PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear friends and supporters of emergency radiology,

It is a privilege and honor to serve as President of the American Society of Emergency Radiology (ASER). In 2001, I attended my first meeting and got hooked by emergency radiology and this society. The educational components of that meeting were wonderful, but perhaps even more important to me was the open and welcoming spirit of the society, which continues to be treasured by so many of our members, and which we strive to continue to provide to new and continuing members. The friendships and clinical and educational/research collaborations that spring from our society are invaluable in the advancement of emergency radiology and in the satisfaction we derive from our professional work.

The past few years of the COVID pandemic have produced challenges for so many of us. Some have lost cherished friends and family. Others have suffered the infection themselves or have dealt with illness or quarantining affecting their families. We wish to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of everyone who has worked to serve their community throughout this crisis, especially those brave individuals on the front lines and during the early days of the crisis, when so little was known and protective equipment was in short supply.

We hope that we are transitioning to a less disruptive stage of COVID and that the new normal will be less dangerous and challenging. I thank all those who were involved in rapidly transitioning the format and infrastructure for our past 2 annual meetings to allow virtual attendance and presentations during those challenging times. While we don’t know for sure what the near future brings, we are hopeful that a large on-site meeting will take place again this year and look forward to seeing new and old friends in person in Austin in October 2022. Our program chair, Ferco Berger, together with the Annual Meeting Planning Committee is arranging a wonderful program that will be both educational and entertaining.

I would like to thank all our volunteers and leaders, who contribute so much of their time, energy, and creativity to making this society a success. I also wish to thank Veritas for managing our society so well and for providing invaluable guidance and opportunities.

Our goals are to continue to expand and diversify our membership and provide an open tent to all those interested in emergency imaging. We are working to provide enhanced resources and educational materials to our members, and to advocate for emergency radiology.

Some of the many exciting plans for this year include:

• Expanding educational and other resources available on our website through the launch of the ASER Academy, including resident education lectures, Intergalactic Monthly Case Conferences, and Core Curriculum Cases.
• Increasing our social media outreach and communications.
• Enhancing visibility of our journal using Visual Abstracts.
• Embracing an international viewpoint of emergency radiology, highlighted by a dedicated session on international emergency radiology at our annual meeting.

Through the work of many of our current and prior members, emergency radiology has become increasingly recognized and valued throughout the world, and we look forward to partnering with you to provide better care for our patients and service for our referring colleagues. The future is bright for emergency radiology!

Sincerely,

Joel A. Gross MD, FASER

ASER President 2021-2022