International Day of Radiology

The International Day of Radiology (IDOR) is an annual celebration held on the anniversary of the date of discovery of x-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen, i.e. 8 November 1895. The eighth annual celebration was held on 8 November 2019, with the theme of sports imaging .

History

Since 2007 a World Radiography Day has been held on 8 November, to mark the date of Roentgen's discovery of x-radiation .

In 2011 the European Society of Radiology (ESR) resolved that annually there should be a celebration of radiology on the date of the discovery of x-rays. The ESR liaised with transatlantic partners, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and American College of Radiology (ACR) and the first day was commemorated in 2012 .

It started as, and remains, a joint enterprise of the ESR, RSNA and ACR, with the wholehearted participation of the International Society of Radiology (ISR), as well as umbrella organizations on all continents, including the Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology (AOSR), the Colegio Interamericano de Radiología (CIR), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR), and the Radiological Society of South Africa (RSSA). The European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS) and International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) also actively back and promote the International Day of Radiology . In the first year 80 radiology societies from across the globe were involved .

The ESR maintains a joint website to promote the day: https://www.internationaldayofradiology.com/

Several books can be downloaded free from this website including The Story of Radiology Volumes 1-3 produced by the International society for the History of Radiology and containing several articles on a variety of radiological history topics. Every year to accompany the theme a book is written by experts for a lay audience to help raise awareness and educate the general public in different types of imaging.

Themes

Each year a different main theme is chosen to be celebrated :

  • 2020: fighting the COVID-19 pandemic
  • 2019: sports imaging
  • 2018: cardiac imaging
  • 2017: emergency radiology
  • 2016: breast imaging
  • 2015: pediatric imaging
  • 2014: brain imaging
  • 2013: lung imaging
  • 2012: role of imaging in oncology