Hi. I'm a 3rd year med student and really like IR so far. Problem is, I'm not into DR very much at all. I know I would love being an interventional radiologist but I do worry about really struggling through all the DR training. There's also the feasibility of finding a way to focus on just IR, or at least mostly IR, once I'm done. Anyway, has anyone here in IR felt this way? Would it be stupid to go through rads residency if I don't like DR that much? I don't want to be a miserable or crappy resident.
Not sure if you've heard, but IR is slowly becoming it's own residency, and there are some VERY promising programs starting now which I'm sure you've heard about (UVA, Colorado, Michigan) from other posts.
One concern I know people have with these special pathways is that they think they will be pigeonholed into IR. This isn't technically true, as you will be board certified in DR (the 2012-13 ABR Annual Report has a nice page on describing this transition process:
http://www.theabr.org/sites/all/themes/abr-media/pdf/Annual_Report_2012-2013.pdf), but the programs are geared for those wanting 100% IR.
I am currently a PGY-2 and want to do 100% IR down the road, and will say DR is interesting, but had I had the opportunity to do a special path, I would have.
In short, if you truly are 100% IR, consider the special pathways. If you're on the fence, do traditional. To find out if you like pure DR? I'd say talk to residents, shadow, and fully invest yourself in a DR rotation.