In preparing for my TEDX talk, I have been absorbing quite a bit of material on what makes a great talk. Recently I had the privilege of attending one in Radiology that ranks well up there in terms of Radiology lectures I have attended.
Delivered by the legendary professor Kakarla Subbarao, who is known in Academic Radiology as the radiologist brought back to India by a former Chief Minister to start a center of excellence (NIMS Hyderabad), this was an e-lecture delivered as part of the SER series of e-lectures supported by our www.radguru.net portal. It had all the hallmarks of a truly great lecture.
Exceptional content: The lecture was encyclopedic in its content. It covered the gamut of wrist and forearm injuries with dozens of great examples and images, as great radiology lectures do. It was thrilling to get a glimpse of a truly outstanding teaching collection.
Entertaining: A number of eponymous signs were covered, which are what make Radiology learning fun and memorable. One new sign I learned was the hilariously named “Pooping Duck sign” which is a sign of a triquetral fracture, described with a completely straight face by Prof Subbarao.
Teaching Style: The brisk no-nonsense teaching style, punctuated with questions to keep the audience engaged, is extremely effective. And the exceptional humility of the speaker made it even more engaging.
The e-lecture was delivered by Prof Kakarla from his office at the KREST foundation in Hyderabad and was attended live by radiology residents from all across India who were logged on to the radguru portal. Such is the power of e-learning.
Prior to his return to India, Dr Rao was a Professor of Radiology at Albert Einstein University in NYC and (as was told to me by Prof Jack Lawson who taught me MSK radiology at Yale) was known there as “the Saint”, based on his strength of character. He was also recognized as the man who could correctly diagnose a bone tumor from across the room, one of the most difficult challenges in radiology.
There are those who teach because they simply love to, and for whom it is a fundamental part of their being. Prof Kakarla Subba Rao is clearly one of them.