Science. Last year more than 80 medical and radiological societies around the world marked the first International Day of Radiology. This Friday, 110 societies from 58 countries will celebrate the occasion, meaning the celebrations will reach more people, in even more countries. Events to mark the day include a meeting on hot topics in thoracic imaging in London, special scientific presentations in New Delhi, a conference in Bratislava and many more events in cities across the world. A list of events can be found on the International Day of Radiology website.
This year’s International Day of Radiology is dedicated to lung imaging and the important role that imaging plays in combating lung disease. The European Society of Radiology (ESR), in collaboration with the European Society of Thoracic Radiology (ESTI), has produced Breathe easy: how radiology helps to find and fight lung diseases, a special booklet on lung imaging, written by experts in the field, to give the general public an insight into how lung diseases are imaged along with the skills and training needed to interpret those images.
“Imaging is right at the centre of medical practice. Most clinicians rely very, very heavily on imaging nowadays, and patients are referred for imaging studies every single day. We radiologists form a kind of central position in medical management and we’re nothing if not diagnosticians. Medical imaging is right there, because without a diagnosis there is no treatment; and at the end of the day that’s what patients come for. So medical imaging is extremely important,” explained Doctor Sujal Desai, consultant radiologist at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation in London, chairman of ESTI’s Training and Educational Committee and one of the authors of the lung imaging booklet.
The International Day of Radiology is also about celebrating the medical and scientific breakthroughs which have allowed modern medical imaging to develop. These are chronicled in the Story of Radiology, a series on the history of radiology published each year on the International Day of Radiology. The series has been written by experts from the International Society for the History of Radiology (ISHRAD) and the Röntgen Museum in Germany. The second chapter is available online now on the International Day of Radiology website and is free to download:
www.internationaldayofradiology.com/publications, www.IDOR2013.com
