Prague Workshops

The Prague International Workshop on Intervention Radiology has become an important extension of the Institute’s education, focusing on radiologists and interventionalists in Central and Eastern Europe. It has been organized annually since 1994 (with the exception of 1999, when Prague was the site of the annual meeting of the European Cardiovascular and Interventional Society).

The most recent Workshop was the 8th Interventional Workshop, which was held on June 13-15, 2002 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Prague. The meeting, organized together with Dr. Jan Peregrin and other members of the radiology department of the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague, was a three-day event. Its program consisted of presentations and discussions, and hands-on experience with prominent interventionalists updating participants on recent developments in interventional radiology. Popular topics have included the didactic transmissions of live cases. For the 2001 Workshop, live case transmissions and televideo panel discussions were from 12 institutions in Europe, the USA, and Australia.

The average attendance of the Prague Workshop is close to 500 participants, with representation from approximately 36 countries. Attendees usually consist of about 360 physicians, 60 industry representatives and 80 accompanying persons. To encourage participation of young radiologists from Eastern Europe and Asian countries, the Institute established a special travel fund contributing to lodging and congress expenses. Since 1995, donations from the Institute and several companies have enabled attendance of over 612 young physicians from 16 Eastern European countries, with attendance increasing from 81 in 1995 to 145 in 2000. Not only the Czech Republic, but other countries of Central and Eastern Europe gain from the Institute’s educational outreach.