RSNA Press Release

OAK BROOK, Ill. (March 27, 2013) — Radiologist Nafi Aygun, M.D., from Johns Hopkins Medical Institution (JHMI) in Baltimore, will bring his medical expertise to Russia 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. Aygun, associate professor of radiology at JHMI, will be joined by two fellow radiologists as he embarks April 1 on the nine-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.

"Although I love every aspect of my job, I feel the most rewarding part of what I do as an academic neuroradiologist is teaching, which actually helps me to learn better," Dr. Aygun said. "Having the opportunity to travel to St. Petersburg and interact with colleagues to mutually learn is tremendously exciting for me."

Dr. Aygun, who is also the director of the Neuroradiology Fellowship Program at Johns Hopkins University, will be accompanied by Curtis E. Green, M.D., from Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., and Johnny U. Monu, M.D., from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in New York.

Working with the St. Petersburg Radiology Association, Dr. Aygun will visit the N.P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences and conclude his trip by attending the Nevsky Radiology Forum in St. Petersburg.

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 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)