RAD-AID INTERNATIONAL

RAD-AID is partnered with the World Health Organization to improve education and training for health care workers in the use of radiology and medical imaging technologies.

RAD-AID is partnered withe the American Society of Radiologic Technologists Foundation (ASRT) to implement a program designed to give radiologic technologists the opportunity to contribute to the health care needs of the developing world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that two-thirds of the world's population has little or no access to radiology services. This disparity has contributed to inadequate health care among poor populations, such as women's health (breast cancer screening and maternal infant health), infectious disease, cancer, heart disease, and trauma, because these diseases often require radiology for diagnosis and care. Technologists and therapists are a vital part of the solution because high quality imaging that is safe for patients and effective for diagnosis requires highly skilled imaging professionals.

To address this worldwide problem, RAD-AID and the ASRT Foundation are collaborating to offer funded opportunities to support technologists and therapists interested in serving in the developing world. Recipients of this award will join RAD-AID’s project teams in international initiatives designed to improve access to quality medical imaging for populations in need. Current RAD-AID projects and collaborative programs include Haiti, Latin America, India, China, and Africa. Available opportunities include educational training, research, direct on-site assistance in medical imaging, and strategic planning of new radiology services. Recipients of this award will have the opportunity to work as a member of RAD-AID’s multidisciplinary teams. These teams include radiologists, radiologic technologists, nurses, public health officers, and business leaders from numerous institutions working together to implement solutions that integrate economic development, health care system evaluation, technology innovation, and clinical education.

RAD-AID USA WOMEN'S HEALTH PROGRAM PROMOTES
EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO DELIVERING BREAST CANCER SCREENING AND
DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES IN REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES WHERE HEALTHCARE
INEQUALITIES DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACT WOMEN OF COLOR. THE PROGRAM
INCLUDES MULTIDISCIPLINARY EFFORTS SUCH AS PUBLIC HEALTH OUTREACH,
NURSING AND COMMUNITY NAVIGATION, BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING,
RADIOLOGY, AND OTHER MEDICAL SERVICES.

The RAD-AID IR Program is dedicated to improving access to interventional services in low resource settings through education, training and other outreach endeavors.
Interventional Radiology (IR) involves the performance of minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures using image-guidance to treat a broad range of diseases and conditions. These procedures involve the use of ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and fluoroscopy modalities. IR is an innovative, highly technology and device driven field, which has hindered its early adoption in the resource limited setting. In addition to availability of imaging modalities including US, CT, and fluoroscopy, there are additional financial barriers that need to be considered when initiating a program. Given this need for increased IR services in low and middle income countries, RAD-AID has recently created an IR Program.

Radiology health care in low and middle income countries is scarce — digital imaging and health information technologies are even scarcer! Even those health facilities in resource-limited and poor regions that have radiology services, usually do not have the vital software, broadband, and network infrastructure for digital radiology and electronic health care. We can change that. Read our recently 2020 paper on RAD-AID’s AI and IT strategies, published in Radiology.
RAD-AID offers numerous opportunities for health IT professionals to volunteer and serve in low-resource regions, such as for the building of new IT architectures, installing PACS/RIS, implementing IT networks and teaching radiology IT software tools to health workers. RAD-AID integrates its informatics teaching programs with our clinical operations in our multidisciplinary teams so that radiology software can have the very best impact on patient-care.
For example, RAD-AID runs bootcamp training sessions for local health IT professionals to learn radiology IT . RAD-AID has donated and installed over 15 PACS platforms in 10 countries since 2015. In 2018-19, RAD-AID implemented a novel hybrid on-site/cloud turn-key PACS for low-resource hospitals, called the RAD-AID Friendship Cloud, in collaboration with Ambra Health and Google Cloud. RAD-AID is now offering new artificial intelligence (AI) collaborations in our pipeline for 2021 (including our Teach-Try-Use model) to help our partner hospitals learn, appraise, and adopt AI.

RAD-AID’s nursing program promotes the advancement of nursing practice throughout our global programs by increasing nursing capacity, knowledge and clinical skills while advocating for the health and well-being of populations in resource-limited settings. We encourage nurses, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, and certified radiology nurses to join RAD-AID’s global teams to expand nursing education and optimise radiology services around the world. Since 2012, RAD-AID has partnered with the Association of Radiology Nursing and Imaging (ARIN) to collaborate on curriculum development and implementation of training programs.
Nurse volunteers are especially needed with sub-specialties in CT for the Guyana program; Interventional Radiology for the Tanzania program, Radiation Oncology for the Kenya program; and Women’s Health for breast cancer screening programs in Haiti and India.

Ultrasound is a valuable tool in low-resource settings and a powerful component of global health. Ultrasound imaging is widely used within radiology departments and other health care contexts, such as primary care, midwifery/obstetrics, cardiovascular, infectious disease, oncology procedures, and trauma management. The high impact of ultrasound includes full diagnostic exams and point-of-care ultrasound services. Ultrasound technologies have advanced to become more affordable and increasingly portable, including cart-based, laptop, and hand-held units on phones and tablets.
RAD-AID has an innovative program for empowering safe and effective use of ultrasound in low-resource contexts for medically underserved patients. RAD-AID has an impactful model for delivering on-site teaching, remote didactics hands-on ultrasound instruction, and tele-ultrasound (remote real-time image-sharing with case-based instruction).