How Bad MRI Protocols Slip Through And What’s Changing

RAB Co-Founder Professor Suresh De Silva sits down for a one-on-one interview with our guest, Professor Kirsten Gormly, Abdominal Radiologist and Clinical Associate Professor. Professor Gormly works at Jones Radiology and the University of Adelaide. She is recognised across Australia and New Zealand for her work in abdominal imaging, particularly rectal MRI. After training at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, she returned to Australia in 2004. She has since helped establish rectal and cervical cancer MRI services, chaired ARGANZ, and contributed to international rectal imaging guidelines through ESGAR. Summary In this conversation, A/Prof Suresh De Silva and Professor Kirsten Gormly explore her career journey from London fellowship training to becoming a global leader in pelvic MRI. Kirsten shares how she built rectal and cervical MRI services in Adelaide from the ground up, and why imaging quality — particularly in rectal MRI — is so critical to patient outcomes. She discusses the alarming variation in protocol standards she has witnessed across Australia and New Zealand, her 18-month collaboration with Siemens to embed clinically appropriate pelvic protocols into new MRI machines at the factory level, and her work with the ESGAR rectal imaging guidelines group. The episode also covers ARGANZ' education and outreach mission, the upcoming joint ARGANZ–RAB workshop in Fiji in September 2026, and the role AI is beginning to play in MRI acquisition quality. Takeaways Rectal MRI is essential for staging rectal cancer and assessing response to treatment — imaging quality directly determines whether radiologists can make clinically useful decisions for patients. Protocol variation across Australia and New Zealand remains a significant problem; some scans reviewed in multicentre trials were found to be completely non-diagnostic, even from respected centres. Prof Gormly has spent 18 months collaborating with Siemens headquarters in Germany to develop clinically appropriate pelvic MRI protocols that are now being embedded into new magnets as they leave the factory. The ESGAR rectal imaging guidelines group — including global input from Australia and the US — has just released updated consensus guidelines for both staging and follow-up of rectal cancer. ARGANZ and Radiology Across Borders are co-delivering their first international abdominal imaging workshop in Fiji in September 2026, offering case-based teaching across rectal, prostate, liver, and pancreas imaging to both ANZ and local Pacific clinicians. Template reporting and agreed imaging quality standards (such as those tied to the MRI rebate for rectal cancer) are practical tools that help ensure radiologists provide the clinical information surgeons and oncologists need to make treatment decisions. This podcast is crafted for healthcare professionals, radiologists, medical educators, and anyone passionate about global health and humanitarian work—while also giving you an unique glimpse into the person behind the leadership, Professor Kirsten Gormly. 🎧 Tune in now and subscribe to RABcasts on your favourite podcast platform to hear more inspiring stories from healthcare pioneers around the world!