52     SA JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGY  •  June 2011  

CME

The RSSA and CME
With the establishment of an international advisory board consisting of Joshua Farber, Jonathan Kruskal, Walter Kucharczyk and Pia Sundgren 
(see the Radioactive News section) who have undertaken to provide objective and constructive criticism of the SAJR, and more specifically 
concerning its content in relation to international work, the journal continues on the growth path that was largely catalysed by the co-operative 
initiative between the Radiological Society of South Africa (RSSA) and Philips SA. To place these developments in perspective, it is necessary to 
understand the scope of our professional society’s commitment to continuing medical education (CME) in this country.

Historically, the RSSA Congress Portfolio was established to provide congresses, courses and workshops for the pupose of CME. The RSSA 
CME Association (not for gain) was officially constituted on 31 December 2010 as a separate entity. It is now the custodian of the CME 
programme and congress portfolio of the RSSA. Founder members are Professors Leon Janse van Rensburg (Chair) and Zarina Lockhat, and 
Drs Tami Mngoma and Johan Basson.

The broader vision is that the RSSA CME Association will support and provide a sustainable, affordable, appropriate, visionary and constantly 
expanding programme of education, teaching and training. This is evisaged as going hand-in-hand with support for academic research and 
making resources available to academic institutions. At the heart of the philosophy is a need for establishing long-term relationships and 
partnerships with prestigious and leading international radiological/imaging societies, universities and individuals. The support of commercial 
vendors and companies involved in radiology and imaging has provided the solid foundation for this far-reaching and ambitious programme.

In this edition of the SAJR is a report on the RSSA CME Association’s book donation to academic departments to the value of R270 000 (with 
grateful acknowledgement of a substantial discount by PB Mayer of Bloemfontein).

Other recent and future initiatives and associations include:
•  the RSSA Travel Award of R40 000
•  the breast MRI course (ISMRM)
•   the Physiological Processes workshop (ISMRM, NRF, BMBF and Freiburg University)
•  the third RSSA Ethics Course (Covidien)
•   August 2011 – the MDCT/CTA course (Professor Elliot Fishman (John Hopkins University School of Medicine))
•   February 2012 – the HRCT Lung  hands-on workshops (University of Leuven, Belgium)
•   September 2012 – the Head and Neck Cancer hands-on workshop (University of Leuven)
•   early 2013 – the second Cancer Imaging Course (RSSA/International Cancer Imaging Society (ICIS))

The SAJR is proud to share in such a prestigious programme.

Jan Lotz
Editor-in-chief