Tag: conferences

Posted on by

Why Residents Should Start Returning To On Site Lectures!

on site lectures

Since Covid-19 began, most radiology residencies throughout the country have moved to a model of all remote lectures. At first, it was a knee-jerk reaction, which was entirely logical at the time. Now that we have a better idea of the disease and how it spreads, programs can return to a system with some live lectures. Programs can safely organize conferences with smaller groups in larger spaces to reduce transmission chances. Like public schools, many radiology residencies are returning to some form of a hybrid system with remote and on site lectures.

However, not all programs are going in that direction. So, what have residents lost over the past half-year by having remote lectures only? And, do they stand to gain anything by returning to some form of in-house live classes? Let’s go through why most programs should, in-part, try to get back to some on site lectures.

Keep Residents Awake And Focused

I’ve been in this situation many times. Zoom starts up, and instead of having the camera focused on your face, you decide to put a picture up with a likeness of you and start completing other work. Or, you tend to another conversation at the same time. The bottom line is that it is much easier to lose focus when you are in a remote environment because there is less buy-in. Many other options are available to capture your attention than the lecture itself.

More Invested In Studying For The On Site Lectures

If you know that you will attend a lecture in person, you are much more likely to read up on a topic. Why? Because you don’t want to look like a total dullard. That motivation is vital for some residents to stay on top of their reading. Going remote without that feeling of obligation decreases the resident’s responsibility to learn some of that material beforehand. Anonymity breeds less involvement in the subject matter.

The Personal Touch

Once you go online to listen to your conferences, you lose some of the nuances of the conversation. The lecturer may not see those beads of sweat welling onto your forehead when you are unsure of an answer. Likewise, the listener may lose the tone of the lecturer, perhaps frustration or satisfaction. By missing these cues, you also lose the opportunity to figure out what you might be missing in the conversation and help that student or redirect the speaker.

Training on Software

I don’t know about your program. We have lots of different programs in our nuclear medicine department to help us interpret images. We have one system for DATscan quantification, another method for Neuroquant, a general PACS, GE software for processing cardiac studies, TeraRecon for looking at PET-CT scans, and Intellispace for remote nuclear medicine access. I’m probably even missing a few more. However, my point is that it is challenging to train residents on software without that hands-on touch in person. In my experience, Zoom like encounters for this sort of training does not do the trick. It can be harder to point out how to use different kinds of programs and software.

Esprit-De-Corps

Finally, joint meetings lead to shared experiences both from students/residents and lecturers as well. When you are all in the same environment, you build trust, social interactions, and the feeling of a team environment. It’s just not the same taking your conferences online where you can’t discuss issues after the lecture or crack a few jokes together. It tends to be all business, not the sort of environment that helps to form bonds.

Returning To On Site Lectures Once Again!

As much as it may be more convenient to give and receive lectures by Zoom, there is a role for returning to some form of on-site classes. Of course, remaining healthy is a top priority in almost any residency program. But, it is possible to keep your lecturers and residents at reasonably low risk if you take the proper precautions. So, based on the net positives of keeping residents focused, improving resident studying, personalizing the learning experiences, better technical training, and maintaining a team environment, hopefully, your program is considering on site training in some form once again. It’s not just for show. These are tangible benefits to the on site experience!

Posted on by

Creating Great Radiology Teaching Conferences: Think Like A Soloist In A Jazz Ensemble

conferences

Have you ever listened to a great jazz ensemble live? When each soloist takes his turn, he plays in tune with the melody’s key. Also, he stays with the main elements of the general theme. If the soloist deviates from the key and doesn’t maintain some semblance of the original tune, the solo sounds bizarre and out of place. Even though he must play within a particular framework, a soloist also plays a unique melody, creating something new and innovative as he goes along. Sound interesting… But what does this have to do with radiology conferences? Well, let’s get to that next.

What makes a great teaching conference? Great conferences need some general theme, similar to the melody’s key. Maybe, the conference will address adrenal masses. But, if you talk about adrenal lesions and then, on a whim, deviate by discussing brain tumors, the conference will not reinforce essential concepts about the adrenal mass. And, the trainees will not remember the important points.

At the same time, residents or faculty that give great conferences also add some unique flavor that allows the participants to make the experience memorable, just like the unique melody. Perhaps, it is an unconventional thought process or a funny joke that reinforces a concept. Maybe, the direction that the audience moves with unforeseen swerves takes them to new places. The bottom line is that teaching conferences also need spontaneity.

So, let us discuss a few simple principles about how you, too, can create a conference that maintains your audience’s attention. Based on the same principles as a jazz ensemble, we will divide the remainder of the discussion about creating great talks into two parts: how to create a theme and then learn the art of spontaneity.

Creating A General Theme

As we discussed above, the key to aiding retention is to make an overarching theme. So, how do we decide on that? There are many ways to do this. One way, take a specific organ and then divide that subject into individual topics. For example, if you are talking about adrenal masses, introduce each adrenal tumor type and find individual cases to demonstrate the appearance and pathophysiology of each adrenal lesion.

Or, you can find a pathophysiological mechanism and present cases that conform to that diagnosis. In this situation, we can take masses that cause mechanical renal obstruction. Whether you take a general subject area or pathophysiological mechanism, ensure all the cases tie into the theme. This way, you will reinforce the retention of your audience.

Learning The Techniques Of Conference Spontaneity

Just as important as creating a great theme for a lecture topic, residents and faculty all need to learn how to be spontaneous to maintain our audience’s interest. But most of us never learn the art of spontaneity at a conference. So, how can we take our talk to the next level and become more than a droning speaker?

First of all, don’t use PowerPoint as a crutch. Slides are guideposts for an idea, not a source of exactly what to say. I can guarantee that if you read your slides word for word, most of your audience will drift away. (especially residents who had a long call the night before!) Instead, talk about the general ideas behind why you created the slide as if you were conversing with a friend.

Second, let your audience actively participate in the conference. What do I mean by that? Perhaps, you want to have the audience answer multiple-choice questions. Or, have the listeners take cases under your direction. Either way, you will not allow your audience to nod off and feel like they are only passively observing.

Finally, I recommend adding relevant analogies, jokes, or stories to enliven the conference. When you think about some of the best talks, something in the lecture clicked with you to make you remember a concept or theme. Usually, one of these techniques would have helped you to retain the new knowledge.

Creating Great Conferences

Unfortunately, quality varies widely among residents and faculty when giving conferences. Often, it is not the fault of the individual that gives the lecture. Instead, faculty and residents have never learned the basic tenets of providing a great conference. So instead, think like a jazz ensemble and use the basic principles of creating a general theme and utilizing my techniques to become more spontaneous. With these tenets, you will give conferences extra spice to keep the audience engaged and increase retention of the information you present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on by

Which Radiology Meeting Should I Attend?

radiology meeting

Residents need to make a big decision. At some programs, each resident can attend one academic conference during the four years of residency without presenting a poster or paper, all expenses paid. It may be toward the end of your tenure as a resident, and time runs out to take advantage of the situation. You can “go big” and attend the largest radiology meeting out there- RSNA. On the other hand, you may want to “go small” and consider a subspecialty meeting to delve into your area of interest. Or, perhaps you want to check out the academic conference and hobnob with the faculty at the most critical educational meeting- the AUR. How do you make this difficult choice? Well, if you are in this enviable situation and need to make a decision, this article is for you!!!

“Going Big”- The RSNA

Plan Ahead

RSNA is the radiology meeting that most radiology residents decide to attend. It is a meeting that has “something for everyone,” literally. Traditionally, the RSNA is the largest of all radiology meetings and covers every subspecialty within radiology. But this also presents a problem: how do you decide what to attend when you are there? Because of the vast conference size, I would recommend following a road map before arriving. Know what meetings, poster presentations, or other areas of interest you will attend before arriving. Suppose you do not outline a plan before arriving. In that case, you will likely miss half of the more relevant, informative, and exciting presentations since the conference is so enormous. The different activities can be far, far away from one another.

Lots Of Activity

In addition, if you are in the process of studying for the core examination and the timing is right to attend a conference, this may be the conference for you. There are usually loads of activities for residents, including review courses that may be helpful for the resident scheduled to take his/her boards. It is possibly even more important than the review course itself. You will also network with other residents in a similar situation, allowing you to learn the best resources to study for examinations and learn about other programs throughout the country. In many practices, at least one attending from your group will be present at this conference. Mingling with the faculty also allows the resident to take advantage of the possibilities of dinners or other engagements scheduled with vendors.

The one significant disadvantage of a conference like this one: it tends to be a bit more impersonal than some of the available smaller meetings. Impersonal may not be an issue for a radiology resident, depending on your fellow attendees and how you schedule your days.

“going small”- The Subspecialty Conference

My preference is this sort of conference. I usually attend the Society of Nuclear Medicine Conference every other year, an example of a particular subspecialty conference. I find that this conference is the best for learning the intimate details of a specific subspecialty. The newest information in subspecialties tends to get presented for the first time in these sorts of conferences.

If a particular subspecialty interests you and you want to choose a fellowship in the conference subject matter, you can utilize these subspecialty meetings to network with the physicians in the subspecialty. These conferences offer this possibility because they are smaller and give more of a “feeling of camaraderie.” Why? Conference members tend to be more involved in specific subspecialty activities with fewer numbers.

AUR Meeting- The Academic Radiology Conference

Every year in our program, the program has funded and allowed the chief resident to participate in this conference. It is a wonderful conference to find out the state of academic radiology throughout the country from a resident perspective as they have specific programs available for the chief residents. As a program director, I also tend to go to this conference once per year to keep up with the changes in radiology academics every year. (although I have not made it the past few because of Covid!)

In addition to the potential relevancy, the conference is not that large. It is hard to get lost at this meeting like you can at the RSNA. You can quickly get to know the players in the academic world. I would highly recommend this conference if you are interested in academics or are the chief resident in your residency program. Residents attending this conference obtain an invaluable source of information about all residency programs throughout the United States that they can share with their resident colleagues when they return.

The “Pure” Board Review/CME Conference

Lastly, there is the board review or CME conference. Usually, these conferences are for board review or a specific topic/selection of topics. In our residency program, many residents attend local board review courses before taking the core exam. It is a good resource as a means to review the information learned from studying.

Other sorts of CME conferences are also widely available throughout the United States and abroad. Typically, the attendees of these conferences are more likely to be fully trained radiologists. And, they want to learn more about a particular area or may want to travel to a specific destination. (I recently went to a conference at Disney World like this to learn about digital breast tomography!) In general, radiology residency daily conferences usually cover similar material. So, the yield of this conference for a radiology resident may be slightly lower. From my experience, most trainees that attend these conferences are at the institution responsible for the meeting.

Best Radiology Meeting To Attend During Residency

Like almost everything else in this world, one size does not fit all when deciding to attend a conference. RSNA is an excellent introduction to the world of conferences as it is the largest and the most general. Subspecialty conferences are great for networking, especially if a particular subspecialty or fellowship interests you. The AUR meeting is an excellent option for academic sorts and chief residents. And finally, board reviews/CME conferences are a great tool to review studies for the boards/core examination. Many decisions to make and so little time… Hopefully, this article will give another perspective on making this big decision!