RSNA Press Release

Radiologist Leanne L. Seeger, M.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), will bring her medical expertise to Kenya, Africa, 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. Seeger, diagnostic radiologist at David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, will be joined by two fellow radiologists as she embarks May 29 on the 16-day trip. She will spend her 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.

"The International Visiting Professor Program provides an excellent environment for exchange of knowledge, experiences and culture," Dr. Seeger said. "The visiting professor becomes emerged in the daily work at teaching hospitals working with residents, including image interpretation at the work station, case review, and providing didactic lectures. My past experiences have proven our hosts to be gracious and enthusiastic. I always come away feeling I have received more than I have given."

Dr. Seeger, who is also professor and chief of musculoskeletal imaging at UCLA Health System, will be accompanied by Harris L. Cohen, M.D., from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and Kathirkamanathan Shanmuganathan, M.D., from the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore.

Dr. Seeger will begin her trip by attending meetings hosted by the Kenya Association of Radiology in Shaba, Kenya, as well as the Kenya Association of Radiologists in Isiolo. She will end her trip in Nairobi visiting the radiology departments of Aga Khan University Hospital and University of Nairobi.

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 Fujifilm Medical Systems.

RSNA is an association of more than 51,000 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)