The Pediatric Community Comes of Age

It was in late 2014 that we approached Kieran Anderson, publisher of Applied Radiology, about helping us to create an online community for students, residents, fellows, and staff radiologists with an interest or specialization in pediatric radiology.

Our goal, we explained to Kieran, was to publish material highlighting the breadth and depth of our specialty for medical professionals at all stages of their career. We shared our vision for a place for all to share interesting cases and other material related to this amazing sub-specialty of medical imaging.

Kieran signed on, and Applied Radiology’s online Pediatric Community was born.

Seven years on, we have published some 70 case reports, papers, and how-to procedural guides focusing on pediatric radiology. At first, most of these were written by faculty and fellows. Eventually, medical students began appearing as first authors on a growing number of articles. To date, 30 medical students have been published in the Pediatric Community, reflecting our singular focus on fostering interest and excitement in pediatric radiology among students and residents in medical and surgical subspecialties. The Community has earned the sponsorship of Guerbet and now boasts 4,500 visits each month.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; perhaps one of the best measures of our success is in seeing others duplicate our efforts. In addition to the Pediatric Community, Applied Radiology now hosts several other new communities for breast imaging, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, vascular and interventional radiology, and artificial intelligence.

We believe the Pediatric Community is well positioned to support trainees well into the future. Indeed, we have plans to increase the number of papers we publish, provide inexpensive CME credits, develop opinion pieces, host more webinars, and more.

In closing, let us just say we have been blown away by the success of the Pediatric Community. Please know that our mission is and always will be to provide you with a place of your own to share and learn what’s new in pediatric radiology.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve, and we look forward to your continued support in the years ahead.

Respectfully,
Richard B Towbin, MD
Alexander J Towbin, MD