On November 8, tens of thousands of radiologists, radiographers and other medical professionals took part in the International Day of Radiology (IDoR). Engagement on the day was at an all-time high with people from all over the world embracing the theme, which was dedicated this year to all imaging professionals and their essential role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the pandemic, this year saw people marking IDoR in new and innovative ways, acknowledging the contributions of imaging to the fight against COVID-19, whilst continuing to abide by the rules and restrictions that the disease poses. On social media, involvement was particularly high with several records broken. Companies, international and national societies, hospitals and individuals took to platforms to share posts and photos recognising the day. Celebrations ranged from imaging departments marking the day with IDoR banquets to creating photo series in which the difficulties of imaging COVID-19 patients were highlighted. Overall, there were more than 2,000 separate mentions of IDOR on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram with over 4.4 million impressions of IDoR-related online activity. The ESR’s own Twitter posts had over 105,000 impressions with its reach on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook also having grown significantly in comparison to IDoR 2019.

Further online activity was recorded on ESR Connect, where over 700 people registered for the special IDoR topic package, which included 39 lectures on imaging and COVID-19. This topic package is free to access for all ESR Connect users until November 20, 2020. They are a valuable resource for anyone wishing to learn more about medical imaging’s role in the current pandemic. The topic package can be accessed here.

In addition to various activities online, many radiologists and radiographers acknowledged IDoR by sending the ESR reports on their personal and professional experience fighting the coronavirus disease. To date, over 140 reports have been received. They will be used to create a special e-book of experiences which will be freely available to access later this year, acting as a useful reminder of the crucial role imaging plays in diagnosing and treating patients with the disease.

The International Day of Radiology is celebrated each year on November 8. It is a joint initiative of the ESR, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) and is supported by numerous international and national radiology societies across the world. The aim of IDoR is to build greater awareness of the value that radiology contributes to safe patient care, and improving public understanding of the vital role radiologists and radiographers play in the healthcare continuum.