RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Radiologist Carlos H. Torres, M.D., from the University of Ottawa (UOttawa) and The Ottawa Hospital, will bring his medical expertise to El Salvador 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. Torres, assistant professor of radiology at UOttawa, will be joined by two fellow radiologists as he embarks October 17 on the 10-day trip. He will spend his 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.

"It is an honor to be able to represent RSNA in El Salvador as a member of the International Visiting Professor Program team. The program helps spread the principles of scholarship that RSNA favors and promotes interest in various RSNA programs among Latin American radiologists," Dr. Torres said. "This program is extremely important for me as it gives me the opportunity to return to my fellow Latin American radiologists everything I have had the chance to learn during my training and practice as a neuroradiologist in North America. It will give me the opportunity to share different academic and cultural experiences with the radiology residents and staff during the site visits, which will likely translate to long-lasting relationships and future collaborations."

Dr. Torres, who is also the program director of neuroradiology at The Ottawa Hospital, will be accompanied by Ali Guermazi, M.D., Ph.D., from Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, and Theodore J. Dubinsky, M.D., from the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Dr. Torres will begin his visit by attending the Congress of the Colegio Interamericano de Radiología in Sansonate, El Salvador. He will then travel to San Salvador to visit Hospital Nacional Rosales, Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social and Hospital Médico Quirúrgico.

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 Agfa HealthCare.

RSNA is an association of more than 50,000 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)