RSNA Seeking Applications for Its Next Global Learning Center
Applications are open for the opportunity to become an RSNA Global Learning Center
In order to improve radiology education and patient care around the world, RSNA recently developed Global Learning Centers (GLC).
The program aims to connect a radiology institution based in a low- or middle-income country with a team of RSNA members for an educational program to improve departmental skills and competency.
In 2019, Stellenbosch University in South Africa was announced as the inaugural GLC. In 2020, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania was named the second GLC.
The COVID-19 pandemic halted international travel last spring, just as the GLC programs were getting started. GLC program directors and team members, who are RSNA member volunteers, quickly modified their plans to travel to South Africa and Tanzania, instead relying on RSNA online education tools and a series of Zoom meetings and seminars to create robust educational programs.
At Muhimbili University, the GLC team led by program director, Frank Minja, MD, an associate professor of radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, met with the Muhimbili department staff via online meetings.
Watch Dr. Minja discuss the opportunities at Muhimbili University through the RSNA GLC program:
“With the help of the RSNA GLC, we have been able to launch a neuroradiology fellowship program and this year, we are hoping to launch a women’s imaging and pediatric fellowship,” Dr. Minja said. “All three subspecialty training programs are designed to create immersive fellowships by adding two years of subspecialty training.
“In Tanzania, there is one radiologist per one million people, so these additional subspecialty radiologists will help increase the availability of these vital professionals,” Dr. Minja continued.
Funding for the Muhimbili GLC is provided in part by a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The three-year NNSA grant, serves as a small portion of the overall U.S. contribution as part of Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, designed to facilitate access to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including for medical purposes.
Similarly at Stellenbosch University, the GLC team led by program director, Mark Cresswell, MBBCh, a radiologist at St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada, met the Stellenbosch department online, conducting a needs assessment and curriculum planning through a series of phone calls and virtual meetings.
Within a matter of months, the GLC team developed a three-year curriculum focusing on cardiothoracic and musculoskeletal imaging set to begin with online education and incorporate in-person teaching later in the program.
Apply to Become an RSNA GLC
Applications are open now for the next GLC location. To be considered as a GLC, applicant institutions must be a university or hospital, be located in eligible countries (from the RSNA discounted dues list), demonstrate a need for radiology education and resources, have an established radiology department (defined as staffed with at least one radiologist) and have a designated team lead who will serve as a primary contact with English fluency.
RSNA members can also volunteer to be a team member. GLC team members will design a learning plan customized to the needs of the GLC using RSNA educational resources and travel to the GLC, when international travel is available again, to present lectures and provide hands-on training and points-of-care opportunities.
The deadline for host applications is July 31.
To apply as a GLC host country or an RSNA team member, visit RSNA.org/GLC.
For More Information
Read previous RSNA News stories on the GLC program:
RSNA Global Learning Center Teams
RSNA Global Learning Center Teams
RSNA Global Learning Center (GLC) Team in South Africa
- Program Director, Mark Cresswell, MBBCh, St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Brian F. Mullan, MD, FCCP, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City
- Prachi P. Agarwal, MD, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI
- Omer A. Awan, MD, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Stellenbosch University GLC Team
- Program Director, Richard D. Pitcher, MBChB, PhD
- Christelle Ackerman, MBChB, PhD
- Stephanie Grifith-Richards, MBChB
- Razaan Davis, MBChB
- Sucari Vlok, MBChB
RSNA Global Learning Center Teams in Tanzania
- Frank Minja, MD, Emory University
- Sheila Sheth, MD, NYU
- Alice Chong, MD, University of California at San Diego
- Bruno Policeni, MD, University of Iowa
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) Team
- Program Director, Balowa Musa Baraka, MD, MUHAS
- Zuhura Nkrumbih, MD, MUHAS
- Lilian Salingwa-Matiku, MD, MUHAS