Dr. Phillips is an Associate Professor in the Departments
of Radiology, Neurosurgery, and OtolaryngologyHead and Neck
Surgery and Director of the Division of Neuroradiology at the
University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA. He
is also a member of the editorial board of this journal.
It is my pleasure to have met many of the "giants who walk the
Earth" in Radiology today, and even to call a few of them friends.
Dr. James Smirniotopoulos, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and
Biomedical Informatics, and the Chair of the Department of
Radiology of the Uniformed Services University is one of those
peoplea familiar figure in the radiology literature, and one of
the most enlightening and entertaining lecturers of the field. Dr.
Smirniotopoulos was kind enough to contribute an article on CNS
trauma to this issue. This review of imaging appearances and
pathophysiology is important reading for the radiology
audience.
Another one of these "giants" will soon retire from full-time
practice at this institution, and I would like to devote a few
short paragraphs to him. Dr. Theodore Keats, former chair of the
Department of Radiology at the University of Virginia and
Editor-in-Chief of this journal, will retire this year. It was my
good fortune to match in Diagnostic Radiology at UVA, to serve
under Dr. Keats, and, in fact, to have my first (and continuing)
staff position under him.
Few incoming radiology residents can appreciate the professional
stature of their instructors, as was the case with Dr. Keats and
myself. In the beginning, I hadn't even heard of a normal
radiographic variant, although that was definitely to change early
on. At meetings, people would say "UVA? Isn't that where Keats is?"
I slowly gained an appreciation of his reputation and
knowledge.
The Atlas of Normal Roentgen Variants was our Bible. Oh, how
comforting to find that line on the skull in the good book. Until
the day that Dr. Keats didn't find my "normal variant" so normal.
"Yes, that looks like that vascular groove in the book. But that's
a fracture." Live and learn. Nothing was more cherished by the boss
than a contribution to the book. I think I have made two.
My association with this journal was through Dr. Keats, as has
been my association with many of the exceptional practitioners of
the academic arts. I owe to him my choice of an academic career,
and much of the pleasure I still gain from figuring out a difficult
case. No one more enjoyed that moment of discovery. "Aaah hah!
Well, I know what that is!" Almost enough to make him break out in
Gilbert and Sullivan.
Although I have thanked him many times over the years, this
thanks is special. I believe that he will be around this department
for a good while longer, occasionally stressing out the residents
and always looking for that variant. Thanks very much, Ted.