RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. (September 16, 2008) — Eric Stern, M.D., will bring his medical expertise to Vietnam 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. Stern, professor of radiology and vice chairman of academic affairs, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, will be joined by two fellow radiologists as they embark September 19 on the 13-day trip. They will begin their trip by attending the Vietnamese Society of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Congress Meeting. Dr. Stern will then be giving presentations and teaching intensive seminars to radiology societies and hospital radiology departments.

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 type of large organizational yet personal outreach helps make the world a little smaller by cultivating a greater mutual appreciation and respect for our shared experiences in the practice of radiology," Dr. Stern said. "This is a true tangible success story that helps fulfill the RSNA's goal to foster closer relationships among the world community of radiologists."

Dr. Stern will be accompanied by Barry A. Siegel, M.D., and Franz J. Wippold II, M.D., from the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Locations of the presentations in Vienam include Bachmai Hospital in Hanoi, Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and the Saigon Society of Radiology.

The International Visiting Professors Program was founded in 1986 and is administered by RSNA's Committee on International Relations and Education (CIRE).

RSNA is an association of more than 41,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. 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)