Stellenbosch University-RSNA collaboration encourages specialist radiology training
“I would never have thought that something like this would come over our path. That it would be so special, and that it would make such a difference in so many people’s lives.” This comment expresses the deep gratitude and praise Dr Sucari Vlok, a radiologist specialist consultant at Tygerberg Hospital (TBH) and Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Division of Medical Imaging and Clinical Oncology, have for the Radiology Society of North America’s (RSNA) Global Learning Centre (GLC) initiative.
Vlok, a musculoskeletal radiologist, says that she “really struggled” after the senior musculoskeletal specialist in her division retired some years back. “I really wanted to help, but it was very difficult, and I spent hours and hours trying to devise treatment plans for patients. And then Mark arrived on the scene, and it made a world of difference,” says Vlok.
Dr Mark Cresswell, a musculoskeletal radiologist with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, led the RSNA’s inaugural GLC, which partnered with SU and Tygerberg Hospital. GLC is an initiative of the RSNA’s Committee for International Radiology Education that collaborates with specialist radiology training programmes in low- and middle-income countries with a view of enhancing the training capacity and expertise on that platform.
According to Vlok, the GLC programme not only helped her “find her feet” in musculoskeletal imaging, but enabled her to set up a clinical rotation in this subspeciality for other radiology specialists in training.
Over the course of more than three years, Cresswell and three other radiology experts affiliated with RSNA provided training to several SU radiology specialists at TBH during a number of week-long visits to South Africa, regular online mentoring and webinars, and a plethora of RSNA course material. The other GLC experts were Prof Prachi Agarwal, professor of radiology and director of the Division of Cardiothoracic Imaging at the University of Michigan, Prof Brian Mullan, clinical professor of radiology and Head of Pulmonary Imaging at the Carver College of Medicine of the University of Iowa, and Prof Omer Awan, associate professor of radiology and musculoskeletal radiologist in the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Although GLC’s formal collaboration with SU ended in June 2023, the programme will leave a lasting legacy – not only in the form of knowledge transfer and capacity building, but also the construction of a state-of-the-art training suite to the value of US$ 100 000 (close to R2 million) at TBH. “This ‘virtual classroom’ has quite a remarkable ultrasound suite which allows teaching of ultrasound techniques and at the same time as visualising the results of the technique, while being transmitted on a webinar platform in real time,” says Prof Richard Pitcher, executive head of SU’s Department of Medical Imaging and Clinical Oncology.
Cresswell is full of praise for Pitcher, who will be retiring at the end of the year. “The GLC and all its advancements is part of Prof Pitcher’s legacy. The RSNA chose Stellenbosch for its inaugural GLC from numerous strong applications. During his term, Prof Pitcher has built up a thriving department, which the RSNA wanted to partner with on this important initiative,” says Cresswell.
At a ceremony to mark the successful completion of the GLC, Dr Umar Mahood, RSNA Secretary-Treasurer and Liaison for International Affairs remarked that this programme has exceeded all expectations. “I can’t imagine a better inaugural launch for the GLC. I am excited to see this programme come to fruition into such an important global programme for sustainable radiology education,” he said at a hybrid event between the GLC partners in South Africa and North America.
In her closing remarks, FMHS Dean, Prof Elmi Muller ascribed the programme’s success to the combination of the technical and personal collaboration. “It is wonderful to have mentors and friends across the globe. Although the official programme is coming to an end, I hope that the collaboration will continue and that it will have a footprint that is very long and very successful,” Muller concluded.