DRK - 102. Deutscher Röntgenkongress/102nd German X-ray Congress

Dear
Sir or Madam , dear colleagues, valued partners from the industry, 2020 is overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and has immense impact on each and every one of us as well as almost all institutions, companies, government institutions and medical care facilities Challenges posed. Added to this are general contact and exit restrictions, event and travel bans that dramatically change public life.

As you all know, the 101st German X-ray Congress was also affected. However, together we managed to set up a digital event format within a very short time, which will continue to offer regular training and information for radiologists, radiologists and medical physicists until November of this year. More than 3,600 subscribers, 22 industry partners and the consistently positive feedback on the individual events make it clear that with RÖKO DIGITAL we have found the right answer to a pandemic situation that unfortunately continues to keep us in suspense.

The Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus still raises many questions: How will the pandemic continue to develop? Will there be a “second wave”? And with a view to the coming years: will Sars-CoV-2 disappear again? When will a vaccine be available, when will coverage of the population be achieved? Or will the virus remain an endemic threat for an indefinite period of time, claiming human lives every year?

What does this general uncertainty mean for the future of the German X-ray Congress? Can we risk assuming a normality for the year 2021 that makes face-to-face events on this scale possible again? Or is it not to be assumed that the current state of emergency will be the normal state for the coming years, that is why regular face-to-face events of this magnitude will not be able to take place in 2021 and that we will continue to have to reckon with regional or nationwide restrictions?

The board of directors of the German X-ray Society discussed these questions intensively and also obtained the opinions of DRG members, partners and stakeholders in the field of congresses and events in order to reach a decision. It became clear that there is no reliable forecast with regard to the further development of the pandemic that makes the successful implementation of a traditional face-to-face congress likely in 2021.

One of the many responses to our request to assess the current situation was: "Nobody can give us planning security, we have to bring it about ourselves." This assessment hits the point: We need planning security in order to be able to implement a congress of the required quality , but also to keep the financial risks for our specialist society as low as possible. The board has therefore decided that the 102nd German X-ray Congress in 2021 will not take place as a four-day face-to-face event in Wiesbaden.

This difficult decision was made a little easier by the positive feedback on RÖKO DIGITAL. We have clearly succeeded in developing an attractive digital event format with a wide reach, in which the vast majority of current subscribers would also take part in the coming year.

The 102nd German X-ray Congress will therefore be digital again, but also interactive and multimedia. Small, decentralized face-to-face events, e.g. in the form of scientific symposia, are also fundamentally possible if the general framework conditions permit. As always, further planning for the congress takes place in close coordination with all groups under the joint umbrella of the DRG.

We, the members of the board, are firmly convinced that with this decision a crisis-proof basis has been created for an innovative, diverse and demanding 102nd German X-ray Congress in 2021. Our hope is that we can continue to count on your support and participation .

We wish you, your families, friends and colleagues continued health and strength to master the challenges that lie ahead in the best possible way.