Resident Activities at SIIM 2008 - SIIM News Summer 2008

Barton Branstetter IV, MD

It was another great year for residents to attend the SIIM annual meeting. Trainees who made the trip to Seattle were treated to one of the most dynamic SIIM meetings to date, and had an opportunity to hear from the most prominent experts in the field of imaging informatics.

The resident roundtable attracted 10 residents, who discussed potential career paths in imaging informatics, ways of getting more residents involved (particularly at programs without a large informatics base), and resources for independent learning about imaging informatics. It was a pleasure to see so many future imaging informatics researchers in attendance.

The SIIM Resident Scholarship returned this year with great success. We received 24 excellent submissions, and the Resident Scholarship Evaluation Task Force had a difficult decision in choosing two winners. The two residents who were awarded the scholarship were David Naeger from the University of California, San Francisco, and Jigar Patel from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Their travel expenses, SIIM membership and registration fees for the SIIM meeting were covered by the scholarship. Dr.  Patel noted that the meeting “not only helped lay a good foundation for basic informatics principles but also gave a window into what is cutting edge.” After returning from the meeting, Dr. Naeger enthused, “I have done nothing but talk about projects I saw at the meeting in the reading room for the last two days.”

We are looking forward to continuing the Resident Scholarship program at future SIIM meetings. Please tell any trainees who might be interested in Imaging Informatics about this worthwhile opportunity. We hope, in future years, to expand the program to include more interested residents.

So, congratulations to our Resident Scholarship recipients and to all the trainees who came to the meeting and learned more about Imaging Informatics. We hope to see you all again next year in Charlotte.

Dr. Branstetter is Associate Director of Radiology Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh Health Systems and Chair of the SIIM Education Committee.