I learned about the opportunity through SIR International Division Councilor Brian F. Stainken, MD, FSIR. I had never been to the Middle East and did not know very much about the local customs before participating. Kuwait has a strong regional interventional radiology presence, but many IRs were more familiar with larger conferences like PAIRS in Dubai. However, smaller societies like the one in Kuwait are also doing interesting and crucial work in their communities.In early February, just weeks before COVID-19 began prompting international travel restrictions, I was given the opportunity to speak and educate overseas in Kuwait. I was one of several radiologists invited to present at Pearls in Emergency Radiology, a CME-credited conference put on by the Kuwait Radiology Society to further educate on the field of emergency imaging.
Though the conference was not focused solely on interventional radiology, the organizers wanted an IR involved to present on interventional procedures and showcase how IR can play a role in emergency radiology. Over 4 days I worked with local physicians and four other American academic diagnostic radiologists to provide much of the meeting’s presentation content.
Much of the value in traveling overseas is not just in educating, but in building relationships. I became close with my fellow American presenters, whom I did not know previously: Avneesh Chhabra, MD, section chief of MSK Imaging at UT Southwestern, Bharti Khurana, MD, director of Emergency MSK Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Ajay Singh, MD, associate director of Emergency Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. During the presentations, I was also able to meet IRs from Egypt, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and even Serbia, as well as local Kuwaiti IRs.My sessions offered an overview of the techniques and procedures that make IR so valuable to emergency care. My presentations focused on trauma care in the United States and treating solid organ trauma and penetrating trauma. I provided a technical primer on placing nephrostomy tubes and delivered lectures on portal hypertension and IVC filters and retrievals. In each of these sessions, particularly the discussions regarding IVC filters, I received detailed, insightful questions and had engaging, intellectually stimulating conversations.
One of my favorite memories of this conference was just after I had given a lecture discussing a case of embolizing a typical inferior epigastric artery that had presented with a rectus sheath hematome. The local IR who was moderating was also on call during the presentation and, when I finished, he told me that he was currently dealing with a patient with an active rectus sheath hematoma. In my experiences working and speaking overseas, it never fails to fascinate me that no matter where we are, all IRs are undergoing similar experiences. We’re asking the same clinical questions—what coils should we use? Should we embolize or not embolize? And we’re all doing our best to showcase the efficacy and value that IR brings to patient care.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had several opportunities to travel overseas and meet IRs in different countries. I’ve been to China three times (see bit.ly/2Z6bSUY) to speak, educate and visit hospitals. Anytime I go overseas, I expect to educate the community, but I always find that there’s a lot to learn myself. This goes beyond even just the exchange of ideas—the power and value in developing working relationships with an international community are immeasurably important. Due to my time in China, I have at least a dozen Chinese colleagues I speak to on a weekly basis, and these connections have proven helpful for dealing with COVID-19 and gaining perspective on how it is being treated and managed in other countries.
Though it’s uncertain when international travel and teaching opportunities will be available again, its potential impact feels more powerful than ever. Online offerings and conferences will undoubtedly gain traction following COVID-19 response, due to their cost-efficiency and accessibility. But there is no replacement for being able to see other IRs practice in their home hospitals, or having the ability to establish bonds and connections with our colleagues overseas. In the future, I hope to have many more experiences like this conference. I would like to visit Central and South America, and perhaps get the opportunity to return to Kuwait and work more closely with the IRs I had the privilege to meet.
