Interested in IR but not DR?

[fizzle]

From what I understand, IR and DR are very different from each other in terms of duties, patient interaction, and other aspects, yet IR is a fellowship added onto a DR residency. How does this work for someone who is interested in IR but not so much in DR? I'm aware that IR docs may do some DR duties, but the overlap does not seem all that significant. Is someone who is interested in IR but not so much in DR pretty much forced to go through the standard DR residency?

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[TSasser]

I know this comes from my extreme novice knowledge base, but I would think someone interested in IR would want to do at least some DR. This would give the experience of at least viewing and understanding some of the methods used in radiology, such as CT, US, and MRI.

To me this would give the IR physician a better understanding of how anatomy looks using these machines so they can be more proficient when guiding the tool chosen to use.

Here is a thread for the Interventional Radiology section about some types of different IR training programs. I believe one of them has more of a IR focus than DR throughout the training. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=779036

I think IR is an interesting field but I feel I would be more comfortable in DR. I am use to sitting at a computer looking up all sorts of things for extended periods of time and like using different type of technology. I know I have a long way before I actually choose a field but I think I need to start looking at things now because I am a non-traditional student with a family to consider. That may be only an excuse but to me it seems to give more reason to choose ahead of time than some others. (sorry for the ramble)