Aug. 6, 2015
Attending and presenting at the 2015 United Kingdom Radiological Congress showed me how advanced forensic radiography is outside of the United States and helped me create networks that will enable me to improve the field here at home.
At the UKRC this past June, I presented on forensic radiography based on 10 years of experience working at the office of the chief medical examiner for the state of Connecticut. The focus of my presentation was integrating radiographers into the forensic team.
I heard several presentations on the subject that revealed that English and Irish forensic radiography has advanced more quickly than that in the United States.
The speaker prior to my presentation discussed forensic studies conducted in Dublin, Ireland, all of which included multidetector computed tomography. This type of image processing allows for the image to be sliced in any plane and to be reconstructed into a 3-D object, and it allows colorization to be added to enhance visibility and more easily differentiate structures.
This technology benefits the forensic team as it can demonstrate the trajectory of a bullet or direction of bone fragments following an impact. Images are more easily understood by a jury than long verbal descriptions presented by a pathologist.
At the office of the chief medical examiner in Connecticut, we started the transition from film to a digital receptor system only a year ago, while the United Kingdom has been using it for years. Radiographers in the United Kingdom, especially in England, are more directly involved in forensics than are radiographers in the United States.
I’m grateful to the ASRT Foundation for giving me an opportunity to share my knowledge of the subject while learning more about my specific specialty in the radiologic sciences. I’m hoping that through this experience I can develop more partnerships with other English, Australian and Irish radiography and forensic programs to advance the field in the United States.
The International Speakers Exchange Award program offers a great network, which not only improved my direct knowledge but also has far-reaching effects on the profession through the lives of my colleagues and students as they work with and learn from professionals around the world. I will encourage my students to use the connections I made through the program to get involved with student projects from the forensic program at Cranfield University in England and the radiography program at the University College Dublin in Ireland so that they will be working with the latest advancements in the field.
I would recommend anyone applying for the program to consider a topic that will provide you the opportunity to teach attendees and involve international colleagues in future studies to create a more global network of knowledge. With this program, the ASRT Foundation provided me a great opportunity to network with other professionals and to grow professionally. The ASRT Foundation can do the same for you!