Innovation in Radiology Education with Elliot Fishman, MD
Back in 2013, Dr. Elliot Fishman led an insightful talk on missed diagnosis in HU imaging and how to avoid them. This 10-minute talk “Pitfalls in the Diagnosis of Renal Tumors: Did I miss That?” has remained one of our most watched talk years later. The video resides in our CME OnDemand section of the ISCT website, in case you haven’t seen it yet, but this year we are excited to see what new material Dr. Fishman will be presenting.
As a Professor of Radiology, Oncology and Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Fishman has a wide-array of knowledge to share. When we spoke with him about the upcoming computed tomography meeting in San Francisco, he was excited to share the topics he will be covering and how ISCT has innovated radiology education with their annual meetings. “What makes ISCT unique,” Fishman says, “is that the meeting has a number of talks covering all areas of CT that are very helpful, but it covers specific areas where people might have difficulties or challenges making diagnosis and teaching new, more effective techniques for challenging situations.”
Dr. Fishman went on to tell us he will be leading two talks regarding the ways to optimize detection of disease and pitfalls in kidney, adrenal and pancreas imaging, which will dive deep into these sub-specialized topics. On Wednesday, the third day of the CT symposium, Dr. Fishman will be participating in a debate about 3D Imaging/Post-Processing and whether this should be done by the radiologist, radiology technologist or both together.
Dr. Fishman will be defending the stance that 3D imaging should be performed by the radiologist herself/himself. “Our technologists are wonderful and of course, very skilled but the radiologist is uniquely qualified because they know what questions need to be answered about the disease in question. I look at it like this, if you want to learn how to play the guitar, you’d want Eric Clapton to teach you if he’s available.” He goes on to say that in the end, the radiologist who reads the study has the ultimate responsibility so if they are available, they should do the imaging. This way, they can optimize the study and can look at both the 2D and 3D components as part of the same process, learning from both views. Check out these debate sessions also including perspectives from Shannon Waters and Dr. Dominik Fleischmann.
The remaining talks Dr. Fishman will be leading will be focused on how attendees can improve their practices and advise people on ways to teach and share their experiences. Through his work developing apps through CTisus, Dr. Fishman has found innovative ways to continue education and improve radiology practices. “Millennials and physicians new to radiology are used to working on mobile devices and are learning in non-traditional fashions. Thinking out of the box with radiology education means we can control the information, making sure to be sharing the most cutting-edge techniques available and sharing interactive media.”
While these kinds of “education on-the-go” resources and tools are powerful, Dr. Fishman does say that nothing will ever be better than attending CT meetings like the ISCT Annual CT Symposium. “Having the opportunity to really interact with people and hear about their experiences is the best way to learn.”
Don’t miss out on these and more interactive debates and cutting-edge talks. Register for ISCT’s 18th Annual CT Symposium today!