As we celebrate SIR’s 50th anniversary, many of us are looking back on how our practices and identities as IRs have evolved over the years. In addition to minimally invasive physicians, we have been pioneers, specialists, researchers and, increasingly, clinicians.
Patient care has always been at the heart of IR. Minimally invasive medicine was created with the patient in mind to provide safe and effective therapies and non-surgical options. In recent decades, however, the passion for patient care has led to a new wave of IR—one that emphasizes longitudinal care and more interaction between physician and patient.
This change is putting IRs directly in front of patients and helping to raise awareness of who we are and what we do within the health care system. In this issue of IR Quarterly, we hear two stories that reflect the varied relationships we have with our patients. In the first one, we hear from a woman who had exhausted all other avenues in her search for treatment finally found her way to IR, and a physician who would work one-on-one with her to find a solution. The other patient story is very familiar: a man came into the hospital system with an emergency and was only vaguely aware of the team who ended up saving his life. This patient, Sebastian Junger, went on to write about his experience in his best-selling book In My Time of Dying, and will join us at the SIR 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting as a plenary speaker.
These patients—who once upon a time may never have known the names of the IRs who changed their lives—have now become IR advocates, sharing their stories with the SIR community. SIR has also heard from a cancer patient who was able to complete her marathon dreams thanks to cryoablation, as well as a woman who overcame 16 years of chronic pain following a splenic plexus block.
Translating patient-centered care to patient-centered outreach is a key step in making IR a trusted household name. Part of the way to do this is to go beyond the hospital environment and speak to patients directly.
This past October was interventional oncology awareness month, and the Colorectal Cancer Alliance hosted a webinar in partnership with SIR and the Society of Interventional Oncology inviting physicians to explain minimally invasive treatment options for colorectal cancer to patients. Three SIR members were included in this panel: Bruno C. Odisio, MD, PhD, FSIR, of MD Anderson Cancer Center; Constantinos T. Sofocleous, MD, PhD, FSIR, FCIRSE, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Beau Toskich, MD, of the Mayo Clinic.
During this panel, participants not only shared treatment options and how they impact quality of life, but also provided guidance on how patients could speak to their doctors about minimally invasive options. By educating patients directly, we are not only raising IR awareness but increasing patient literacy and helping communities understand all of the treatment options available to them—whether or not they pursue IR.
If you are interested in helping to raise IR awareness, consider joining several upcoming awareness campaigns that SIR will be participating in, and be sure to join us at SIR 2025 in Nashville as we look back at the evolution of SIR and celebrate the future of the specialty.
