WELCOME TO THE 19TH AOCR

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

2020 has turned out to be a challenging year filled with unprecedented events due to the COVID-19 outbreak which has affected the health of so many lives and wrecked economic disruptions all over the world.

A lot of effort and work had gone into the planning of the AOCR 2020 Congress in Malaysia which would have taken place from the 23rd to 26th July 2020. I would like to thank my organising committee, speakers, abstract submitters, sponsors that have committed and the congress secretariat for all the effort put in which unfortunately because of the pandemic, it had to be postponed to the new dates 1st to 4th July 2021.

With all the challenges this pandemic has raised, we, the organising committee are re-starting the planning process once again. Old ways to presenting and running congresses have to change. We asked ourselves the question of “How do we deliver the best experience which still allows our participants to have the updates they require to provide the best diagnostic and therapeutic care?”

After intense discussion and brainstorming sessions, our decision is to convert the 19th AOCR Congress into a fully virtual congress. This ensures safety while experiencing first row seats in the comfort of their homes or workplaces for our participants.

There will be live sessions where participants will enjoy real-time interactions with world experts. We have created On-Demand sessions, Masterclasses and post-congress recorded sessions and make these lectures available for 1 year. This will support our underlying goal which is to make available easy access to knowledge. To make the congress interesting, we are having the annual Dato’ Samad Quiz and 50th AOSR Anniversary President’s Quiz to commemorate AOSR’s 50th Golden Anniversary.

We have received 1410 abstracts from 38 countries, and 321 Youth Education Scholarship (YES) applications upon our submission deadline. I would like to thank everyone for the continuous support in the congress. The Top 500 abstracts will be published in the Korean Journal of Radiology (KJR) Supplementary Issue (ISI Journal, JCR Impact Factor 3.73). 100 YES which covers complimentary registration will be given out to help young radiologists and researchers to attend the congress. All presentations and final work will be featured On-Demand in the congress and made available for 1 year. More details are in the congress website.

We believe the 19th AOCR Congress will be a critical turning point for future congresses in imaging. This challenging time we are facing now gives us opportunities to adapt and rise to the occasion.

Malaysia was ready to welcome all of you in 2020 to our wonderful country and experience our culture and cuisine. Now that we have postponed to early July 2021 and pivot to virtual, I hope that we will be able to feature the beauty of Malaysia in our congress to entice our international participants to add Malaysia into your bucket list when travel begins again.

Until we meet again, I wish everyone good health and stay safe.

Professor Dr Norlisah Mohd Ramli
FAMM, FRCR, MBBS (UM)
Organising Chairman of
19th Asian Oceanian Congress of Radiology (AOCR)
&
President
College of Radiology, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (CoR)

Apa Khabar, Hello!

Malaysia first hosted the Asian Oceanian Congress of Radiology (AOCR) in 1995. It is therefore with great pride that Malaysia welcomes you to yet another AOCR albeit on a virtual platform. It is unbelievable that 26 years has fleeted by, and technology has advanced so much that we can globally interact and share knowledge, without actual physical travel.

I commend the Organising Committee under the able leadership of Prof Dr Norlisah Ramli, for their unwavering determination to host this congress despite all the challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic appeared on the scene last year, just months away from the original dates - July 23-26, 2020.

Flexibility and agility were vital, including much brainstorming, support and understanding from the registrants, speakers, abstract submitters, sponsors, industry partners and the AOSR Council. A special shout out to Japan which was already scheduled to host another AOCR in April in 2021.

There will be a variety of high-quality sessions and expert speakers to interest everyone. Whilst some of us may lament the loss of face-to-face networking, meeting of friends/colleagues and actual touch and feel of equipment at a trade exhibition, others will find it advantageous to attend the meeting at the comfort of one’s home or office without having to travel to the meeting site. This is especially true for those who are unable to travel either because of physical limitations or financial constraints. The virtual platform provides us opportunities we would not have had under ‘normal’ circumstances.

Therefore, wait no more, just register for the 19th AOCR with our unique Malaysian flavour.

See you online when the 19th AOCR in Malaysia goes live on 1st July 2021.

Dr Evelyn LM Ho
President
AOSR 2021-2023