RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. (September 16, 2008) — 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, will bring their 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. Siegel, professor of radiology and medicine and division director of nuclear medicine, and Dr. Wippold, professor of radiology and chief of neuroradiology, will be joined by another radiologist 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. Siegel and Dr. Wippold 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.

"Members of the team are very excited to have this cultural exchange and to experience the state of radiology in Vietnam," Dr. Siegel said. "We hope to provide a few tips to fellow radiologists as well as learn from them."

Dr. Siegel and Dr. Wippold will be accompanied by Eric Stern, M.D., of the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Locations of the presentations in Vietnam 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)