The Benefits of Maintaining a Diagnostic and Interventional Co-sponsored Radiology Interest Group

Abstract

Interventional Radiology (IR) was recognized as a primary specialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties in 2012. This led to the development of new training pathways in IR, which have been approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education ( 1 Kaufman J.A. The interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology certificate and interventional radiology residency. Radiology. 2014; 273: 318-321 Crossref PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar ). Interested candidates may choose to apply for independent or integrated residency positions as the traditional IR fellowship will sundown after the 2019–2020 fellow year ( 2 Heitkamp D.E. Gunderman R.B. The Interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology certificate: asking the hard questions. Radiology. 2014; 273: 322-325 Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar ). In anticipation of the inaugural residency class utilizing the new pathways beginning in July 2017, there have been many concerns raised regarding the implications this transition will have on residency programs, faculty development, and structural alterations in the field of radiology. Many of these issues have been addressed in recent literature ( 1 Kaufman J.A. The interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology certificate and interventional radiology residency. Radiology. 2014; 273: 318-321 Crossref PubMed Scopus (46) Google Scholar , 2 Heitkamp D.E. Gunderman R.B. The Interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology certificate: asking the hard questions. Radiology. 2014; 273: 322-325 Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar , 3 Recht M. McKinney J.M. Alleman A.M. et al. The new interventional radiology pathways: options for implementation. Acad Radiol. 2016; 23: 836-840 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar ).