American Roentgen Ray Society awards 2021 ARRS Gold Medal to entire membership

Leesburg, VA, April 19, 2021–For valiant service selflessly rendered on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19, the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) symbolically awards each and every one of our members the 2021 ARRS Gold Medal.

Given explicitly for “distinguished service to radiology,” the ARRS Gold Medal is the highest honor bestowed by North America’s first radiological society; our members could not have served more prominently as integral and essential members of the care delivery teams.

During the earliest days of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it was the often subtle radiological findings, not necessarily clinical features, that best helped to confirm RT-PCR test results. Chest CT and radiographs were flattening the curve, indeed. During the darker days of the summer of 2020, as the USNS Mercy dropped anchor in Los Angeles and familiar spaces like McCormick Place were repurposed as field hospitals, again, it was imaging professionals that did the tough, yet absolutely essential work of triaging.

Back then, we cheered for you every night at 7 o’clock; today, we commend you for so many shifts completed so very well. Our job is not over, of course, so please allow the ARRS to thank you–everyone from the resident forced into online learning to the practicing radiologist working to secure PPE. Your grace under fire and ability to improvise will soon become the stuff of legend and textbooks alike, while your steadfast commitment to your patients, to each other, and to our field at large will be forever enshrined in this Gold Medal.

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Founded in 1900, the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is the first and oldest radiological society in North America, dedicated to the advancement of medicine through the profession of radiology and its allied sciences. An international forum for progress in medical imaging since the discovery of the x-ray, ARRS maintains its mission of improving health through a community committed to advancing knowledge and skills with an annual scientific meeting, monthly publication of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), quarterly issues of InPractice magazine, AJR Live Webinars and Podcasts, topical symposia, print and online educational materials, as well as awarding scholarships via The Roentgen Fund®.