This year, Slovenia is honoured to be invited by the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS) to hold its own session, EFRS meets Slovenia: ‘A guided tour of Slovenia through the modalities’.
The Slovenian Society of Radiographers was one of the founding member organisations of the EFRS back in 2007. It was established in 1954 with the goal of promoting professional development, exchange of experiences, and social networking, with professional development being our primary role. The society offers a variety of courses and lectures covering the field of radiography: diagnostic, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy. We also hold one of the biggest radiography congresses in Slovenia, with more than 230 participants, biannually.
The society also has its own journal, the Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy Journal, first published in 1960. The journal is indexed in CINAHL with all abstracts published in Slovenian and English. Further information on the Slovenian Society of Radiographers, and our journal, can be found at our booth in the Radiographers’ Lounge in Foyer C, Level 2.
There are more than 700 radiographers employed in the healthcare sector in Slovenia, with radiographer education provided by the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, where students can pursue bachelor (three years – 180 ECTS) and master (two years – 120 ECTS) degrees. Doctoral opportunities are also now available to radiographers through the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Study Programme in Biosciences at the Biotechnical Faculty and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Study Programme in Biomedicine. To date, more than 80 radiographers have completed master degrees, while three radiographers have finished PhDs and six radiographers are currently undertaking PhDs.
‘EFRS meets Slovenia’ will be chaired by the President of the EFRS, Prof. Jonathan McNulty, PhD, and the President of the Slovenian Society of Radiographers, Uroš Gačnik, MSc. The session will explore computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, and artificial intelligence in mammography. It will also feature a short video showcasing Slovenia’s natural beauty.
Following the opening of the session by Prof. McNulty, Uroš Gačnik will follow with his lecture on radiographers in Slovenia, in which the profession, the priorities of radiographers at the national level, and the life and culture of Slovenia will be discussed.
The second presentation, entitled ‘The radiographers’ role in hybrid imaging’ will be presented by Dr. Sebastijan Rep, who will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid imaging, the importance of protocol optimisation from the radiographer’s point of view, and the impact of quality control processes on image and data quality in hybrid imaging. Dr. Rep is employed at the Nuclear Medicine Department at the University Medical Hospital Ljubljana. He is also a lecturer and thesis supervisor in bachelor and master radiography degree programmes and a researcher in nuclear medicine.
Andrej Breznik, MSc, will talk about ‘The effective use of negative contrast agents in MR cholangiopancreatography’. In his presentation, Mr. Breznik will cover different types of negative contrast agents in MRCP, pointing out the impact of using this contrast, and the possibilities of protocol optimisation in MRCP imaging. He is employed at the Department of Radiology of Celje General Hospital, specialising in MRI, and is also involved in research and thesis co-supervision of master students.
Jure Mišič, MSc, from the Institute of Radiology, University Medical Hospital Ljubljana, will talk about ‘Protocol design and optimisation in cardiac CT’, where he will cover different cardiac CT scan modes, the possibilities of protocol optimisation, and challenges in cardiac CT. Mr. Mišič is an expert in CT, a lecturer on the radiography bachelor and master programmes in Slovenia, and is also involved in thesis supervision.
The final presentation in the session will be delivered by Erna Alukić, MSc, who will share some of her experiences with artificial intelligence applications in mammographic quality assurance. She will cover the evaluation criteria for mammographic imaging from a Slovenian screening programme, review common positioning errors, and address challenges in the manual assessment of mammograms. Mrs. Alukić is employed at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ljubljana where her field of expertise and research is mammography. She is also a PhD student on the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Study Programme in Biomedicine.
Please note that this session will not take place as planned but will feature messages from the respective societies’ presidents.
EFRS/ISRRT meets Session, Friday, July 17, 09:45–10:15
EFRS/ISRRT meets Slovenia, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan
- Welcome from the EFRS President
Jonathan McNulty; Dublin/IE - Messages from:
Uroš Gačnik; Ljubljana/SI; President of the Slovenian Society of Radiographers
Sija Geers-van Gemeren; Utrecht/NL; CEO of the Dutch Society Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy - Welcome from the ISRRT President
Donna Newman; Fargo, ND/US - Messages from:
Alain Cromp; Ottawa, ON/CA; Representative of Canadian Radiological Technologists
Naoki Kodama; Niigata/JP; Representative of Japanese Radiological Technologists
FURTHER READING
Nemanič P, Surlan Popovic K, Hertl K, Jarm K (2017) Quality control of mammographic images in Slovenian breast cancer screening programme DORA. ECR 2017 / C-2878: myESR.org/172878
Kastelic M, Jamsek J, Lezaic L (2018) A Novel Semi-Automated Method for Atherosclerosis Assessment using PET/CT. ECR 2018 / C-1686: myESR.org/181686
Wenker M, Vockelmann C, Schymura-Zahn A (2015) MRCP – alternatives to oral contrast agents containing iron oxide. ECR 2015 / C-1913: myESR.org/151913
Vujnovic S, Vujmilovic S (2017) Pitfalls in MR Cholangiopancreatographic Interpretation: How to avoid them. ECR 2017 / C-1517: myESR.org/171517