RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Radiologist Annina N. Wilkes, M.D., from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) in Philadelphia, Pa., will bring her medical expertise to Mexico as part of the International Visiting Professor Program offered by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The program fosters international relations among radiology societies to assist with medical education in developing and newly developed nations.

Dr. Wilkes, clinical assistant professor of radiology at the Jefferson-Honickman Breast Imaging Center at TJUH, will be joined by a fellow radiologist as she embarks July 23 on the 11-day trip. She will spend her visit giving presentations and teaching intensive seminars to radiology residents, as well as attending conferences and meetings.

The program is mutually beneficial. The visiting team of radiologists informs local doctors and hospitals about the latest advances in diagnostic and therapeutic radiology. In turn, the visiting professors experience firsthand the obstacles faced by medical professionals in the host countries.

"This is my third time being part of RSNA's International Visiting Professor Program," Dr. Wilkes said. "Each time, the program becomes more valuable to me, and more appreciated by the doctors and staff in the host countries. Overall, the experience is highly rewarding."

Dr. Wilkes will be accompanied by Edward G. Grant, M.D., F.A.C.R., from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Wilkes will begin her trip presenting lectures on women's imaging at the Mexican Federation of Radiology and Imaging (FMRI) meeting in Cancun. She will end her trip in Merida, Yucatan, visiting the Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad Hospital and National Medical Center.

The International Visiting Professor Program was founded in 1986 and is administered by RSNA's Committee on International Relations and Education. This program is supported by Fujifilm Medical Systems.

RSNA is an association of more than 51,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)

The RSNA Committee on International Relations and Education was established in 1986 to advise the RSNA on how the Society might provide international assistance to enhance radiologic education in countries requesting and requiring assistance. (RSNA.org/International/CIRE)