Experts highlight 'significant gaps' in interventional radiology education
Medical students’ lack of knowledge pertaining to the role of interventional radiology in the realm of women’s health highlights a recurrent theme that hinders the specialty—both patients and providers are underinformed on the use of IR in patient care.
Recent data have indicated that a significant portion of women are not made fully aware they are eligible for IR treatments. New survey results presented during the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology suggest that it isn’t just patients who are underinformed on the specialty.
The results highlight medical students’ awareness, or lack thereof, of IR procedures available to women. According to the responses, many participants—even those interested in pursuing IR—feel ill-equipped to discuss IR treatment options that may be available to patients due to a general deficit in IR knowledge.
“Awareness of interventional radiology among medical students remains low on a global scale, with particularly limited awareness among female students,” Abinaya Ramakrishnan, a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and co-authors note. “Despite IR playing a critical role in the treatment of women’s health conditions, a significant knowledge gap surrounding the procedures persists.”
The survey, which was distributed to more than 100 medical schools, gauged medical students’ understanding of three IR procedures routinely utilized in women’s health—uterine fibroid emobilization (UFE), uterine artery embolization for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and varicose vein treatment. Participants also provided information on how they perceived the importance of these treatments, in addition to their exposure to IR topics during their medical education.
The majority of respondents (70%) consider IR a “very important” specialty for women’s health, despite a significant portion (62%) of them acknowledging that their medical curriculum has not included information on IR-related treatments. These figures varied significantly depending on the students’ career interests. Students interested in pursuing IR are often twice as familiar with the IR treatments included in the survey compared to those who are not.
However, even students interested in IR report hesitancy in their ability to discuss the available treatment options to women, with just 26% expressing confidence in doing so. In comparison, just 3% of students not interested in IR feel comfortable engaging in treatment discussions with patients.
The team’s findings highlight areas where improvements can be made to increase awareness around the specialty’s treatment options, including incorporating a basic IR overview into medical curriculum.
“We hope to highlight areas for improvement to more effectively educate the next generation of radiologists and comprehensively treat female patients,” the group concludes.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.