Elliot Sean Rinzler, MD
UT Southwestern/Children’s Medical Center Dallas
What does your practice model look like? How many IRs are at your practice?
We are an academic practice at a freestanding children’s hospital, and our service line includes four interventional radiologists.
What does a typical day look like in the life of a pediatric IR at your practice?
We are 100% pediatric IR. Our main hospital is level 1 trauma, tertiary care with cardiothoracic surgery and transplant. We also cover a satellite hospital around the clock. In addition, we spend approximately half of our day each week in clinic. Our case load is two-thirds inpatient and one-third outpatient.
What are the most common conditions or interventions you perform in your practice?
We practice a full spectrum of pediatric IR, including vascular access, image-guided biopsies and drainage catheters. We have a well-developed vascular anomalies service line. Our primary referrers are oncology, GI and nephrology.
How do you collaborate with other healthcare professionals, such as pediatricians, pediatric surgeons and other specialists, to provide comprehensive care for your patients?
We have a strong relationship with all our referrers. We are part of a multidisciplinary vascular anomalies team and attend tumor board as well as other clinical conferences. In addition, we offer an inpatient consultation service and have a mid-level provider who facilitates inter-service communication.
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Dr. Rinzler does “time out,” a brief overview of the procedure that is about to take place that is spoken aloud to clinicians and staff participating before they begin, with John Barr, MD, (neuroradiology) and nurses and anesthesiologists in the room.
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Natalie Taylor, RN, Dr. Rinzler, and Mark LeClair (APRN, PNP-AC/PC) go through details of the upcoming Interventional Radiology cases for the day.
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Dr. Rinzler performing an IR procedure at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
Michael R. Acord, MD
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
What does your practice model look like? How many IRs are at your practice?
We are an academic practice associated with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. There are seven IRs in our group—five of whom practice pediatric diagnostic radiology 1–2 days a week. We also work closely alongside six advanced practice practitioners and a helpful team of techs and nurses.
What does a typical day look like in the life of a pediatric IR at your practice?
We run four busy rooms a day and dedicate one or two rooms to anesthesia coverage 5 days a week. We start at 7 a.m. and are done around 5 p.m.
What are the most common conditions or interventions you perform in your practice?
We treat children of all ages, from when they’re born and may weigh <1,000 grams, to those transitioning into adulthood. As a result, we see a wide range of pathologies. The most common procedures we perform are vascular access (PICCs, ports, cuffed lines), sclerotherapy, enteral access, biopsies and drainages. We also have no shortage of complex cases, including TIPS, renal artery interventions, transplant interventions and DVT work. In addition, we have a growing pediatric interventional oncology practice.
How do you collaborate with other healthcare professionals, such as pediatricians, pediatric surgeons and other specialists, to provide comprehensive care for your patients?
Interdisciplinary collaboration is key to providing the best care for children and is also the best part of my job. We attend most, if not all, multidisciplinary conferences in the hospital, which includes tumor board, pancreas, thyroid, lymphatic conference, etc. Three IRs in our group routinely staff the multidisciplinary complex vascular anomalies clinic each week. It’s because of these relationships, and the nature of pediatric medicine, that there are very few “turf battles” to fight. It’s a very collegial environment to work in. Not only does this lead to better care and research collaboration, but I personally would consider our surgeons, hepatologists and oncologists my friends.
