Interventional radiology dieing out?

[cool c]

I've heard numerous docs tell me that IR will one day be dead or be a specialty left with close to nothing but PICC lines. They all bring up how sub-specialties like vascular surgery, cardiology, and even gyn are taking away the procedures that IR invented. Jus thought it be interesting to see what you guyz have to say about the uncertain future of IR.

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[Doublecortin]

I've heard numerous docs tell me that IR will one day be dead or be a specialty left with close to nothing but PICC lines. They all bring up how sub-specialties like vascular surgery, cardiology, and even gyn are taking away the procedures that IR invented. Jus thought it be interesting to see what you guyz have to say about the uncertain future of IR.

yeah, and I was also curious to know how big of a concern is radiation exposure in IR

 

[Terpskins99]

I've heard numerous docs tell me that IR will one day be dead or be a specialty left with close to nothing but PICC lines. They all bring up how sub-specialties like vascular surgery, cardiology, and even gyn are taking away the procedures that IR invented. Jus thought it be interesting to see what you guyz have to say about the uncertain future of IR.

Have you heard that from an IR doc though?

Keep in mind that IR docs still perform most of their techniques on a much more frequent basis than other specialists (though interventional cards may be an exception).

I suppose IR may eventually become less popular depending on government changes in reimbursement policy, but that will affect everyone else as well.

As for the radiation exposure question... do a search.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=87979&highlight=safety
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=200869&highlight=safety
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=229042&highlight=safety
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=356523&highlight=safety
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=478182&highlight=safety

 

[DrDre311]

I've heard numerous docs tell me that IR will one day be dead or be a specialty left with close to nothing but PICC lines. They all bring up how sub-specialties like vascular surgery, cardiology, and even gyn are taking away the procedures that IR invented. Jus thought it be interesting to see what you guyz have to say about the uncertain future of IR.

Go to any of the forums relating to these subspecialties and you'll find threads similar to this one. By that I mean "Is IR/cards going to kill vascular surgery?" "Is vascular/CT surgery going to make a comeback and put cards in its place?" and "Is IR/cards going to kill CT surgery?" and so on.

I don't think any of us is going to starve. People in every field are always freaking out about this. If you're a BC interventionalist you're going to get work; even if the domain of the field shrinks for whatever reason, that doesn't mean you won't be allowed to perform procedures you're qualified/certified to perform.

As a student I spoke to some of the local radiologists (with whom I was involved in a research project) about the future of IR. While they were concerned about the increasing tendency for non-rads guys to have their own imaging equipment and the increasing legal vulnerability of their specialty, I never heard one of them say IR was dying. IR docs do valuable work that others are not properly trained to do.