Dear Members,
Dear Friends,
Dear Colleagues,
We are currently making the final arrangements for our annual congress in Prague, to be held from October 28-30, 2010. This congress is jointly hosted by Prof. Rainer Rienmüller and Prof. Miloslav Rocek.
Professor Rienmüller was the founding president of the ESCR and is now honorary member of our Society. He has a great deal of experience - not only in cardiac radiology but also in hosting successful meetings - which is why we are expecting an excellent congress.
The annual meeting will feature state-of-the-art scientific lectures and will continue ESCR's excellent education programme, which has been pioneered by our educational committee under the chairmanship of Professor Jens Bremerich from Basel. This programme has become very popular and is now the focal point of our meetings.
Education and training in cardiac radiology is becoming even more important with the introduction of new technologies. Hospitals and universities are demanding a high level of training and expertise in cardiac radiology and are increasingly looking for evidence of that expertise.
With that in mind, we are starting a new project, working closely together with ESR to develop a postgraduate diploma in cardiac radiology, which will demonstrate training skills and expertise in cardiac radiology. Attendance at ECR and ESCR meetings as well as membership within these societies in combination with cardiac radiology training will be essential in order to gain this upcoming European Diploma.
In Prague, we are continuing with our special sessions for radiographers and technologists as we would like to endorse the increased role of scientists and technologists.
Overall, we have had a busy and productive year: many of the executive members have been involved in joint meetings with the European Council of Cardiac Imaging which has been a useful forum to exchange ideas with our colleagues in cardiology and nuclear medicine. Furthermore, we have recently undertaken to contribute to a joint position statement on hybrid nuclear imaging, a project headed for our Society by Prof. Matthias Gutberlet.
Internationally, we have formed strong links with the Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging, the ASCI. We will be hosting lectures and presentations from well recognised ASCI members during our meeting in Prague.
Over the next years, we will continue to focus on training and qualification in cardiac radiology, as many radiologists are concerned about the need to clearly define the expertise of the radiologist in the field of cardiac imaging.
I would be delighted to hear from any radiologist who is interested in this subject as well as from any national society that is already considering this important issue.
Lookinf forward to seeing you in Prague
Prof. Dr. Michael Rees, Gwynned/UK
President of ESCR