Radiographers have long been involved in the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) and the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS) have had responsibility for developing the radiographers’ sessions since ECR 2012, however, it is only in recent years that ECR has become the official scientific congress of the EFRS, and the European Society of Radiology (ESR), for medical imaging radiographers (https://www.myesr.org/radiographers). Over the past eight congresses, the radiographers’ programme has grown considerably, as has the participation of radiographers. ECR has now become one of the largest international gatherings of radiographers.

For ECR 2019, this will rise to 28 sessions which will truly offer something for everyone (see the full programme at https://ipp.myesr.org/ecr2019. A special word of thanks to Dr. Andrew England (University of Salford, UK and a member of the EFRS Educational Wing Management Team) who co-chaired the 2019 radiographers’ scientific subcommittee, for an excellent educational and scientific programme. Aside from the above sessions, we also look forward to the radiographers’ Voice of EPOS sessions, the involvement of radiographers in a series of sessions at the Cube 2.0 (https://www.myesr.org/congress/cube), and the EFRS Educational Wing annual meeting and our Student Session (https://www.efrs.eu/events/11).

At ECR 2019, Room C (Level 2) becomes the new venue for most of the sessions in the radiographers’ programme. The Radiographers’ Lounge has also been relocated to Foyer C (outside Room C). In this area, the EFRS and ESR will welcome 17 national radiographers’ societies along with some educational institutions, who are members of the EFRS Educational Wing, who will all have booths in this area. The Radiographers’ Voice of EPOS Stage will also be located in the lounge area and as will a number of research studies, requiring your participation, will take place in the EFRS Radiographers’ Research Hub. The Radiographers’ Lounge will thus be a great meeting place and, together with the rest of the EFRS Executive Board, I look forward to meeting you in this area and seeing you at the radiographer’s sessions.

Following the launch of the ESR/EFRS Radiographer Awards and the Radiographers’ Evening last year, both initiatives will continue for ECR 2019. I look forward to jointly presenting, with the congress president Professor Lorenzo Derchi, the Best Radiographer Paper Abstract awards, the Magna Cum Laude Radiographer Poster awards, and the Best Radiography Student Abstract award during ECR. Do not miss out on what promises to be another fantastic social event for radiographers on Thursday (February 28th) where Professor Derchi and I look forward to hosting over 500 radiographers on the night (book your tickets now via: https://esociety.netkey.at/esr/myregistration/.

On behalf of the EFRS and the ESR, we hope that you have a great congress and look forward to meeting with you.

 

Jonathan McNulty

President, European Federation of Radiographer Societies