Congratulations! A Pivotal Moment for IR

By Marshall E. Hicks, M.D., FSIR

SIR President 

Congratulations—to the many dedicated individuals both within and outside SIR and the American Board ofRadiology (ABR) whose herculean efforts over countless hours and almost 10 years laid the groundwork that lead to a pivotal moment in advancing the value of our specialty!

On Sept. 11, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)—the organization that has oversight of the 24 recognized medical specialty boards—approved ABR’s application for a new Dual Primary Certificate in Interventional Radiology and Diagnostic Radiology. The ABMS announcement came after significant behind-the-scenes activities by dedicated individuals to promote IR training and professional education as distinct to the specialty and of paramount importance to the delivery of expert patient care. This change in IR training will ensure that interventional radiologists will deliver care to patients with the requisite combination of clinical, procedural and interpretive skills. 

IR has a primary specialty certificate—one that has been elevated and now exists alongside diagnostic radiology (rather than as a DR subspecialty) and on the same level as surgery, pediatrics and internal medicine in the ABMS hierarchy. The IR/DR dual certificate—an essential feature of the growth and evolution of modern scientific medicine—will be the fourth primary certificate for ABR (joining Diagnostic Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Medical Physics) and the 37th overall in the United States. With its decision, ABMS and its member boards confirmed the benefit to patients of the unique interventional radiology skill set comprised of competency in diagnostic imaging, image-guided procedures and periprocedural patient care.

Moving to a primary certificate as opposed to a subspecialty certificate designates IR as a unique and distinct area of medicine, rather than an area of focus within an existing specialty. With increased attention to the length and kind of training interventional radiologists will receive under this new dual certificate, those who will benefit most will be our patients. This action—our turning point—affixes a publicly visible imprimatur on the specialty ensuring that it will receive the recognition from peers, legislators and the public that it so richly deserves. This news was hailed not only in the United States; our colleagues attending CIRSE greeted the news as a global IR success.

I predict that the demand for and complexity of image-guided interventions will continue to increase every year—and that we will need a lot more highly trained IRs. This new certificate will provide patients with an ample supply of well-trained IR specialists by ensuring that board-certified IRs are trained and qualified to deliver the highest level of care available today and demanding that this same quality be made available to all future patients. 

ABMS has stipulated that there will be a transition from Vascular and Interventional Radiology (VIR) fellowships to IR residencies as the new residencies are approved. The details and timeline for that process will be developed with significant input from ABR, SIR, APDIR, APDR, SCARD and other key stakeholders. The proposal will proceed carefully through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), with great attention to the needs and concerns of the IR and DR community. More information, as it becomes available, will be provided.

Thank you! The ABMS decision would not have been possible without the continued strong support from the dedicated volunteers on the SIR/ABR Dual Certificate Task Force (particularly John A. Kaufman, MD, MS, FSIR, chair) and from ABR (including Gary J. Becker, MD, FSIR; Matthew A. Mauro, MD, FSIR; Jeanne M. LaBerge, MD, FSIR; and Anne C. Roberts, MD, FSIR), the combined leadership of both societies, colleagues from supporting organizations and many more SIR members and staff too numerous to mention here. (See related story, p. 1.)

For now, this is our time to celebrate; this is our turning point—our future.

 Question

What do you think of the ABMS decision to approve the IR/DR primary certificate? Please post your comments, questions or concerns to me about this seminal event for IR.