EFSUMB Newsletter Meets Romania

Table of Contents

Facts

Area: 238.392 km².

Population: 22 million.

Capital: Bucharest.

Largest cities: Bucharest 1,9 million, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Constanta, Craiova, each 300-340.000.

EFSUMB members: 422

President of Romanian society of Ultrasonography in Medicine and Biology, Professor Ioan Sporea (IS) interviewed by Michael Bachmann Nielsen (MBN) November 2007.

The Romanian society during the past 6 years the Romanian society has organised successful European schools each year, in 2008 the Romanian society organizes the EUROSON congress in Timisoara. Personally I have known Ioan Sporea for the last 6 years serving at the Board of Directors and as a personal friend.

Ioan Sporea, President of SRUMB, and Viorela Enachescu, Honorary Secretary of SRUMB, in Craiova May 2007

• MBN: First of all congratulations for the election as honorary treasurer in the executive bureau. And also for joining this interview series in the Newsletter. You have a very busy year ahead, don't you?

• IS: Yes, the EUROSON congress in 2008 will take place in Timisoara. A lot of colleagues as well as myself have already been working hard with the preparation for a long time and we are sure it will be a very successful meeting.

• MBN: Could you start by telling us your medical profession and were you work?

• IS: I am a medical gastroentorologist and Head of the Department of Gastroenterology in the university hospital in Timisoara.

• MBN: According to the EFSUMB web page the society has 422 members. Is that a true mirror of the number of ultrasound users in Romania?

• IS: The last count was actually 573 and we have increased in membership number each year during the last 5 years. I will estimate that between two and three thousand use ultrasound in Romania, so we still have a way to go. We are trying to teach ultrasound in several centres in Romania.

• MBN: Could you tell a little more about your training programme?

• IS: Ultrasound in Romania like in the rest of Europe is multidisciplinary. In Romania we have 7 university centres for ultrasound providing post-graduate courses several times a year. They all have basic courses and each of them also have different specialised courses. In average all trainees have a 3-month stay at the department with a curriculum, theoretical courses, hands-on training and supervised patient examinations.

• MBN: I know you are also involved in FAST.

• IS: Yes we now have a special course for emergency ultrasound and FAST where trainees are trained during 2 weeks. This is something that has been made mandatory by the Health Ministry for everyone involved with emergency and FAST ultrasound.

• MBN: I have had the pleasure of being invited for the EUROSON School 2 times and attended the national meetings. How many people do you think attend these meetings?

• IS: At least 400 participants took place in the European schools, which is held entirely in English. The annual national conferences are in the Romanian language and 5-600 people attend

• MBN: Do you have a newsletter you send to your members or do you have a national ultrasound journal?

• IS: A newsletter is printed in our national journal. We have had a Romanian journal for ultrasound for the last approximately 10 years; there are 4 issues each year. The journal is in the Romanian language but we intend to change this entirely into English language in 2008.

• MBN: Is there any change of the Romanian society will join bulk subscription for Ultraschall in der Medizin?

• IS: We are currently looking into it and we will have to discuss it in the Romanian board. Also your offer of including subscription of Ultraschall in der Medizin for everyone attending the EUROSON congress (except for those who already have bulk subscription) is something we will have to look into. Currently we have already decided on the congress fee, so your offer will to some extent depend on the size of a surplus from the congress.

• MBN: I read about Timisoara in Wikipedia, could you tell me about the city.

• IS: It is a beautiful baroque city, often named little Vienna because it belonged for a long time to the Hapsburg empire. The city is more than 700 years old and it has a beautiful historical centre and many charming places.

• MBN: Thank you Ioan for agreeing to this interview. We will publish the interview in the EFSUMB web page and also in the newsletter in 2008. I am confident that you will make a very successful EUROSON meeting and I am looking forward to attend it myself.