Reflecting On The Minnies & Congratulating Our Winners

Earlier this week Aunt Minnie dropped their list of winners for the 2017 Minnie Awards. There are lots of awards out there for members of the radiology community, but what we love so much about the Minnies is that it truly recognizes the best and brightest of our industry, shines a spotlight on innovation, and speaks to what we believe the future of radiology is trending towards.

The Minnies have been going strong for 17 years, and it’s amazing to look back and see just how far our industry has come over the years. All of radiology’s biggest changes, every cutting-edge technique or protocol that’s in place today has been captured forever in the footnotes of the Minnies, and it’s not hard to believe that the innovations heralded in the 2017 Minnies will at some point in the future become a standard part of radiology.

We were thrilled a month or so ago to see one of our faculty members, Dr. Elliot Fishman, on the list of finalists for the 2017 Minnies, and we were even more thrilled this week to see him recognized as a winner in not one, but three categories: Most Effective Radiology Educator, Best Radiology Mobile App, and Best Radiology Image.

Aunt Minnie put together pieces on every category winner that go a little more into depth about why each of them was selected as the winner in their respective categories, and we felt it was important to share what they had to say about Dr. Fishman. You can read the full piece at AuntMinnie.com, but the excerpt below speaks to Dr. Fishman’s passion for radiology and extensive work in the industry over the years.

“In this year's Minnies awards, Dr. Elliot Fishman accomplished something unprecedented in the 18-year history of the competition: He won awards in three separate categories -- Most Effective Radiology Educator, Best Radiology Mobile App, and Best Radiology Image.

It's all in a day's work for Fishman, who probably could fill a small cottage with the Minnies awards he has won over the years. He credits the achievements not only to a tireless work ethic, but also to a staff operating out of John Hopkins' body CT research lab that keeps him on the cutting edge of multiple new technologies.

Fishman also isn't afraid to try new things, as witnessed by his launch of the CTisus website in 1999 -- years before it was clear that the internet would become the focal point of information and education in radiology. CTisus has morphed over the years into a radiology-focused new media colossus, with a sizable presence on Facebook (more than 187,000 likes) and a thriving business developing mobile apps (all of which are available for free).

While he still gives talks at traditional destination meetings, Fishman believes his high profile as a radiology educator is mostly due to his new media activities. He noted that attendance at traditional meetings has been dropping, while radiology professionals all over the world hunger for high-quality education available on the web.

Fishman is a strong believer in trying new technologies, whether it's Facebook Live or a new advanced visualization tool such as cinematic rendering (an image he reconstructed was named Best Radiology Image). An important rule of thumb is not to be afraid of making mistakes.

"The biggest thing for us was not to worry about being wrong. If something didn't work, big deal, you just wasted some time," Fishman said. "You really can't wait until everybody else is doing something."

Dr. Fishman represents everything we love about the people in our industry, and it’s no surprise that he’s the first Minnie winner to receive awards in three categories for the same year. He’s dedicated decades of his life towards driving innovation and change in the world of radiology, particularly regarding CT, and it’s wonderful to see his inspirational efforts recognized. Hats off to Dr. Fishman, and to all of the incredible men and women who were recognized for their efforts in this year’s Minnies!