Article • Education
Cardiologists gain MRI training
Seeing a substantially increasing importance of the cardiac MRI procedure, cardiologists have developed a specialist cardiac MRI training programme for their colleagues.
Education
Article • Profession
Imager or doctor: that is the question
Delegates were asked an increasingly vital question during ECR 2015: do they rather want to be imagers or doctors? “This will probably be one of the most interesting sessions of this meeting and, after this congress, maybe even your career,” said Jim Reekers, professor of interventional radiology at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as he kick started the eponymous Professional…
News • European focus
Cross-border intensive care medicine
Anyone who becomes seriously ill or has an accident while on holiday would like to be treated as well as they are at home. It is vitally important for the patient that the doctor has been well trained, in particular in intensive care medicine
News • Cooperation
University partnerships can increase research capacity
Developing national health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a key element toward strengthening their health systems. Collaborations with universities in high -income countries may be an important tool in building research capacity, but often suffer from imbalanced power relations.
Article • IT mobil
Mobile apps take students into the laboratory
Mobile apps have proved to be valuable educational tools, but laboratory instructors thus far have been limited to using mobile devices only for virtual laboratories with simulated experiments. Now, researchers at the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering have developed a series of mobile applications that allow students to remotely interact with real data and equipment in real laboratories.
Article • Medical Training
Diagnosing gastrointestinal infections
The human gut literally teems with microorganisms from at least 1,000 different species that are increasingly considered to be a valuable resource for the prediction, aetiology and prognosis of disease. Due to continual contact with the environment, primarily via food, the gut is susceptible to infection when a virus, parasite or bacterium enters and disrupts normal gut microbiota (or flora).
Article • Technology
Virtual assistance during procedures
The adage ‘practice makes perfect’ is applicable to every profession – but even more so for pilots and surgeons. Flight simulation technology has been used for decades to hone aviators’ skills, and this technology is now being used by neurosurgeons to plan as well as practise surgical procedures and for real-time virtual assistance in operating theatre. Report: Cynthia E Keen
Generation Y in hospitals today
Could the widely predicted shortage of qualified staff in German hospitals soon lead to tough competition for members of Generation Y, ultimately resulting in a change in hospital structures and a revolution in the country’s total healthcare system? Perhaps. EH spoke with Professor Christian Schmidt, Medical Director and Head of the Board at Rostock University Hospital, and with consultant…
News • Ebola
Training Modules Now Available
The Ebola virus disease training modules for health care workers developed in collaboration between experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now available.
Disaster medicine is not for perfectionists
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa, war in Syria, typhoon in the Philippines – over and over, German doctors are among those deployed to help. We interviewed Dr Johannes Schad, Medical Director of the Foundation of the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, about his direct experiences on the ground at the worst of times. Interview: Sascha Keutel
Dressing up for Ebola’s unlikely EU epidemic
Unlike some news reports the Ebola virus is not as easily transmitted as influenza or other infections. Still, healthcare and laboratory workers must take precautions to quickly identify those infected and prevent an outbreak. Report: Lisa Chamoff
News • Ebola
CDC Charges Johns Hopkins to Lead Development of Ebola Training Module
Johns Hopkins Medicine has been tasked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lead a group and to design an interactive Web-based learning program that guides health care workers, nurses and physicians through government-approved protocols to aid clinicians as they provide care to patients who may be at risk of contracting the Ebola virus.
Students learn to create tissue
In September 2015, Utrecht University and University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht will begin offering a two-year Biofabrication research master’s program in partnership with three foreign universities.
Exciting times for European interventional radiology
Efforts to unify training and certification, a regulatory environment conducive to innovation and a growing bank of clinical evidence for key procedures, is helping interventional radiology (IR) to move to a new level.
New trends in Pathology Informatics
For several decades, pathologists worldwide have been under increasing pressure to handle a steady increase in laboratory tests with a steady decrease in the amount of financial and staff resources. Add to this the escalating volume of increasingly complex, sophisticated testing and the importance of pathology informatics is evident.
Evidence not heroism
Conflict and crisis situations pose specific challenges for medical care. The only way to cope with them is to apply scientific evidence from an exchange between academic surgeons and their colleagues active in the field. The EFORT Congress in London is a crucial hub at European level for this exchange.
Article • 15th EFORT Congress: 4 – 6 June 2014, London
Revalidation of surgeons: UK example could catch on in Europe
UK surgeons have to revalidate every five years to prove that they are still fit to practice. This example could be followed by other European countries, experts said at the 15th EFORT Congress in London. The European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology promotes a harmonisation of orthopaedic education in Europe.
Gathering to beat pain
This March, the Complesso Monumentale Santo Spirito in Sassia, Rome, was the unique and original venue for the 6th Annual SIMPAR Meeting, which aims to spread and support a wider scientific and cultural awareness of pain. Jane MacDougall interviewed Professor Massimo Allegri, President of organising committee, about the meeting and his own pain research projects.
News • Cardiology
Transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVI)
A hybrid operating theatre is considered ideal for TAVI because cardiologists and cardiac surgeons can work hand in hand. Here, in the hybrid theatre at Kerckhoff Heart Centre, Bad Nauheim, a transcatheter aortic valve implant with transfemoral access is being performed. The clean air room features cardiac cath lab equipment and an X-ray system.
News • Cardiology
Previewing the impact of new technology
As well as this year’s programme being the biggest yet, with 76 plenary sessions, there are also sponsored symposia from Janssen and CamNutra. Additionally, the USA’s Mayo Clinic will provide the Cardiology Review Course, with representatives from Rochester, Minnesota, delivering some sessions.
A time to celebrate greater child protection
The words ‘Image Gently’ are synonymous with protecting children from unnecessary or excessive exposure to X-rays.
Russia: Scanners plentiful but radiologists too scant
However, investments in equipment and advanced training are attracting medical students, John Brosky reports
Teleradiology and education
Given the ever more complex radiological examinations, the need to provide care in sparsely populated regions, or new labour law provisions such as the EU working time directive, radiologists are under increased pressure to find solutions to provide imaging services during off-hours.
MIR@ECR
Management in Radiology (MIR) is a subcommittee of the ESR Professional Organisation Committee, set up to address current challenges and provide a forum for education and the exchange of ideas and concepts.
Improved catheters and biopatch
Patients in intensive care units in hospitals across the UK are benefiting from a combination of new techniques and technology with changes in clinical practice that help to dramatically cut incidences of infection.
