At some stage most readers of this journal will have attended a health-related conference, be it sponsored by a professional body, or has a theme that is clinical emergency care, resuscitation and life support, trauma, prehospital care, paediatrics, education and so forth. Although senior doctors will have attended many, if not dozens of such conferences, it is rare that we get the chance to attend one that resides in the realm of another specialty and that is not directly connected to ours.

The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) hosts the world’s largest medical conference and it is held annually in Chicago. Occupying three large buildings in an enormous convention centre it attracts 60 000 delegates and 900 …