Science in radiology.

Abstract

Radiology, physics, and biology have never been separable in fact, yet it has often been difficult to arrange their proper wedding. Providing a common meeting ground is the first step toward bringing the scientists into that essential atmosphere wherein each can profit more from, and contribute most to the other. With this in mind, the Radiological Society of North America has for the past three years included a new feature in its annual scientific programs. Begun first as an experiment, the special sessions on radiological physics, radiobiology, and radiochemistry now appear to have become a firmly established part of these programs. The new sessions should perhaps be better described as an enlargement or an extension of a policy that for many years has attracted to the Radiological Society of North America scientists from the many fields contributing to clinical radiology. For at least twenty-five years the Society has devoted a day's sessions to such reports; however, the enormous and rapid growth of the contributing sciences over the past few years has necessitated the scheduling of more program time, even to the extent of running parallel sessions. The popularity of the enlarged program is evidenced by the attendance at the sessions of more than 300 people each day. Moreover a substantial number of the listeners must be radiologists, for surely not more than half that number can be physicists, chemists, or biologists. This fact lends weight to the belief that the program is of clinical value and interest. Of particular note is the fact that this sympathetic outlet for reports from the contributing sciences is proving to be a strong attraction to the scientists. Selection and arrangement of this new part of the program has not been easy. Meeting time allows the presentation of only a limited number of papers—some 24 at the 1954 meeting—divided into four sessions. Nearly twice that number were offered, and the task of choosing among them was difficult indeed. The first criterion is that the paper be reasonably close to the interests of the clinical radiologist. Papers of a more general and less clinical nature are properly presented before the Radiation Research Society. Another basis of selection is the relationship of the paper to the themes chosen for the year, i.e., protection, telecurie technics, dosage standards, tracer studies, etc. In an attempt to include as many papers as possible, the time of each presentation this past year was cut to fifteen minutes, with only five minutes allowed for discussion. Six papers to be given in two hours necessitated strict adherence to schedule. This all proved to be a mistake, and some of the sparkle of previous years was lacking. In 1955 it is anticipated that the program can accommodate four sessions of five fifteen-minute papers each.1 Informal discussions are planned rather than the more limited formal discussion, which seems to cramp the participants' style.