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2003 REF Scholar (7th RRC, 2003) Winner: Dr. Shikha Panwar (3rd Prize) DNB Resident (Final year) Diwan chand Satyapal Aggarwal Imaging research Centre. 10-B, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001. Head of Dept: Dean :
2004 REF Scholar (8th RRC, 2004) to ECR 2006 This is an all-expenses paid scholarship to Vienna (Austria) for the ECR2006 meet. Winner : Dr. Avinash Kambadakone R (1st Prize) Vimaleshwar Anuragha" Behind Swastik Ind Corp. Bannanje Udupi - 576101. Karnataka. Phone - 0820-2523522. Mobile no - 09844387146. Email Id - avinashkr77@yahoo.co.in Head of Dept : Dean : My Experience: by Dr. Avinash Kambadakone R "The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) is one of the biggest and the best international conferences to be held annually which is unlike the grand RSNA where you tend to get lost. And what gives it an artistic touch is that ECR is held in the cultural capital of the world, Vienna" these were the words from Dr. Ashok Nath as we paced out of the Vienna airport on the 2nd of march. It was a great feeling. Finally in Vienna to attend the ECR 2006, it was a dream come true. It was more exciting than my REF quiz finals and I could the feel the heat despite the fact that the temperature in the city fluctuated between -2 to 00 C. The congress was held at the Vienna International Centre from the 3rd to the 7th of March. On the first day though I reached the congress venue on time, it was already crowded and buzzing with delegates (around 15,000 delegates from 91 countries attended the ECR). It was truly amazing to see how each activity of conference was meticulously planned and conducted. The reception constituting an entire floor had various counters to cater to the needs of the delegates assisted by the cheerful volunteers. ECR radio, an innovative system to help find the way through the congress was provided to all the delegates. It acted as personal onsite guide and orientation assistant helping us to find information about the various sessions, technical exhibitions, side events and cultural events during the congress (the radio which I treasure now, keeps me tuned with the FM radio in India). The entire congress was streamed worldwide through web and the TV screens mounted all around the venue kept informed the delegates about the daily highlights. The ECR was full of educational activities - A students dream come true. Whether it was the refresher courses on all subspecialities or the special focus sessions which dealt with topics at the cutting edge of development or the interactive image teaching sessions (on acute abdomen, mediastinal masses and paranasal sinuses), the aim was to educate. There were also three "Hands-on" workshops on Musculoskeletal US, Vertebroplasty and Tips and tricks in Radiofrequency ablation. Two new categorical courses on "The staging of Cancer" and on "Thermal tumour ablation: Imaging and intervention" were presented in an interactive way with audience participation. A Foundation course on "Musculoskeletal Radiology" took place under the heading of E3 - European Excellence in Education. The course had 12 lectures around 30 minutes each followed by 15 minute interactive Q & A sessions with the use of an electronic voting system. A self assessment was conducted at the end of all sessions which allowed the participants to assess what they learnt. All the activities attended by a delegate were confirmed and CME credits were awarded for the attended activities, the credits of which are accepted by all national CME authorities and the AMA. The scientific sessions and paper presentations were of high quality and were displayed with the posters on the Electronic Presentation Online System (EPOSTM). EPOSTM which constituted the scientific exhibition was accessible on all the days through hundreds of computers at the EPOSTM centre. Besides the EURORAD (the largest peer-reviewed database of radiology teaching files), the Cases-of-the-day and the image interpretation cases, the self assessment tool in Musculoskeletal Radiology was also available on the EPOSTM The traditional highlight of the congress - the image interpretation session was presented in the form of a quiz between the senior radiologists of the European and North American group. With 15 short and long tricky cases to be interpreted, the moderator Dr. Nicholsan guided and misguided the participants all along making sure that the audience had a great time. Not only was it an exciting competition, it also was a big learning experience. The inaugural lecture of the congress was delivered by Professor Sydney Wallace who mesmerized the audiences with his lecture titled "History and disease, part II: dyslexia to the new deal" describing how disease has played a role in the making of history by taking us on a journey through the lives of world leaders and great personalities. Complimenting the lecture aptly was an opening concert which followed. The Opening concert had brilliant performances by the Vienna radio symphony orchestra conducted by Alexander Joel and a solo violin performance by Julian Rachlin. There were two lectures the mention of which has to be made as they dealt with some of the hot issues in Radiology. One of the lectures was by Dr. Gabriel P Krestin, a renowned radiologist from Rotterdam who delivered the Peter Mansfield- Honorary lecture, entitled: "Noninvasive cardiac imaging: Friend or foe?". He discussed the turf battle between the cardiologists and radiologists over cardiac CT and MRI and emphasized the need for further research activities by radiologists to prevent ending up on the losing side. One of solutions suggested by him to overcome this was the formation of a Cardio-Radiology unit consisting of both radiologists and cardiologists. I vividly remember Bhavin sir stressing on this issue in his lectures during the RRC back in 2004 and I feel as young radiologists we have a battle to win. Another interesting lecture was by Dr. Frederick S Keller a renowned interventional radiologist from Portland who delivered the Josef Rosch - Honorary lecture, entitled: "Interventional Radiology- quo vadis?". He highlighted the history of interventional radiology and the problems faced by the interventionists today. He hinted at the necessity for a complete makeover for interventional radiology possibly separation from diagnostic radiology just like radiation therapy divorced from radiology decades back. This he felt, had to be a reality to prevent the discipline from being consumed by other specialities. Internet points, food joints, TV lounges, meditation rooms, free massaging services etc etc meant that the hectic schedules did not fatigue the delegates. ECR Parties were held in the evenings at various opera houses. I was fortunate to attend the "Beatles meet Mozart" ECR party at one of the opera houses. The ambience was superb with excellent performances by the symphony orchestra and the pseudo beatles group. The dance ball at the end of dinner was simply superb. The conference was also a great place where I could interact with a lot of radiologists from other countries like Russia, Israel, Indonesia, Sweden, US, Oman etc. I also met two research students from Pakistan working in the University of Vienna. I even had dinner with them one night which they had specially prepared for me since I was not very content with the Austrian cuisine. Chatting and strolling down the streets of Vienna in their company that night I wondered how invisible the borders really are. Amidst the hectic activity at the conference I managed to do some sight seeing. Vienna, the cultural capital of the world is stunning with artistically planned townships which mirror the cultural heritage of the country. The major buildings including the Parliament, the imperial palace, the museum square, the Opera houses, the Leopold museum and the Rathaus are built in the form of a ring within the city and the monuments are spectacular. Each of these monuments has a story of its own to tell. I was fortunate to be in Vienna during the skating season and had the delight of skating in front of the floodlit city hall listening to some really great music. Most of the days when I was in Vienna it was snowing and it was exciting for someone like me who has never seen snow in my native land. What is really a let down in Vienna is that the city and the shops are closed on sundays and the shutters are down on the shops on the rest of the days by 6-7 pm. But I think it is good in a sense that since Vienna is a very expensive city it is blessing in disguise for the travelers. Well there is so much to write about my short trip to Vienna that pages will not suffice. I am extremely grateful to Ravi Sir and Bhavin Sir for giving me this opportunity to be a part of the European congress which has been a truly unforgettable and enriching experience of my life. Their unparalleled dedication and commitment towards imparting radiology education and knowledge will remain a source of inspiration to me.
2004 REF Scholar (8th RRC, 2004) to IRIA 2006 This is an all-expenses paid scholarship trip to Chennai for IRIA 2006 Conference. Winner : Dr. Pushpender Gupta (2nd Prize) House no - 895, Sector - 3, Urban Estate, Kurukshetra, Haryana - 136118. Tel no - 01744-232678. Mobile no - 09316995640. Email ID - pushpenderkkr@yahoo.com Head of Dept : Dean :