Canada, the Olympics, and Radiology

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With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy.

Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788–1860)

Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.

John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908–2006)

I have no doubt that many of you spent a great deal of time watching the Olympics, which were held in Vancouver and Whistler this Spring. As a Vancouverite, I, with my family and friends, was in the thick of it, and I must confess I found it to be an exhilarating experience. The city had an electric atmosphere about it, and it was wonderful to feel the excitement and vibrancy around us. I was proud of how my city was shown off to the world and how well my country performed in a premier international event.

Like many other Canadians, I was delighted with the success of Canadian athletes in obtaining so many gold medals, which indicated that the program of “claim the podium” had proven to be a success after all. The jinx that seemed to have prevented Canadians from ever winning a gold medal before when the Olympic Games were held in Canada had been broken. I think many Canadians have come to realize because of this that we as a country are capable of doing great things and that we shouldn't always assume that others who are bigger, better funded, louder, and more aggressive will necessarily do better than us or push us out of the way. Canadians certainly do have the reputation of not only being polite and “nice,” but we tend to be self-deprecating and often assume that people from other countries will somehow do better than us.

This attitude is found not only in athletic endeavors but culturally, in business, and in many other domains. Medicine and radiology, in particular, are not immune from this point of view. Perhaps the Olympic experience is indicative that Canadians should perhaps think better of themselves and aim higher than we traditionally have.

When I go to international meetings, I look at the standard of radiology being practiced throughout the world, view cutting-edge technology, and the general state of the art in radiology, and I have a number of things that go through my mind. One is that we already know about many of the cutting-edge technologies, even if we don't always practice them widely, often because of funding limitations. In spite of this, it is clear that, in most instances, the quality of radiology in Canada is actually pretty good and that Canadian radiologists are actually fairly knowledgeable, and the quality of what we do compares very favorably with radiologists in other countries, particularly the United States, Western Europe, and other highly industrialized countries. I often find it to be a very affirming experience, even though I may come away wishing we had more funding for the equipment and devices.

I think we often underestimate our contribution to the development of radiology not just in the past but in the present. A great deal of useful research and investigation comes out of Canada, and I suspect we are capable of much more if we make an effort to work together and adopt the attitude that we are capable of it. Hopefully, the Olympic Games will in some small way help inspire us to work towards these goals as a team, not just in individual hospitals and universities but collaboratively across the country. If we look for these opportunities, we will uncover them and inevitably many more Canadians will find themselves on the radiologic podiums at meetings across the world as well as in the pages of journals such as the CARJ.