Report of Outreach Professor Donald F. Schomer, M.D., MBA

Having recently returned from, L’viv Ukraine after serving as a member of the 2015 ASNR Outreach Professor Program, I’d like to summarize my impressions of the program and the experience. First off, interacting with the young doctors in L’viv was perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career. Their enthusiasm for learning was truly inspiring.

The program was extremely well organized in a way that efficiently capitalized on our too brief visit to this beautiful city. I was fortunate to travel with Dr. Jonathan Morris (Jay) from the Mayo Clinic and it was a delight for me to listen to his outstanding lectures. The first portion of the visit involved our giving lectures as part of the Friends of Radiology in Ukraine tuition-free course titled, “Practical questions in Contemporary Clinical Imaging”. The course was extremely well attended and audience included radiologists from many cities throughout Ukraine. Our lecture slides had been previously translated and each lecture included live voice translations from English to Ukrainian. Initially, this took some getting used to but I believe that both Dr. Morris and I quickly settled into a cadence that worked and kept the program on track. Each of us gave four lectures on various topics at this course.

The second portion of the trip consisted of our providing lectures and sharing of cases at two different facilities, the Saint Paraskeva Medical Center and the Euro Clinic. This was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the trip since it involved close one-on-one interaction with some of Ukraine’s younger radiologists. After formal lectures, we each shared cases from our interesting teaching files. The radiologists from each facility then shared their interesting or problem cases with us. This sharing of cases was a true bonding experience that transcended any language barrier and we both brought home cases to share with our residents and fellows.

Doctors from the St. Paraskeva Medical Center; Dr. Yuri Palamarchuk is in the center with myself and Dr. Morris immediately behind him.

Doctors from the Euro Clinic.

Our hosts were nothing short of phenomenal. Professor Yuri Ivaniv spent much of his free time showing us the beautiful city of L’viv. In addition to being one of the leading radiologists in Ukraine, he is a knowledgeable historian of the area and we greatly benefited from these impromptu tours. Dr. Invaniv’s son, Ihor Ivaniv is also a radiologist and he organized the translation of all of our presentations. Dr. Palamarchuck is the director of radiology at the St. Paraskeva Medical Center and he insured that our stay was both productive and memorable.

After each workday, our hosts each gave up their free time to insure that our stay was enjoyable. Each evening, we had the opportunity to sample some of the city’s outstanding cuisine with these doctors and their spouses. We also were able to enjoy some of the cultural highlights of L’viv, ranging from the Opera to the Philharmonic. I was made to feel like a member of the family by this genuine and warm group of radiologists. I look forward to hosting any of them here in the United States to visit my facility. I also look forward to returning next year to support Dr. Wolansky and Dr. Ivaniv’s course on practical radiology.