RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. (August 30, 2010) — Radiologist Santiago Miro, M.D., from the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, will bring his 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. Miro, director of cardiothoracic radiology at UMass Memorial Medical Center, will be joined by a fellow radiologist as he embarks September 5 on the six-day trip. He will spend his visit giving presentations and teaching intensive seminars to members of hospital radiology departments in Mexico.

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 program gives us the opportunity to share our field of expertise with many groups with whom such sharing would otherwise be difficult," Dr. Miro said. "Cardiothoracic imaging has evolved rapidly in recent years, and radiology must expand the base of its practicing radiologists in order to keep our residents adequately trained and to remain relevant in cardiac diagnosis. This program allows us to fulfill those objectives."

Dr. Miro is accompanied by Murali Sundaram, M.D., F.R.C.R., from Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Locations of the presentations in Mexico include Hospital General and Hospital Central Militar in Mexico City.

The International Visiting Professors Program was founded in 1986 and is administered by RSNA's Committee on International Relations and Education. This program is supported by Agfa HealthCare.

RSNA (RSNA.org) is an association of more than 44,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research.

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)