in taking the train to Chicago. "In the future, I will still be taking the train," he said. "It's ideal for me when traveling to RSNA."
“Despite everything, it was worth it,” Dr. Muñoz said. “The one-year wait, the anguish on the plane and on the road . . . everything was forgotten upon arrival. For a resident, being exposed to a meeting of this level is tremendously inspiring, and being able to share it with my colleagues and professors made the wait make sense.”
“I am returning to Chile very happy with the experience and already looking forward to returning next year,” he added.
“The RSNA annual meeting is an invaluable formative experience for trainees,” Dr. Hanneman said, noting that her biggest concern was helping her trainees work out the logistics of attendance, especially for those who had presentations included in the scientific program.
During the first leg of his journey, Dr. Dunnick observed that a significant number of his fellow travelers were headed to RSNA 2025.
“People were yelling out, ‘I have to be at RSNA; I’m going to rent a car.’ ‘I need to be in Chicago in time for the RSNA.’ — both exhibitors and professional attendees—and they were determined to get there,” he recalled. “It shows how important the RSNA annual meeting is to all these people.”
For More Information
Read a summary of the top 10 most-read stories from the RSNA 2025 Daily Bulletin.
Access the RSNA 2025 Daily Bulletin video playlist.
Visit Meeting Central or use the meeting app for Virtual Access to RSNA 2025 content.