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The American College of Radiology (ACR) Education Center now offers cutting-edge, comprehensive, interactive radiology education on workstations from 11 different vendors.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) Education Center now offers cutting-edge, comprehensive, interactive radiology education on workstations from 11 different vendors allowing each participant to receive instruction on the system that they are accustomed to and directly apply the training received in radiology's 'classroom of the future' to their clinical practice.

Attendees gain hands-on knowledge and expertise through a mentored self-study format that can allow for one-on-one interaction with instructors and equipment vendors, provides frequent feedback and is performed at individual workstations that replicate the attendees clinical practice environment.

"The ACR Education Center is a one-of-a-kind educational experience. The ACR and a dozen equipment manufacturers are working together to create an environment where the full spectrum of learning tools is available, and where courses and mentoring can be provided to challenge even the most seasoned imaging specialists and make them better doctors," said James H. Thrall, M.D., FACR, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors. "The growing list of vendors whose systems will be available at the center makes it possible for attendees to receive optimal instruction with no knowledge or time lost to a learning curve required for using a system that they may be unaccustomed to."

Attendees can receive training on a number of different imaging systems including:

• Barco/Voxar
• Confirma
• DynaCAD/Invivo
• Eizo
• GE Healthcare
• MIMvista
• Philips
• Siemens
• TeraRecon
• Viatronix
• Visage Imaging
• Vital Images Inc.

The ACR Education Center, located across the street from the ACR headquarters in Reston, Va., offers the next generation of educational resources and teaching methods - currently not available through any other venue. The most advanced technology, a world-class faculty, and the largest repository of annotated data sets and case examples offer an educational experience unlike any other.

"The ACR Education Center gives the radiology community access to the most advanced educational topics using truly innovative techniques," explained ACR Education Commission Chair Lawrence P. Davis, M.D. "Attendees have never before had the opportunity to hone their craft on the number of imaging systems available at the ACR Education Center. This enables the ACR to provide a seamless link between didactic material, computer-based self-study using data sets of unknowns, and real-life, practice-oriented simulations on a system that the individual doctor uses every day."

The ACR Education Center serves, in effect, as a 'mini-university,' offering hands-on refresher courses and new techniques for doctors already in practice. It houses multimedia facilities for interaction between doctors and the educational material. When new techniques to treat a disease are introduced, the center provides a national training resource to educate radiology specialists from community hospitals to academic medical centers, so that the early learning curve is accomplished through new educational methods, including simulation, rather than on patients.

The ACR Education Center offers curricula with courses covering CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy), coronary cardiac CT imaging (including supervised case review), PET/CT, and advanced breast imaging and biopsy techniques. More programs, including interventional radiology techniques, Body MR, and Breast Ultrasound, will continue to be added to meet anticipated and emerging needs of the radiology community.

"The ACR has once again raised the bar and helped the profession take a giant leap forward regarding the manner in which radiologists receive high-quality, cutting-edge education. The center integrates knowledge with skill via lecture-based learning, interactive self-guided study, and practical application on a system attendees are familiar with. There has never been anything like it," said Ruben Mezrich, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the ACR Education Center Committee.

The goal is to not only offer the opportunity to earn CME credits but also documentation of proficiency in individual procedures. The ACR Education Center will grant certificates of proficiency (COP) for a variety of training programs.

COPs will also become increasingly important as third-party entities seek to qualify the use of new technologies with demonstrated training requirements. Insurance companies, hospital credentialing boards, and government agencies may soon impose special training requirements beyond board certification on a number of diagnostic imaging and interventional methods.

"The ACR continues to work with imaging manufacturers and other imaging stakeholders to expand the number of systems and equipment that ACR Education Center attendees will have access to. The training that radiologists can receive at the center is second to none and will benefit the profession and the patients that we serve for years to come," said ACR Executive Director Harvey L. Neiman, M.D.

Click here for more information regarding the ACR Education Center.

Click here for a complete list of vendors partnering with the ACR on this historic education initiative.