RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. (June 16, 2008) - Sughra Raza, M.D., will bring her medical expertise to Nigeria 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. Raza, assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and director of women's imaging at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, will be joined by two fellow radiologists as she embarks today on the 13-day trip. She will spend her visit giving presentations and teaching intensive seminars to members of Nigerian 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.

Dr. Raza is accompanied by William E. Brant, M.D., of the University of Virginia Health Systems in Charlottesville, and Anne C. Roberts, M.D., of University of California San Diego (UCSD) Thornton Hospital in La Jolla, Calif.

"We tend to be so blessed in terms of having cutting-edge medical care in the U.S., and we would like to feel that we can help individuals in Nigeria to benefit from some of the experiences that we have had in practice," Dr. Roberts said. "We are looking forward to learning from them as well."

Locations of the presentations in Nigeria include the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, College of Medicine/University College Hospital and the Nigeria Chapter of the Association of Radiologists of West Africa.

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)