Evaluative Clinical Sciences

Education:

• Associate degree, 1995, medical biology, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• M.Sc. in medicine, 2001, faculty of medicine, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Doctor of Medicine, 2003, faculty of medicine, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Radiology specialist certification, 2008, Amsterdam Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Clinical fellowship in emergency & trauma radiology, 2009–2010, Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Clinical fellowship in musculoskeletal imaging, 2010–2011, St. Paul’s Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Associate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Tory Trauma Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Deputy-chief (operations) and head, emergency & trauma radiology division, department of medical imaging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Assistant professor, University of Toronto

Research Foci:

• Imaging in trauma patients
• Imaging in nontraumatic emergencies
• Workflow optimization in acute care imaging
• Imaging in mass casualty incidents

Research Summary:

The focus of Dr. Berger’s research is on optimization of imaging protocols and efficiency improvements in the setting of acute care imaging, for traumatic injuries as well as nontraumatic emergencies. This has expanded to include the setting of mass casualty incidents (MCI), which require optimization of workflow.

He is collaborating with U of T’s department of mechanical and industrial engineering to use discrete event simulation modelling as well as operations research to improve throughput and turnaround times in the emergency department and during MCI. The building of the new division of emergency & trauma radiology at Sunnybrook, Canada’s largest level 1 trauma centre, provides many opportunities to investigate the enhancement of imaging in the setting of acute care.

Furthermore, Sunnybrook is replacing MRI and CT equipment with state-of-the-art machinery, which will provide a solid basis on which to investigate new imaging protocols and their impact on patient management and outcomes. New equipment and the repurposing of space for imaging interpretation will also help to enhance workflow. This will be investigated after instalment is complete.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Wagner MG, Fischer MR, Scaglione M, Linsenmaier U, Schueller G, Berger FH, Dick E, Basilico R, Stajgis M, Calli C, Vaidya S, Wirth S. Subspecialisation in emergency radiology: Proposal for a harmonised European curriculum. GMS J Med Educ. 2017;35(4):Doc61.
2. van Eijnatten M, Berger FH, de Graaf P, Koivisto J, Forouzanfar T, Wolff J. Influence of CT parameters on STL model accuracy. Rapid Prototyping J. 2017;23(4):678–685.
3. Berger FH, Körner M, Bernstein MP, Sodickson AD, Beenen LF, McLaughlin PD, Kool DR, Bilow RM. Emergency imaging after a mass casualty incident: role of the radiology department during training for and activation of a disaster management plan. Br J Radiol. 2016 Jan;89(1061):20150984.
4. Jalalzadeh H, Giannakopoulos GF, Berger FH, Fronczek J, Groot FRW van de, Reijnders UJ, Zuidema WP. Post-mortem imaging compared with autopsy in trauma victims - a systematic review. Forensic Sci Int. 2015 Jul 20;257:29–48.
5. Berger FH, Nieboer KH, Goh GS, Pinto A, Scaglione M. Body packing: a review of general background, clinical and imaging aspects. Radiol Med. 2015 Jan;120(1):118–132.