You Belong Here: ACR Members Have a Partner for the Long Haul

The College’s staff and volunteers make membership invaluable through community-building, tireless advocacy and resources to advance your career.

Audience members at ACR 2025 listen attentively; foreground shows a person in glasses, pink cardigan, striped top, wearing a lanyard reading “ACR 2025” — An attendee listens intently during the medical student session at ACR 2025.

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By Chad Hudnall, senior writer ACR Press

When joining any organization (or sustaining your membership), not everyone hopes to garner the same benefits. Expectations differ, as does awareness of what an organization does and can do for them. So, why should you join ACR — and why should you stay?

In today’s healthcare climate, time is probably your biggest commodity. While you can’t add more hours to the day, the College can provide the resources and support needed to bolster your practice and help you stay at the top of your game — while always keeping quality patient care top of mind.

ACR staff, volunteers and members in training work diligently to guide current and future members through evolving work environments and new technology that will advance safe imaging for the next generation of radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, medical physicists and radiation oncologists. The College has been successful in partnering with like-minded specialty societies to shape legislative policies, drive evidence-based research and protect patients.

The ACR wants to be invaluable to its current members and serve as the North Star for medical students, residents, fellows and early career radiologists. This commitment includes demonstrating the value of membership by providing access to ACR’s extensive quality programs (including the ImPower Learning Collaboratives, registries, accreditation, Appropriate Use Criteria, and RADS reporting guidelines), as well as a plethora of educational programs, leadership development and volunteer opportunities and the College’s publications. Here is just a small peek at what ACR offers its members.

Jump directly to a section:

· New Advocacy Curriculum
· ACR’s AI-Driven Vision
· Education at Every Stage of Your Career
· Continuing Education Offerings
· Tailored Volunteering
· Screening Awareness and Collaboration

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ACR is known for its economic advocacy efforts, accreditation, and quality and safety, but there was no formal way for members to learn and develop the skills to be effective advocates.
Priscilla J. Slanetz, MD, MPH, FACR
Chair, ACR Commission on Publications and Lifelong Learning

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Priscilla J. Slanetz, MD, MPH, FACR, chair of the ACR Commission on Publications and Lifelong Learning, says the curriculum fills a gap she noticed as she stepped into her leadership role in 2024. “ACR is known for its economic advocacy efforts, accreditation, and quality and safety, but there was no formal way for members to learn and develop the skills to be effective advocates,” she explains in a recent Radvocacy podcast episode hosted by the RADPAC®. “All of us were trying to ‘do’ advocacy, but we were learning by chance rather than through a structured pathway. I felt it was very important that we help our members become ready to speak on behalf of our patients and our profession.”

Members can now explore foundational topics like What Is Advocacy and Why Does It Matter? There are lessons on How to Speak to a Legislator and How to Give an Elevator Pitch, along with advanced leadership lessons on grassroots coalition-building, running a chapter, public speaking and more. New lessons are added regularly, ensuring the curriculum keeps pace with quickly changing times. Members can also contribute their own expertise by volunteering to participate. The Advocacy Curriculum is one more benefit of ACR membership — helping radiologists stay informed, build meaningful skills and lead with confidence.

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ACR’s AI-Driven Vision

The highest quality patient care is the driver of AI integration into the radiology workforce — with the potential to enhance diagnostic accuracy, improve workflow efficiency and ultimately lead to better patient outcomes. ACR has been hard at work creating pioneering initiatives to help radiologists harness the power of AI — tailored for radiologists and the imaging community.

The ACR Data Science Institute® AI Central database is the most complete online searchable directory of commercially available AI imaging products in the U.S. Visitors may browse more than 200 FDA-cleared AI products from more than 100 manufacturers to find algorithms that best support their patients and operational workflows.

Another offering, ACR’s ARCH-AI program, is the first national AI quality assurance endeavor for radiology facilities. Since its launch in mid-2024, ARCH-AI has established guidelines for AI use in imaging interpretation and ensures radiology facilities are using AI safely and effectively. The College also launched ASSESS-AI, the first quality registry for AI. ASSESS-AI allows ongoing monitoring of AI algorithm performance by capturing real-world data during clinical use at participating sites.

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We will also be including leaders at the FDA to our Annual Meeting in May. We hope our collective input will help inform the FDA’s ongoing efforts to strengthen oversight of emerging AI technologies.
Amy L. Kotsenas, MD, FACR
Chair, ACR Commission for Membership and Communications

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Always active in the AI arena on members’ behalf, ACR leaders last month filed comments with the FDA in response to a request for comment regarding measuring and evaluating the performance of AI-enabled medical devices in real-world settings.

Finally, AI Central also houses the Healthcare AI Challenge, a first-of-its-kind interactive virtual environment that enables ACR members to compare and evaluate the world’s most advanced generative AI medical imaging solutions in a gamified platform.

“We will also be including leaders at the FDA to our Annual Meeting in May. We hope our collective input will help inform the FDA’s ongoing efforts to strengthen oversight of emerging AI technologies,” says Amy L. Kotsenas, MD, FACR, chair of the ACR’s Commission for Membership and Communications.

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Education at Every Stage of Your Career

Staying informed means you are always learning, and ACR’s focus on education means you can always find what you need to know. The College’s investment in education for radiology residents and radiologists at any career level is essential for patient safety and clinical excellence. Radiology is one of the fastest-evolving fields in medicine — with new imaging modalities, AI-driven diagnostic tools and interventional techniques emerging constantly. “Without structured education during residency and beyond, physicians risk falling behind,” says Michele Huneke, ACR’s Director of Education Innovation.

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Without structured education during residency and beyond, physicians risk falling behind.
Michele Huneke
ACR Director of Education Innovation

To avoid this, there are numerous educational courses available through the College. The ACR Institute for Radiologic Pathology™ (AIRP), for example, offers residents, fellows, practicing radiologists and other physicians a pathophysiologic understanding of disease as the basis for imaging interpretation. This advanced educational offering teaches the correlation between imaging and disease to improve diagnostic accuracy through flagship courses — such as the four-week radiologic-pathologic correlation course — fellowships, case archives and international initiatives.

In addition, the ACR’s Radiology Leadership Institute® (RLI) offers programs for radiologists at all stages of their careers through professional development courses designed to foster strong leadership habits, fit any schedule and budget, and with virtual and in-person options. RLI can be your career advisor as the specialty adapts to a quickly changing healthcare landscape. Learn more about upcoming RLI meetings and courses.

“Without a robust educational framework, including ACR programs like DXIT and RadExam, the transition from medical school through independent practice cannot reliably produce competent, confident clinicians,” Huneke says.

Continuing Education Offerings

ACR’s continuing education amplifies the College’s commitment to lifelong learning. It’s more than a regulatory requirement — it is a strategic investment in quality and innovation. “CME equips radiologists with the latest evidence-based practices, keeps them aligned with updated clinical guidelines and ensures they can leverage cutting-edge technologies responsibly,” Huneke says. “A strong educational framework ensures that medical students, residents, fellows and physicians in practice develop the confidence and competence to interpret complex imaging accurately and make informed decisions that directly impact patient care.”

ACR’s popular Case in Point (CiP) is a daily, case-based online educational program that helps radiologists and trainees hone their diagnostic skills in a convenient, readily accessible format. ACR members stay sharp and earn CME credits with a new peer-authored case that arrives in their email inboxes every morning and challenges their diagnostic skills with both common and more unusual diagnoses. By completing the daily case, members earn up to 88 CME credits annually. They can also dive into the case archives to earn additional credit for any cases missed up to three years prior.

In terms of career development, submitting a case to CiP is an opportunity for residents and medical students to publish scholarly work under the guidance of mentors. The program also serves as a valuable and convenient tool for lifelong learning and professional improvement for all career levels of radiology professionals. Complete today's case on the ACR CiP website.

Other ACR CME benefits include the Continuous Professional Improvement (CPI) program, which provides subspecialty review through 50+ assessment questions with detailed explanations. Participants work at their own pace while earning 8–10 CME credits per module. CPI allows learners to take a deep dive into the work of the more than 200 experts who create CPI self-assessments to bolster users’ knowledge in ABR-required areas of study. Participants can compare their answers with peers and receive timely feedback. CPI modules cover a wide range of topics, including neuroradiology, breast imaging, musculoskeletal, pediatric radiology and more.

Tailored Volunteering

The success of the College goes hand in hand with the strong commitment of ACR member volunteers who support the radiology profession and patient care. ACR leadership knows it takes a village, and to that point there are many ongoing and updated volunteer opportunities through Volunteer Link. Discover how you can get involved through ACR’s chapters, commissions, committees or international outreach initiatives.

The 54 ACR chapters work locally to represent and support their members — and rely on volunteers for leadership, program coordination, advocacy initiatives and membership recruitment and retention efforts. "Whether a member participates in a micro-opportunity or serves on committee, their contributions are valued,” says Katie Kuhn, CAE, ACR director of member engagement. “Our success relies on engaged members who provide their expertise, time and heart to advance the practice of radiological care."

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Whether a member participates in a micro-opportunity or serves on committee, their contributions are valued.
Katie Kuhn, CAE
ACR Director of Member Engagement

Each year, ACR appoints members to serve on commissions, committees and task forces. Volunteer service typically lasts one year and can be renewed for up to four years. Additionally, there are micro-opportunities for members looking for more manageable commitments.

Screening Awareness and Collaboration

For many years, the ACR has been a champion for the life-saving benefits of screening and early detection — and actively seeks like-minded partners to broaden public awareness and head off preventable negative patient outcomes.

For example, every Monday in October, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle post a personalized message or educational material and resources about the importance of breast cancer screening. This outreach, dubbed Mammography Monday, took place for the second year in October 2025.

“In a world where everything is so divisive, I think it’s encouraging for people to see that both sides care about an issue that is nonpartisan,” says Ted Burnes, ACR senior director of political affairs and RADPAC. Even through the federal government shutdown, members of Congress continued sharing messages on social media encouraging women to get their annual mammogram and stressing the importance of early detection. Some reinforced their posts with breast cancer statistics — for example, one in eight women in the U.S. will get breast cancer in their lifetime, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) noted.

You Belong Here: ACR Members Have a Partner for the Long Haul

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ACR’s AI-Driven Vision

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Education at Every Stage of Your Career

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Continuing Education Offerings

Tailored Volunteering

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Screening Awareness and Collaboration

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Recommended Reading from the Bulletin

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New Advocacy Curriculum

ACR’s AI-Driven Vision

Education at Every Stage of Your Career

Continuing Education Offerings

Tailored Volunteering

Screening Awareness and Collaboration

Recommended Reading from the Bulletin

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