In this series, IR Quarterly shares the stories of IRs who have chosen to subspecialize, and discusses the paths they each took on their journey to specialization.
When I entered medical school at Northwestern University, I had visions of becoming a surgeon. I was introduced to diagnostic radiology during an elective as a first-year medical student and was surprised how much I enjoyed the imaging aspect of the specialty. During my third year of medical school, I accompanied one of my patients to the radiology department for a biliary drainage procedure—something I had never heard of. As soon as I saw image-guided surgery, I was hooked. I had found the specialty I wanted to pursue and it probably had something to do with the IR attending at the time, who happened to be Robert L. Vogelzang, MD, FSIR.
Martin Geza Radvany, MD, FSIR, during his internship at Tripler Army Medical Center, posing in front of the Napali Coast. 1991.
I pursued my radiology residency at Tripler Army Medical Center while serving in the U.S. Army, where I was first introduced to neuroangiography and neurointerventional radiology (NIR). When I decided to pursue formal fellowship training, NIR was not one of the available choices, but I was fortunate to complete an IR fellowship where fellows performed a significant amount of cerebrovascular angiography and intervention (i.e., epistaxis, trauma, vascular malformations and carotid stenting). As a junior attending, I continued to expand my knowledge of equipment and techniques collaborating with other specialists.
During my time as a practicing IR, I was fortunate to become acquainted with several neurointerventionalists who were willing to share their knowledge and provide guidance when I encountered challenging cerebrovascular cases. They encouraged me to pursue an NIR fellowship, but the military denied my request for NIR fellowship training. So after completing a 16-year military obligation, I returned to The Johns Hopkins Hospital as a civilian to complete a formal NIR fellowship. I went from being the chief of the interventional radiology service at an academic Level I trauma center to being a full-time student. During the fellowship I realized how well the skills I had acquired as an IR prepared me for NIR training.
After joining the NIR faculty I had the ability to focus my practice. I appreciated the fact that IRs were performing stroke interventions but there was a clear need for readily accessible continuing stroke education. With the advent of the IR Residency, a new radiology pathway for IRs interested in NIR fellowship training was also needed. As a dual-trained IR/NIR, I hope to continue collaborating with other specialties and improve stroke education and training for interventional radiologists.
