Hi, Mom. Send money.

Once again I find myself at the RSNA meeting in Chicago, participating for the second time in DI's Webcast from this radiological Woodstock. I promised to do it every day. I'm not sure what you, the reader, want to hear, and I have little experience in this situation. It feels like writing letters home from summer camp. Actually, a lot of things about the RSNA remind me of summer camp.

My only experience with summer camp was when I was nine or 10 years old. My parents farmed me out to a YMCA camp for two weeks each summer for about three years in a row. The first time I was a little disoriented, but I figured things out in a few days and then had a blast. At this meeting, I have seen thousands of presumably intelligent physicians and professionals, wandering around the maze that is McCormick Place, with dazed and confused looks on their faces. They have signed up for a course or session every hour of the day, not realizing how far apart lecture halls can be here. Near the end of the week these same lost souls will be confidently navigating McCormick Caverns.

My Y camp was not like many of the intensive specialty camps kids attend these days. It was a glorious hodgepodge. I could jump from swimming to archery to crafts in the course of a morning. I mastered none of these areas, but I got a flavor of each one. This is what I like about the RSNA meeting. I suspect it is the same reason so few of my partners make the trip to Chicago. This is a great place to hear about the latest trends and the hot topics, but it is not the place to come if you want to review an area in depth. There are far more efficient ways to do that.

Earlier I heard the latest scoop on imaging in acute stroke. It is exciting to see what's being done, and what's coming down the pike. Will I apply any of this to my practice next week when I go back? No. But it does change how I look at what I'm doing now, and how I plan for my department's future.

At camp I used to stand in line for mediocre food, eaten in a crowded, noisy environment. This is only partially true in Chicago. During the day it definitely applies, but eating dinner out is one of the reasons I look forward to coming. In my small hometown the culinary peaks are Shoney's and the all-you-can-eat food troughs. Not only are the restaurants here wonderful, but someone else is usually picking up the tab.

The Y gave us gold stars by our name when we completed some task or won some competition. Here they give you "add-a-ribbons"Ñvarious color ribbons you can hang from your name badge. Y counselors got special privileges, special sleeping quarters, and lots of little bennies, but then they got paid next to nothing for their work. I think the same applies to all the radiologists who put so much volunteer effort into our annual meeting.

The bottom line is I look forward to coming to the RSNA meeting. I come to have fun, get enthused, learn a little, and enjoy Chicago, just like camp. And I suspect my partners are much like my parents: They enjoy having me gone for a while.