A Center of Value and Learning

Discover more from our special Focus on Education. Explore additional informative articles in this collection.

Value at Its Finest

The ACR Education Center provides a unique opportunity for hands-on learning with in-person courses. The teachers selected to run these courses are expert radiologists who are available for immediate questions and one-on-one discussions to help each attendee learn and grow. “Many courses taught elsewhere are didactic or online,” says Jeffrey Kanne, MD, FACR, radiology and chief of thoracic imaging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a course director at the ACR Education Center. “They may have feedback from the computer, but you don’t actually get to have a conversation about the case because everyone learns differently. At the Education Center, I’m able to spend time with an individual or a small group of attendees discussing a very complex topic. I have the ability to pull up additional cases to illustrate a point. I can get in front of the group and go through a case, go through how I would approach it and let them understand how I think about a case. Then, I can take questions from the audience.”

To ensure that face-to-face interactions between faculty and attendees have as much impact as possible, the courses are created by leading educators in their respective fields. “The courses are created by faculty,” says Kanne. “They are in charge of all of the content from the didactics as well as the cases and how the case engine is created. It’s usually a team of faculty from different institutions to bring in different perspectives, and the courses are created usually over the period of a year because there’s a lot of work involved.” Kanne goes on to say that faculty look at updating course material when new, relevant information comes to light to ensure attendees are as current as they are.

A Focus on Helping

This unique opportunity for in-person individualized education and interaction between faculty and the attendee benefits radiologists in various stages of their careers, as Wende Gibbs, MD, neuroradiologist and the director of spine imaging and intervention at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix and instructor of the ACR Education Center neuroradiology in-person courses, has observed. “Only the ACR offers this invaluable, collaborative learning opportunity,” Gibbs says. “Attendees can listen to the lectures from expert speakers in all different body areas and then they can immediately practice, solidifying their new knowledge by working through related cases in the extensive image-based question bank. As they work, they can ask the faculty to come sit with them to discuss the case, point out important features and answer questions.”

Attendees have recognized and appreciated the ACR Education Center and how it can be utilized no matter where they are in their careers. If you ever wanted to learn about a new procedure or dive into a new realm of expertise, the ACR Education Center is equipped to help you. “At the beginning of my career, immediately after residency, I needed the training in tomography to allow me to proceed with breast imaging, which I find very rewarding today,” says Michael Berry, MD, diagnostic radiologist at RAYUS Radiology in Maine and a course attendee for over a decade. “The ACR allowed me to do this at an early stage of my career effectively and efficiently. In the middle of my career, the courses gave me confidence to engage in imaging that I hadn’t had before and to more efficiently and effectively complete the imaging procedures I was already performing.”

In addition to in-person courses, the ACR Education Center also offers virtual courses, which were introduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. These courses can be taken at the attendees’ convenience, allowing them to work the course in to their everyday schedule. And while those who take the online course can’t ask questions as they would with an in-person course, Gibbs hopes that changes soon. “Eventually, we hope to work out a way that people can ask questions live,” she says. “We’re also thinking about things like office hours, where they could get on Zoom at a certain time, and the lecture would be there, and faculty could answer questions at that time.” This change would continue to accommodate those who are unable to attend in-person courses, continuing to evolve and cater to ACR members’ needs.

A Look at the Results

After completing the ACR courses, radiologists return to their practices or begin their new practices, ready to tackle a wider range of challenges, with valuable perspectives gained from discussions with faculty and other attendees. “My experience at the ACR Education Center has changed my practice in many respects,” Berry says. “I use tomosynthesis-guided stereotactic biopsy technique, which I find extraordinarily helpful in my breast imaging practice. I’ve also maintained communication with instructors and fellow physicians on particularly challenging topics, such as high-resolution chest imaging, long after my participation in the on-site courses.”

The College encourages all members to take advantage of the unique value offered by the ACR Education Center. “This is the most valuable educational resource for radiology that I know of,” Gibbs said of faculty being there to answer attendees’ questions. “Since I was a resident, I couldn’t wait to enrich my knowledge by interacting with the world-class staff and getting to practice with so many great cases, some of which were not available to at my site. And now as an instructor, I still get to learn as I discuss cases with the attendees and other instructors. The course is individualized, but we all get to work together in a friendly, enriching environment, infinitely conducive to learning. No other organization offers this exception resource, valuable to and welcoming to radiologists in various stages of career and practice settings.”

By Alexander Utano, associate editor, ACR Press