Dear Radiologist,

The 9th Global Basic to Intermediate Hands-On Musculoskeletal MRI & Ultrasound Conference & Workshop for Radiologists will be held from 14th-17th March 2018 at Holiday Inn Beach Resort, Penang Island, Malaysia.

Here are the key features of the course:

1. Faculty to participant ratio is much lower than most MSK Ultrasound courses (1 faculty to 7 participants). There is plenty of time for hands-on practice as we have extra tables and models for each session. Please note that only 48 places are available to enable personalized training.

2. 150 MSK MRI and MSK Ultrasound videos are shown during the MRI & Ultrasound video sessions to complement the lectures. The Ultrasound pathology using static images and videos will only be taught after the practical session. This is ensure that one understands the various imaging planes and images expected of normal ligaments, tendons, muscles and other structures. The abnormal images of pathology will then be easily appreciated as one has already been accustomed to seeing the normal appearance in the standard planes during the practical session. This will lead to a huge appreciation of pathology without the need for actual patients.
3. Focus will be on how we really solve problems in patients with MSK symptoms using one or other modality or both MSK MRI and USS. Participants will be taught which modality is better for which indication for accuracy of diagnosis. For instance, it is far more accurate to use Ultrasound for detection of ankle ligament tendon and ligament tears than MRI as these structures are very small on MRI and often not clearly visualised in the 3mm slices but seen very well on ultrasound and function can be tested with dynamic manoeuvers.
4. We have negotiated with Holiday Inn to keep the room rates the same despite an increase in costs and new implementation of GST. No commissions are taken by the conference organisers and light breakfast is included for those who do not take the breakfast package at Holiday Inn. Hotel booking can be made using credit card and will not be charged until check-in. You can cancel hotel booking up to 72 hours before check-in with no penalty. You will not be asked for your CVC number.
5. For the practical sessions you will be trained at either Basic level or Intermediate Level. Basic level means you have not attended any Basic MSK Ultrasound course and are not doing MSK USS weekly. Intermediate means you have attended a Basic MSK Ultrasound Course and are practising MSK ultrasound regularly on patients. Please ensure you attend the correct level.
6. The course enables a radiologist to report MSK MRI accurately for all common pathology as the course concentrates on reporting 95% of common pathology well. Honestly, what is the point of knowing the course of the sural nerve when you can’t even report ACL tears accurately? In the end, it is the ability to make accurate reports on bread and butter orthopaedic requests that is important. From my experience, only 50% of MRI knee and MRI shoulder are reported accurately for significant pathology by most general radiologist and this is clearly not acceptable to the orthopaedic surgeons. MSK USS often identifies the real cause of the patients’ current symptoms rather than MRI which may be non-specific myriad of new or old abnormalities. You can learn this at the advanced course later.
7. This course forms a good base to later attend more advanced courses. Global now runs an advanced course in the latter part of each year in Kuala Lumpur with more difficult MRI cases that have been missed by General Radiologists and MSK Fellows and more hands-on practice with demonstrators to show you what you want to learn and achieve. The Basic lectures are minimal in the advanced course and just serves as a refresher of must-know principles taught in the Penang Basic to Intermediate course.

Some MRI courses get side-tracked by allowing lecturers to go into great detail about their pet areas of research instead of focusing on going over accurate reporting of common pathology. I remember attending a lecture on the elbow where half the time was spent on the biceps brachii insertion at the upper forearm leaving hardly enough time to address other common pathology.

By attending Global MSK MRI and USS courses, it is like a new world opens to you and you are no longer afraid of reporting MSK MRI cases and learning the new skills of doing MSK Ultrasound. So don’t think twice. Register for the Penang Basic to Intermediate and Kuala Lumpur Intermediate to Advanced course using the online registration form on www.penangmskrad.com today.

Professor Dr John George

MBBS (Adelaide), DMRD (Aberdeen), FRCR (UK)

Course Coordinator Global MSK MRI and USS Courses

Chief, Musculoskeletal Radiology, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia

Sign Up Now