Feedback from Dr. Greg Zaharchuk
This past August, I had the tremendous experience of participating in the 2017 Anne G. Osborn ASNR International Outreach program in Lviv, Ukraine. I was particularly excited about this trip since my grandparents emigrated from this part of the world at the beginning of the 20th century, and I have never had the opportunity to see this land of my roots. Also, we were able to arrange the visit such that my entire family could join in, including my wife Mimi, and sons Kenji (15) and Noah (10). The chance to visit this area of the world and to educate young Ukrainian radiologists was truly wonderful.
Dr. Leo Wolansky here in the U.S. was phenomenal in terms of his enthusiasm for the program and the organization of our visit. In Lviv, our hosts were Dr. Yuri Ivaniv (whose son, also a radiologist, graciously translated my lectures into Ukrainian!) and Dr. Yuriy Palamarachuk. They took tremendous care of me and my family from the time we touched down in Lviv until we were packed off to the airport. Their hospitality was fantastic and I hope that my family and I can reciprocate in the future.
While there, I gave lectures and presented cases over 3 days to about 50 young Ukrainian physicians at St. Paraskeva Medical Center. While my lectures were translated into Ukrainian (and posted on the Ukrainian friends of Radiology Facebook page!), I also had the superb assistance of several translators who were my “Ukrainian voice” during my stay – this was very challenging for them, since I often went “off slide,” especially when discussing the cases. The participants were very engaged, and I received excellent questions and we had good discussions. In particular, they were quite game for my talk on ‘Deep Learning in Radiology,’ which presented many new and unfamiliar concepts. I also had the opportunity to meet Dr. Stephen Yevich from MD Anderson, an interventionalist working in pain management, who was also visiting and who participated in the conference. I learned a great deal from his lectures, and was extremely jealous of his command of the Ukrainian language! In addition to the lectures at St. Paraskeva, I had the opportunity to visit other top imaging centers in Lviv, including the NOVO Clinic, which focused on pediatric imaging, and the Euro Clinic, which was attached to the largest inpatient hospital in Lviv.
During the days, my family toured both within and outside of Lviv, visiting castles and other historic sites, which were graciously arranged by our hosts. In the evenings, I was able to join for wonderful dinners arranged for us at excellent restaurants in the old historic city center of Lviv. Overall, it was truly a highlight for me and my family and certainly a trip that we will never forget. The enthusiasm and engagement of both our hosts and the conference participants was truly awe-inspiring, and I would like to sincerely thank the ASNR for this incredible opportunity to promote neuroradiology throughout the world. We are truly a global community and opportunities like this remind me that we all have something to teach each other.
