An Interview with Toby Gilk, the founder of MRI Safety Week

This is a special week in the MRI community calendar, as it’s MRI Safety Week where we focus attention on all things MRI safety. It seems most appropriate, therefore, to find out more about its founder, Mr Tobias Gilk . I’m also delighted to say that Toby accepted our invitation to be our keynote speaker at the Edinburgh MRI Safety Update and Innovations Day (MRI Safety Update and Innovations). Let’s find out what drives his passion for improving MRI safety and his excitement at joining us in Scotland for our conference in September.

Toby’s story

Toby’s journey in MRI safety began in the USA more than 20 years ago as an architect, aghast at the lack of physical environment standards for the safety of MRI patients and caregivers. That initial beginning led him to develop standards for MRI suites, which got him a seat on the prestigious ACR MRI Safety Committee (he’s a co-author of the ACR’s 2007 Guidance Document on MR Safe Practices) where he realised how far beyond the ‘bricks-and-mortar’ MRI safety extended. That initial involvement with the ACR MRI Safety Committee extended his interest in MRI safety to include equipment, operations, clinical uses, and training.

Toby became involved in international MRI safety training and standards, from work with the US FDA to IEC MRI manufacturing standards, and to ASTM International implant and device labelling standards. He is one of the founding Board Members and past-Chair of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (@ABMRS), which has developed examination-based certification standards for MRI safety certification (since modified for UK examinees and introduced to Europe by MRI Safety Matters). Toby holds ABMRS certifications as MRSO and MRSE. He has published papers on MRI injury accidents, MRI safety implant and device testing standards, and MRI safety regulatory / accreditation standards. He returned to the ACR MRI Safety Committee and is again a named co-author for the ACR’s 2020 Manual on MR Safety. He founded the MRI Safety Group on Facebook (MRI Safety | Groups | Facebook), a peer community dedicated to MRI safety questions and practices. Today the group has over 27,000 members from around the globe.

We are very excited that you are coming to the UK soon and speaking at the Edinburgh?MRI Safety Update and Innovations Day. What made you accept our invite?

The programs have always looked amazing, and I’ve wanted to contribute in some small way to the MRI safety work that MRI Safety Matters ? has been doing. I’m honoured to have this opportunity!

That is too kind Toby, and the honour is ours. Have you ever been to the UK or Scotland before and what are you looking forward to visiting when you get here?

Even though part of my family traces back to Thurso, I’ve never been to Scotland. I changed planes in Heathrow once several years ago, but that’s the closest I’ve been to visiting any part of the UK. I am so very much looking forward to getting to see Edinburgh. While I do love the ‘big-ticket’ attractions, one of my favourite things to do in new cities is to just wander through the streets, absorb the buildings & neighbourhoods, and soak up the feeling of a place. I’m excited at the prospect of aimless wandering through the city.

Good to hear that there’s a Scottish connection and that you are possibly part of a long lost McGilk clan??. I’m sure you will enjoy soaking up the atmosphere and will appreciate the architecture of Edinburgh’s buildings. We look forward to showing you some of the sights.?

Why is spreading the word about MRI safety so important to you?

The variety of ways that MRI injures -and even kills- people is pretty astounding, and *we* have the potential to virtually eliminate MRI accidents. Additionally, there are a number of patients turned away from MRI because of misunderstandings about how to assess safety, particularly for patients with implants or foreign bodies. It seems disrespectful of our profession and our patients to not share information on MRI safety that I’ve cultivated.

Thank you and we are very grateful that you could find the time to come to Scotland. I believe this will be a bit of a whirlwind trip, though, with your next destination being Dubai, where you will host your 2nd MRI Safety Course later that same week. What can you tell us about that?

The Dubai course, The Advanced MRI Safety Seminar, HOME - ADV MRI Safety Seminar (mrisafetycourse.com) is a three-day intensive program designed to help people (radiographers, radiologists, administrators, radiology nurses, and physicists) who have roles in MRI safety and patient care better understand, quantify, and manage the risks in MRI. This includes some of the physics of MRI safety, as well as best practices for operational issues, facility planning, and clinical involvement. At the end of the three days an attendee will likely be able to identify patients who were turned away that they now believe could have been safely scanned. The dual goals of the course are to both improve MRI safety and increase MRI patient access at the graduates’ sites.

I’m sure your efforts will be greatly appreciated, and we wish you every success with these annual events. In the meantime… it’s countdown to the Edinburgh conference in just 7 weeks’ time! We look forward to meeting you in person, Toby, and hearing what you have to say.

Toby will be presenting in Edinburgh on Saturday 16th of September as part of a superb line up of presenters who are all speaking on a variety of topics related to MRI safety and innovations. We highly recommend attending in person if you can. Virtual and on-demand attendance is available too. To register and to find out more information please go to www.mrisafetymatters.com.

We want to enable all those who work in the field of MRI to access this excellent education. Consequently, special rates for students and those in financial hardship are available. To apply for a subsidised virtual learning place (￡25 plus VAT), please register through the website?mrisafetymatters.com?or email us at?[email protected]?telling us, very briefly, why you believe you qualify for the subsidised rate.

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