by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | November 15, 2021
From the November 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
My theme for this year’s meeting is “redefining radiology”. Many of the things I will discuss in my address and during the week and beyond are about some of the lessons we’ve learned from the pandemic, from inefficiencies in our practices to how we approach teaching. The pandemic has forced us to reflect on how we have always done things and to reassess our values. We also became keenly aware of the healthcare disparities inherent in our system. Now that these inefficiencies and inequities have been revealed, we can work to bring about positive change.
HCB News: Speaking with some other organizations earlier in the year, I’ve been told the silver lining of the pandemic has been the increased output of whitepapers and high-quality research as professionals strived to stay busy and connected. Was that something you encountered in radiology?
MM: For a time, yes. Mammography, for example, was shut down. Only critical imaging was being done. We kept the patients already in the pipeline with urgent issues, so my breast imagers had work to do, but not the volume to which they were accustomed. During that pocket of time, where everyone’s clinical duties weren’t all-consuming, we were able to write papers, work on grants, complete projects and develop lectures. Radiology published some of the earliest imaging research articles and white papers on COVID-19. The amount of quality work that was developed during such a challenging time was certainly impressive.
HCB News: What would you say to a young radiology professional who hasn’t joined the RSNA yet?
MM: Why haven’t you? What are you waiting for? But really, attracting new members is something all societies struggle with these days. Younger radiologists don’t seem to be joining professional societies to the same degree as when I was coming out of training. But RSNA is such an incredible organization and can offer young radiologists the tools, the education, the meeting experience and the connections they need to excel in their subspecialty. In many ways, the success of my career had a lot to do with the success and things I did at RSNA. I would tell anyone in radiology they really should consider joining.
HCB News: Returning to the topics of diversity and inclusion for a minute, how much of a positive shift have you seen during your career?
MM: I think we’re doing better. Traditionally, radiology is definitely more of a male field. To think that Dr. Redman was the first woman president of RSNA in 1995 — that’s not bad, that was quite some time ago. We’ve made a lot of intentional effort at RSNA to promote women, and today 60% of the chairs of RSNA are women. We’ve started a diversity, equity and inclusion committee; we’ve made some changes to our board; we have numerous educational sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion, but the work isn’t finished. I think the women entering the field today will have a somewhat better path than those of my generation, but there are still issues. We’re not doing as well, for example, with under-represented minorities. I think we’ve made some great progress with women, but we have more to do.
