RSNA Press Release

CHICAGO - David H. Hussey, M.D., was installed today as president of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) at the organization's 90th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Hussey, who was elected to the RSNA Board of Directors in 1998, is a clinical professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He previously was director of the Division of Radiation Oncology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and professor of radiotherapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston.

His goals for RSNA include increasing the involvement of radiation oncologists and measuring the Society's accomplishments according to its strategic plan. For 2005, Dr. Hussey added a third objective.

"Maintenance of certification (MOC) is becoming increasingly important for our members, and I would like to emphasize it during my presidential year," he said. "RSNA will play a major part in the lifelong learning and periodic self-assessment components, and we have already begun to develop a rather sophisticated MOC program."

RSNA has content-coded all of its educational programs to fit with the American Board of Radiology's (ABR) MOC classification system and is planning to develop a series of self-assessment modules that will include self-administered tests to help radiologists and radiation oncologists assess how much they know or have learned from the programs, Dr. Hussey said. Another plan is to develop a program to help radiologists and radiation oncologists keep track of their CME credits and their progress in the MOC program.

Dr. Hussey has served as president of the American Radium Society, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and the Gilbert H. Fletcher Society, and he has served on numerous committees in these organizations. He has also served on a variety of committees for the American College of Radiology and on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee for Radiation Oncology, and has been a member of the radiation study section for the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Hussey was an ABR trustee until September 2003, where he headed the Examination Committee for Radiation Oncology.

"Over the past five to 10 years, diagnostic radiologists have developed more sophisticated ways to accurately depict tumors, and radiation oncologists have developed more sophisticated ways to deliver treatment," he said. "As a result, radiation oncologists rely much more on diagnostic radiologists, and there is a greater need for diagnostic radiologists to understand what the radiation oncologists need to know. The two specialties are coming closer together, and the RSNA is the logical place for the two to interact."

Dr. Hussey has published 140 peer-reviewed papers and authored more than 38 chapters and textbooks. He has served on several RSNA committees, including the Scientific Program Committee Subcommittee on Therapeutic Radiology and Radiobiology, which he chaired from 1992 to 1995, Inter-Society Council for Radiation Oncology (ISCRO), Committee for Meeting-related Publications, Refresher Course Committee, and Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee.

Dr. Hussey graduated from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. After completing his internship and residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, he was named a fellow in radiotherapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, and was in charge of the fast neutron radiotherapy program using the Texas A&M Variable Energy Cyclotron (TAMVEC).

RSNA is an association of more than 37,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists and related scientists committed to promoting excellence in radiology through education and by fostering research, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill.