The ACR Resident and Fellow Section

RPS Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: May 12, 2003
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ACR RPS Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Hilton Washington
Washington, D.C.

Member Participants

Shannon Campbell, M.D.
Jesse Davila, M.D.
Gregory Galdino, M.D.
Jonathan S. Luchs, M.D.
Joshua L. Rosebrook, M.D.
Sanjay K. Shetty, M.D.
Christoph Wald, M.D., Ph.D.

ACR Staff

Kelly Foster

Unable to Attend

Kay D. Lozano, M.D.

Introduction
The meeting was convened at 2:30p.m.

2003 ACR RPS Meeting Review
The committee discussed several issues pertaining to the ACR RPS Annual Meeting. Several suggestions regarding the 2004 Annual Meeting were made:

Prior to Meeting

The ACR Primer e-mail, which highlighted issues of concern to residents and was sent to participants before the meeting this year, was useful and should be continued.
Encourage RPS delegates to participate in local caucuses before the annual meeting (to ensure participation in RPS activities at the annual meeting).
Help residents and programs to accommodate the meeting schedule (especially now that the meeting is one day longer).

At the meeting

Leadership Seminar with Richard B. Gunderman, M.D., Ph.D. was considered a success, particularly given his perspective as a radiologist and his dynamic style. Dr. Davila will ask Dr. Gunderman to participate next year soon (to ensure availability), possibly asking him to present different topics and cases to engage repeat attendees.
The possibility of expanding RPS discussion time at next year''s meeting was considered, possibly to take place on Saturday afternoon concurrently with the Categorical Course. This will be discussed further when the topic of the Categorical Course is selected.
The discussion of Council resolutions at the RPS Caucus should continue. Four members of the EC will pair up with the alternate reference committee delegates to review, present, and moderate discussion about those resolutions important to residents.
Active participation and increased visibility of the RPS at the annual meeting was a positive development that should be encouraged. The possibility of the RPS sponsoring resolutions at next year''s annual meeting was also raised, with note made of a February 1 deadline for submission of draft resolutions. Dr. Wald suggested submission of a resolution to change the name of the section from RPS to RFS (Resident and Fellow Section) to indicate that the section is inclusive of all members in training. This name would be analogous to most other organized medicine in-training member sections.
Encourage residents to take advantage of the new annual meeting structure (which is combined with the state chapter leaders meeting) to encourage participation in the Capitol Hill visit.

MRI Training Survey
Dr. Wald and the members of the outgoing Executive Committee will be composing the results of the MRI Training Survey to be published as a journal article in the upcoming Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR). The JACR has given permission for these results to be distributed to the Residency Review Committee (RRC) in advance of publication, which will allow these results to have a more immediate impact on the policies of the RRC. Dr. Rumack, the current RRC chair, has agreed to present the results of the MRI training survey at the next RRC meeting in the fall.

Funding for new MR educational materials was discussed with Dr. Amis, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors, who indicated that future fiscal support by the board would be considered favorably if the project were to mature into a more concrete plan of action over the coming months and all involved could agree on a format and content.

Educational Issues
Several topics related to resident education were discussed:

The current ABR video providing information on the oral boards, although humorous and entertaining for its historical value, is outdated and not widely available. The RPS EC should discuss production of a new video that more accurately portrays the logistics of the oral boards and seek funding and support from the ACR and ABR.
Concerns over the cardiac content of the boards was raised at the 2003 A3CR2 meeting in Miami. It was felt that some of this concern was based in uncertainties in the content of the section rather than the difficulty of the material. This issue might be addressed with the ABR. One possible solution would be to highlight the cardiac content of educational materials already available, including the ACR Learning File� (where the cardiac content is spread over several sections) and other commercially available CD-based resources.

Membership and the Young Physicians Section
An important goal of the Resident Physician Section is to increase resident awareness of the ACR and increase participation of radiologists after training. The ACR properly views its support of the RPS as an investment in the future of the ACR. Dr. Wald noted that the current retention of members after residency is 74%. A positive development in this direction was passage of a resolution encouraging graduated ACR chapter dues for young physicians at the 2003 Annual Meeting. Potential solutions:

Increased funding of residents to attend the annual meeting, which was halved in 2001due to financial constraints. This will be discussed with Dr. Amis, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors.
Increased continuity with the ACR chapters as residents move after training. This could be accomplished with personal contacts at the ACR Annual Meeting, particularly with help of the chapter leaders of the state the resident is leaving. A more formal mechanism for alerting chapters was also discussed.
Encouraging ACR Chapters to involve recently graduated residents in committees and leadership.
The formation of a Young Physician Section was discussed and may be a possibility. It will be important to balance the desire to increase participation of young physicians in the ACR as part of a dedicated YPS (allowing discussion of issues and concerns unique to this group) against the need to involve young physicians in the general activities of the ACR, including membership in committees and leadership positions.
Including a Change of Address form on a spring issue of the JACR, when most residents will know where they will be going after residency.

Communication
Dr. Galdino will be serving as a member of the ACR Commission on Communication. The Internet was seen as a potential mechanism to increase activity of ACR Chapter Resident Physician Sections. Currently three states (Mass., N.Y., and N.J.) have dedicated RPS Web sites. Web sites will be particularly useful in large states in which residents are geographically widely dispersed (such as California). Potential mechanisms to ease the creation of RPS sites:

Seek funding from ACR Chapters for Web servers and site maintenance.
Create a basic template for an RPS Chapter Web site through the ACR that would make the process easier and less expensive.

Timing of the Oral Boards
The next meeting of the American Board of Radiology will take place in June 2003, and Dr. Davila will be in touch with Dr. Hattery of the ABR shortly thereafter to receive an update, particularly on the latest developments with regard to the timing of future board exams. The ACR RPS Position Statement on the Timing of ABR Diagnostic Radiology Oral Boards has been made widely available on the ACR Web site, which will allow others to reference the statement and to build support for the issue. The EC will also look for support from the Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR) in this discussion.

Resident Call and Abuse
An issue that was raised in the open discussion of the RPS was increasing intensity and volume on call (particularly with teleradiology) and use of Resident Work Hour Limits as an excuse to reduce post-call teaching and feedback. Suggested tactics to address this issue:

Survey programs to identify the scope and extent of the problem (either separately or as part of the A3CR2 survey). This should include inquiry into the availability of attending backup, both by telephone and teleradiology.
Raise the issue with the RRC; Drs. Wald and Davila met with Dr. Rumack, the current RRC chair and made her aware of our concerns.
Clarify the details of the work hour limits (including provisions for additional time after a 24-hour shift for teaching and conference).

Other issues
Other topics that need to be monitored as they relate to radiology residents:

Fellowship Match
Possible limitations on resident and student involvement in procedures (being raised as a civil liberties issue by the ACLU)
HIPAA and impact on education and research

Next Meeting
The committee would like to meet next in the 2nd week of July via conference call.

Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sanjay K. Shetty, M.D.
Secretary, ACR Resident Physician Section Executive Committee
Boston, Mass.