VIENNA - The 2002 edition of the European Congress of Radiology closed today, with conference officials saying they are pleased with the quality of the scientific program and with attendance levels. The ECR has solidified its status as an annual meeting, according to organizers, but more support is needed from both industry and European radiology.
ECR 2002 president Dr. Philippe Grenier closed the meeting by highlighting its successes: Preliminary figures indicate that professional attendance is up almost 10% over last year, he said, while the scientific program has benefited from a 24% increase in abstracts and a 35% rejection rate.
What’s more, the ECR has established itself as an annual congress, according to Grenier. The move to annual meetings began in 2000, and was greeted with skepticism in some corners -- an annual ECR would compete with meetings put on by national radiological societies in Europe, some claimed. However, attendance levels for recent ECR shows indicate that there are no longer any doubts that the show should take place every year, he said.
Grenier believes that industry can do more to support the ECR, however. In particular, he would like to see vendors display more big iron at the show -- at present, exhibitors tend to economize on exhibit space by leaving large gantries such as CT and MRI scanners at home.
That may be a difficult sell next year, given the cramped space of existing facilities at the Vienna Center. But the ECR is pondering a move to a larger exhibit space being built in Vienna, which could enable vendors to expand their booths and bring more equipment.
The ECR would also like to see more participation by radiologists from countries that aren’t currently sending many professionals. (One of Grenier’s main tasks for this year’s meeting was to motivate more French radiologists to attend.) "Our objective is clear: To make ECR attendance more representative of the real forces of European radiology," he said.
Grenier then passed the ECR president’s reins to Dr. Nicholas Gourtsoyiannis of Greece, who said next year’s meeting, to be held March 7-11 in Vienna, would include a number of new features. One initiative, "ECR meets...", is designed to encourage participation by national radiology societies by highlighting the home country of the congress president.
In another move, the ECR will require all scientific exhibitions to be submitted and displayed in electronic format rather than on posters. A number of exhibits were displayed on computers at this year’s show, and going 100% digital will facilitate the development of a database of scientific exhibits that can be distributed online or via CD-ROM, Gourtsoyiannis said.
By Brian CaseyAuntMinnie.com staff writer
March 5, 2002
Related Reading
ECR attendance holds steady as officials ponder cross-town move, February 28, 2002
View from the president: Dr. Philippe Grenier scans the ECR, February 28, 2002
Copyright © 2002 AuntMinnie.com
