President's Message

Greetings!

In my first letter to the society, I will start with expressing my thanks to you, the members of the SRU, for giving me this opportunity to lead our Society for 2023. It’s an honor to have the confidence of colleagues and friends as I step into this role. For anyone who practices the incredible subspecialty of Ultrasound, this truly is ‘our’ society. One of the benefits of our smaller size is wonderful collegial experience at the annual meeting that cannot be replicated at larger meetings. And we might be small, but we are mighty! To quote past president Mindy Horrow, we are like the Little Engine That Could: The SRU consensus conferences on Ultrasonography of Superficial Soft Tissue Masses and Management of Incidentally Detected Gallbladder Polyps accounted for 2 of top 5 reviews in Radiology 2022! The SRU consensus conferences have become a highly recognized source for anyone want to practice high quality ultrasound and are helping promote our society across the world. Our newest consensus conference, just getting off the ground this month, is the creation of a lexicon for first trimester obstetrics ultrasound, led by Shuchi Rodgers and Lori Strachowski. 

I want to thank our outgoing President, Aya Kamaya, who was responsible for creating an outstanding meeting in Phoenix this past October. SRU was back in person, and it was everything we had hoped for and remembered. Nearly 200 attendees filled rooms with excitement, interest, and even cheers for Sonopardy Teams. The Art theme and silent auction highlighted the incredible non-medical talents of our colleagues. Who knew there was so many skills in the room beyond the practice of ultrasound! Clearly the joy of creating wonderful ultrasound images and the joy of creating phenomenal art have a lot in common. Seeing everyone in person was possibly the best part of the meeting. I know I was not the only attendee torn between catching up with a friend in the hallway and heading to the next amazing lecture. 

I am pleased to welcome our new Secretary, Helena Gabriel, to the Executive Board. This newsletter is courtesy of her hard work! Our former secretary now treasurer, Mark Lockhart, has also been hard at work updating and rewriting the society bylaws and has convened a small ad hoc committee to create an updated complete manual of operations. During the upcoming year, Mark and our incoming president elect, Nirvikar Dahiya, will also be evaluating the society journal, Ultrasound Quarterly, to ensure that the SRU members have the full benefits of this subspecialty journal. 

I am also delighted to introduce our new management team, ESI, led by SRU Executive Director, Letty Carroll, with help from Crystal Humphrey, Society Coordinator. When the ACR made the decision to no longer provide management services for smaller societies, the Executive Board spent many hours during 2022 assessing and interviewing representatives from a variety of management companies. We are very pleased to begin our relationship with ESI, a company based in Florida with an extensive background in the production of medical CME programs and meetings in diagnostic imaging. The SRU and ESI have signed a 3-year agreement. ESI is hard at work upgrading our membership lists, creating a new website, establishing enduring content for members and getting everything organized. Over the coming year, you will hear a lot about our plans for the 2023 meeting in Washington, D.C.

Thank you again for this opportunity to serve as your President, and please reach out with your thoughts, suggestions, and feedback for the SRU, our Society.
 

Sincerely,

Mary C. Frates, MD, FSRU

SRU President