ACR Jumps Into Breech, Offers Radiologic–Pathology Correlation Course

Faced with the closure of Walter Reed Army Hospital and the termination of a radiologic-pathology course that has served more than 90% of all radiology resident students, the American College of Radiology will provide this training after the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) runs its final course in September. The ACR’s newly established American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP) will offer the four-week course five times per year, beginning in January 2011, fulfilling all requirements for more than 310 residency programs previously satisfied by the Radiologic-Pathology Correlation Course given at the AFIP in Washington, DC. “The ACR, as the leading voice for the radiology community, is proud to retain and enhance this vital radiologic pathology knowledge base for future generations of radiologists,” says John A. Patti, MD, FACR, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors. “The AIRP course will allow radiology residents to continue their training without interruption in what could have been an uncertain time regarding radiologic pathology training nationwide.” AIRP courses will be held in a state-of-the-art education and cultural center in Silver Springs, Maryland, just two miles from the site of the Armed Forces course. Designed to aid residents in the critical task of employing radiologic-pathologic correlation in disease identification, the course provides more than 200 hours of didactic instruction and case seminars, organized into eight separate sections: gastrointestinal radiology, genitourinary radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, neuroradiology, pediatric radiology, cardiovascular radiology, breast imaging, and thoracic radiology. According to Harvey L. Neiman, MD, FACR, ACR CEO, the AIRP course location was selected to provide the least amount of disruption, near the previous course location and ample housing and transportation resources. “The ACR has stepped up to make sure that this valuable knowledge base is not lost with the closing of AFIP,” says said Ronald E. Freedman, ACR Assistant Executive Director for Marketing, Business Development, Research and Radiology Resident Training. “The AIRP course is the latest in an expanding array of robust ACR radiology training programs to prepare residents for the challenges ahead and ultimately make them better physicians who provide the highest quality care to their patients.”