Loyola (April 7), Chicago, IL

Technically, this was not an ILVP trip; it was set up prior to my being notified of the Visiting Professorship. Nonetheless, it was an opportunity to promote the mission of the SAR and to spend time with a great group of radiologists. I tried to convince Dr. Joseph Yacoub, Loyola’s newest abdominal imager, to join the SAR (I hope it’s OK that I promised him the presidential suite at the next meeting). Note to the membership committee: send this guy an application!

I also squeezed in dinner downtown with fellow SAR members Aytek Oto at Univ. of Chicago and Frank Miller and Paul Nikolaidis of Northwestern. We did what most men our age do when they get together for dinner- we talked about prostates.  I’m not sure we will be allowed back to that particular restaurant any time soon, but I always learn a lot from those guys. Both centers will be gaining experience with the UroNav system, so I will be eager to see how that goes.

For future visitors, I found the Hampton Inn Westchester to be a good value. They have a nice breakfast, free internet, and a free shuttle to hospital. As a guest of Loyola, you can get a rate of less than $100 a night. That’s about half as much as I spend on cab fare to most SAR meeting venues!

I also learned much on this trip that wasn’t directly related to radiology. For one thing, I learned that Kilwin’s fudge (click kilwins.com to see photos of fudge) looks like a liquid on an airport x-ray machine and leads to a bag search. Oddly, half the fudge was missing when I finally got around to opening it. I tried to convince the gate agent to upgrade me to a seat worthy of my new title, and I learned that “Visiting Professor” translates into “middle seat” in Airlinese. I also learned that retractable landing gear on the Embraer ERJ 145 jet is operated by a hydraulic system under very high pressure. When the hydraulic line springs a leak, it sprays hydraulic fluid all over the gate area, delays unloading of bags, and makes people irritable.  

Fun fact: In addition to being an amazing place for radiology, Chicago came in at #2 on the Weather Channel’s 10 worst winters list this year (second to Toledo, OH). 

The team

I may have been granted the visiting fellowship, but it's the Abdominal Imaging section at Wake Forest University that earned it. I work with a tremendously supportive team of talented individuals who didn't hesitate for a second to allow me to participate in this great opportunity (after I promised each of them one night's stay in the presidential suite at the next SAR meeting- can someone from the Board please tell Deb?). These really are the smartest guys (and gals) in the room!

Front row from left to right: Melanie Caserta (Director of Ultrasound), Brian Allen (Director of CT), Chris Brady (Supreme keeper of the schedule and renal ablationist), 
Back row from left to right: Keya Hosseinzadeh (Supreme commander and token Canadian), Larkin Selman (Fluoro specialist), Ray Dyer (Former SAR president and designated curmudgeon), Dave Childs (Director of MRI and renal ablationist), James Perumpillichira (CT colonographer), and Raf Tappouni (new guy who is still wondering what he got himself into). 

Part of the reason I appreciate their support so much is that I was once on the other side- slogging away in obscurity with my fellow sloggers while the SGR visiting professor flitted around the country being wined and dined by radiology's elite. I have to admit that I secretly hoped he would choke on his foie gras (aka steatotic goose liver) in some 5 star restaurant while his academic colleagues drew straws over who would have to do the rescue breathing.  I'm still waiting for him to say "thanks for all that work you did in my absence". How about it Chip???

In case anyone is interested, here's where I work now. Like your average supermodel, it isn't nearly as pretty on the inside. Still, it's filled with great people doing great things.

Introduction and Acknowledgements

Having grown up playing and socializing with real people, I never understood the social side of social media. I have 4 friends on Facebook and unanswered pokes from 2012. I’ve never tweeted (except after eating at our hospital cafeteria), and I couldn’t Snapchat to save my life. I have always assumed that most people would rather watch a documentary on the history of dental floss than follow my exploits as the world’s least interesting person. But as I was thinking about how I could use my newly acquired status as the Igor Laufer Visiting Professor to reach out to society members and bring us all closer together in the “off-season”, I considered the potential benefits of social media. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to get started.

     

My first step was to consult our SAR Chair of the Social Media Subcommittee, Carolyn Wang at the University of Washington (Unlike me, she probably gets invited to the President's Reception with a title like that). She suggested that I start blogging about my exploits. After assuring me that blogging wasn’t something you do to naughty pirates (in my defense, you have to admit that it does sound that way), she helped me set up this site. Now, instead of ignoring a once-a-year presentation at the annual business meeting, every member of the Society can have the opportunity to ignore regular updates of the VP’s travels throughout the year!


First some acknowledgements...

In all seriousness, I could not sign off on this first entry without acknowledging the man for whom this program is named- Dr. Igor Laufer. In addition to leaving an indelible mark on the field of GI radiology, he was a great teacher and a sincerely kind individual to whom we are all deeply indebted.

I also would like to acknowledge the generosity of the people at Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. for making this program possible.  

Finally, I would like to thank my Abdominal Imaging colleagues at Wake Forest University School of Medicine for being willing to support me during the up-coming year. I am fortunate to work with great people, and they deserve much of the credit for making this year possible.

What follows will be a testament of my trials and triumphs as the SAR Igor Laufer Visiting Professor. For those of you who don’t like suspense, I can release the following spoiler: I flew to lots of places and gave talks (this is what I plan to submit to the Board). For those of you interested in the history of dental floss, I recommend the article by Pagan Kennedy in the October 19, 2012 edition of the NY times.

Sitting in my endowed chair