ISRRT congress considers the new normal in medical imaging and radiation therapy

The 22nd International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) World Congress on December 15-17, 2022, was attended by 900 delegates and exhibitors from 43 countries. It took place in Bangkok, Thailand.

ISRRT World Congresses are always a very busy time and, while delegates assemble, a series of meetings are held days before the actual event. These include board of management meetings, council meetings, ISRRT regional meetings and a number of pre-congress workshops before the opening ceremony.

This year was particularly important as the board reached the end of its term of office, so elections were held to appoint new officers. President Donna Newman reached the end of her term and Napapong Pongnapang was appointed as ISRRT president for the next four years.

Representing more than 90 member organisations, the council plays an important role in governing the activities of ISRRT, which is a registered charity with the England and Wales Charity Commission.

There were two pre-congress workshops. One with a focus on radiation protection and the other on education. Former ISRRT director of professional practice Stewart Whitley ran a workshop on ‘The importance of ethics in radiological protection – a practical perspective in medical imaging’.

More than 60 delegates attended the event, which featured a number of talks and an interactive feedback session after a scenario was presented to 10 groups.

Newman and Whitley gave the introduction and set the scene. Across the first session talks were given by Professor François Bochud on ‘ICRP – the drivers in making ethics happen’; Emilie Van Deventer on ‘Ethical aspects of radiation protection – the WHO view’; and Napapong Pongnapang on ‘The radiography contribution – frontline staff and challenges’.

Professor Jim Malone spoke on ‘Ethics for radiography: which values and how they are applied’. The groups were presented with a scenario from recent WHO publication Ethics and medical radiological imaging: a policy brief for health-care providers.

More position statements, fundamental in supporting radiography practice, were approved and details of these can be found on the ISRRT website. In addition, important issues were discussed and a number of board reports submitted. At the close of the council meeting there was a short ceremony to recognise the contributions of the board members for their four years of service.

For the opening ceremony of the congress, Governor of Bangkok Chadchart Sittipunt gave a speech welcoming the delegates to Bangkok and was joined by Newman and president of the Thai Society of Radiological Technologists Sala Ubolchai.

The theme of the congress was ‘New Normal in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy’ and delegates had the opportunity to attend a variety of talks and scientific lectures, including a number of equipment vendor special talks and lunchtime symposia.

The comprehensive scientific programme included 48 sessions with a keynote presentation, invited talks, parallel sessions for proffered paper presentations (115 oral papers, 93 ePosters), lunch symposium talks and vendor talks. There were 38 exhibitors as well as academic booths.

Additionally, full papers covering more than 60 topics were submitted to the congress, and the book of proceedings has been published on the congress website. All accepted abstracts for the ePosters and oral presentations were published prior to the conference in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences as an open access online conference supplement. The journal also encourages authors to submit their full research/review articles for consideration.

The exhibition halls were packed with a wide variety of imaging equipment and radiotherapy vendors, along with a number of professional organisations.

At every congress ISRRT honours one of its founder members and first secretary general of the ISRRT Earnest Raymond Hutchinson with the Hutchinson lecture. This year it was the turn of ISRRT past president Dr Tyrone Goh who gave an interesting and inspiring talk on ‘Beyond radiography – my journey’, which was well received by delegates.

Submitted by former ISRRT director of professional practice Stewart Whitley.

Lead picture: Council representatives and board members.

See this report on page 20 of the March 2023 issue of RAD Magazine.