(Boston) - Kitt Shaffer, MD, PhD, professor of radiology and vice chairman for Education in Radiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), received this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Outstanding Educator Award during the society's 96th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting in Chicago Nov. 28-Dec. 3, 2010.
This award recognizes distinguished academics that have devoted 15 years or more to radiologic education while demonstrating original and significant contributions to the field. Shaffer has been teaching in radiology for nearly 30 years while contributing to research and working as a staff radiologist at numerous schools and hospitals. In 2008 she became the vice-chair for education of BUSM's Department of Radiology and continued as a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and educational consultant at Brigham and Women's hospital.
Shaffer's current work at BUSM and Boston Medical Center (BMC) focuses on integrating imaging education including Anatomy, DRx and IP-2 lessons, into first- and second-year medical school courses. She has also developed a Resident as Teacher curriculum for the radiology department in order to train the next generation of educators in the field.
Shaffer graduated from Kansas State University with a BA in Biology before she received her MD from Tufts Medical School and a PhD in Anatomy at the University of Kansas. She has served as an instructor, assistant professor and visiting professor at almost 20 universities and hospitals around the world. She is a member of 12 radiological societies, serves on the editorial boards of four journals and has been the recipient of more than 15 awards for excellence in radiological education and research in the past decade.
RSNA is a nonprofit medical organization with more than 44,000 members in 124 countries that works to promote the highest standards of radiology and related sciences through education and research. The world's premiere annual medical meeting, more than 59,000 people attended its 2008 Annual Assembly.
Boston University School of Medicine began as the New England Women's Medical College in 1848 and was incorporated as Boston University School of Medicine in 1873. A leading academic and research institution, with an enrollment of more than 600 medical-degree students, and 300 graduate students receiving master's and doctorate degrees, the school has 1,000 full-time and 114 part-time faculty members and 1,250 volunteers. It is one of the major biomedical research institutions in the United States and is renowned for its programs in cardiovascular disease, cancer, pulmonary diseases, human genetics, dermatology, arthritis, pediatrics and geriatrics, among others. In the vanguard of research activities, Boston University School of Medicine received $134.7 million last year in research grants and provides clinical leadership for the Framingham Heart Study, the largest epidemiological study in the world. Hospital affiliates of Boston University School of Medicine include Boston Medical Center, Brockton Hospital, Roger Williams Medical Center and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Boston.