UCSF Radiology at Bay Area Science Festival: "You're Never Too Young to Learn about Radiology!"

With 30,000 attendees, the 2014 Bay Area Science Festival was another huge success!  On Saturday, November 1, families gathered at AT&T Park for an exciting day of science.   With over 200 hands-on exhibits and activities, innovative organizations and science and technology leaders came together in one location to create an unforgettable experience.  This year, curiosity and investigation were key components to encourage exploration and investigation at each exhibit.

The UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging participated in the science fair, stationed right behind the San Francisco Giants’ home plate.  This year, the premise of our exhibit was to place the children in the radiologists’ shoes.  Radiologists review x-ray, CT and MRI scans, and sometimes the diagnosis is hidden from plain view.

Photo Credit: Highlights Magazine, Inc. & FUJIFILM Sonosite

First, the residents, fellows and technologists demonstrated an interactive 3D brain image on an iPad.  This created a great starting point to explain what radiology is and what radiologists do.  Next, as a fun way for children to experience what its like to be a radiologist, we used Highlights Magazine, Inc.’s hidden images activity, and the object was to find the hidden/less obvious pictures.  We also sparked much interest with ultrasound demonstrations.  FUJIFILM SonoSite, Inc. kindly donated a portable ultrasound that allowed Dr. Andrew Phelps to perform basic ultrasound scans on participants’ hands and wrists, with consent from their parents.

Our volunteers had a wonderful time and are already discussing next year’s Science Festival.  We hope to continue to participate in upcoming years, and allow San Francisco to experience just small bit of the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging atmosphere and demonstrate how we do great work.  We will continue to encourage faculty, residents, fellows and staff to volunteer.

We would like to personally thank everyone who volunteered this year.  Thank you Dr. Andrew Phelps, MD, Shital Gandhi, MBBS, Patrick Mulligan, MD, Mariam Aboian, MD, PhD, Saveen Ahuja, MD, Craig Devincent, Rebecca Galagaran, Vivek Swarnakar, Erin Harrison, Cindy Flores, Johnson Young, Aeshah Al-Nagdawi, Kristine Chooey, Cindy Cheng, and Melinda Parangan-Chu!