Educational Exhibit Abstract No. 426 - ■ FEATURED POSTER A grassroots effort to recruit medical students into interventional radiology: a report from year one

Abstract

Learning Objectives Can a national, student-driven grassroots effort successfully promote IR at the medical student level? How can this goal be accomplished? Background Recruiting medical students is critical to interventional radiology as it transforms into a truly clinical specialty. In 2011, a group of 12 students was selected to join the new IR Medical Student Council (IRMSC) which is housed under the Student and Resident Committee of SIR. Fundamentally, the group’s mission is to promote IR on a grassroots level. Council members function as hubs of information, educating students on all facets of IR. More importantly, they work to recruit clinically-minded medical students focused on longitudinal rather than peri-procedural care. SIR membership is actively promoted and attendance at IR national meetings is stressed. Clinical Findings/Procedure Details During the IRMSC’s inaugural year, Interventional Radiology-specific Interest Groups (IRIGs) were successfully established in 75% (8/12) of the council member’s home institutions. These groups, in total, reached greater than 400 medical students. Corresponding with the IRMSC's efforts, in 2011, 139 students became new SIR members. This represented a 93% increase compared to the yearly average of 72 new student members from 2007-2010. Additionally, in 2012, 77 non-SIR medical students attended the Annual Scientific Meeting, which is a 26% and 133% increase in attendance compared to the 2011 (61) and 2010 (33) meetings, respectively. This also coincides with the implementation of a dedicated medical student portion of the meeting that IRMSC members helped organize and market. Conclusion and/or Teaching Points The increases in the number of medical student SIR members as well as in the number of medical students in attendance at the 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting correlate with the IRMSC's efforts to promote IR on a grassroots level. The SIR has acknowledged the IRMSC and now, council members actively participate in the Resident and Fellow Section to help direct future efforts of IR promotion. As the recently passed dual certificate is implemented, recruiting clinically-oriented medical students will be critical and the IRMSC can serve as an effective vehicle through which to do just that.