A new subsection within JMIRO: Acknowledging the importance of Interventional Radiology and Interventional Neuroradiology research in Australia and New Zealand.

Abstract

It is an honour to mark the introduction of a dedicated Interventional Radiology (IR) subsection within the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology (JMIRO) for the expanding fields of specialty practice of both IR and Interventional Neuroradiology (INR). This decision is a monumental leap forward for the interventional specialties of Radiology in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), where there will now be a formalised platform for the distribution of high-quality academic research from Australia and New Zealand, as well as internationally. Since their inception in the 1960s, IR and INR have evolved into distinct clinical specialties and become an essential part of modern, personalised health care driven by the rapid progression of technology advances and increasing clinical demand. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) has long recognised the important role of IR and INR in contemporary Radiology practice, both having evolved from within the specialty of Radiology. However, IR and INR have now progressed beyond the scope of a subspecialty of Radiology, into distinct specialty fields of practice when it comes to clinical skill, knowledge, technical capability, technological awareness and patient interaction.1 Interventional Radiologists (IRs) and Interventional Neuroradiologists (INRs) differ in skillset to a general Radiologist due to completion of additional post-fellowship training focused on holistic patient care and advanced image-guided procedures, allowing them to diagnose, treat and manage diseases across the spectrum of the human body. Their scope of practice is not merely performing basic or advanced interventions; IRs and INRs are now involved in the provision of longitudinal patient management including consultations, developing patient treatment plans, performing inpatient procedures, ward-rounds, and providing outpatient care across many different conditions and pathologies.2, 3 IRs and INRs work within a team and focus on principles of direct patient-focussed care, underpinned by research, and held accountable by audit and accreditation. These fields of specialty practice are growing rapidly and are increasingly popular.4 Following the publication of the Roadmap for Advancing IR and INR in Australia and New Zealand, RANZCR announced the goal of achieving separate specialty recognition for IR and INR.5, 6 This is particularly important in Australia, as IR is currently recognised in New Zealand under the existing combined specialty term ‘Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology’. Formal and separate specialty recognition will result in IR and INR services becoming more visible to patients and other doctors, more widely accepted, and more consistently integrated into healthcare systems so that patient access to these services can improve, and their true value to hospitals and healthcare can be realised. The Interventional Radiology Committee has led this work for RANZCR and the Faculty of Clinical Radiology, which has included a multifaceted governance process built around the expanding volume of research across the range of IR and INR practice over the last 20 years. As the official journal of RANZCR, JMIRO is the leading radiology journal in the ANZ region. In making this new subsection, JMIRO joins a growing list of international journals with rising impact factors that are wholly or partly dedicated to presenting IR and INR research. JMIRO recently presented a special virtual issue on the topic of IR7 which showcased how JMIRO (formerly Australasian Radiology) has represented IR between its covers from as far back as the first issue. Manuscripts in the field of IR and INR have also been presented within many special issues, and already feature regularly within the journal under the Medical Imaging (Clinical Radiology) subsection. It is thus a natural, and necessary progression, for JMIRO to expand to present the latest IR and INR science, research and expert opinion in this new IR subsection, sitting alongside the existing subsections for Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology. This also reflects and supports the advocacy of RANZCR in promoting IR and INR as separate, growing and increasingly important fields of specialty practice. Over the coming issues, JMIRO will begin to publish a range of locally and internationally derived manuscripts in the new subsection. These will cover aspects of IR and INR as well as interventional oncology, musculoskeletal IR, and paediatric IR just to name a few.8 Manuscripts will also canvass broader governance issues of quality and guidelines, as well as the range of regular clinical submissions such as original research, review articles, technical notes, pictorial essays, case letters, pictorial essays and viewpoints. We encourage all clinical radiologists, interventional radiologists, interventional neuroradiologists and interested radiology trainees to submit interventional research to JMIRO, and we hope to see a growing number of authors and readers drawn to the work within these pages in the coming years. This study was not supported by any funding. A/Prof Warren Clements is an Editorial Board member of Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology and co-author of this article. To minimise bias, he was excluded from all editorial decision making related to the acceptance of this article for publication. A/Prof Brown declares that he is Chair of the Interventional Radiology Committee within the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, and A/Prof Clements and Dr Cheung declare that they are members of the Interventional Radiology Committee within the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists. The authors have no other financial or non-financial interests to disclose. There are no disclaimers. Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.