The statistics are clear—women represent a very small proportion of interventional radiologists. According to a 2011 study1, women make up 46 percent of all residents but only 28 percent of diagnostic radiology residents. The applicant pool for Interventional Radiology comes from those DR residents. So, the percentage of women drops even further as you dig into the IR numbers. According to one estimate, only 2–8 percent of all IRs are women!
Yet, interventional radiology and the Society have historically encouraged women to enter the field.
– 16 percent of newly recruited Society volunteers are women
– In the last 20 years, four SIR presidents (20 percent) have been women:
- Arina van Breda, MD, FSIR: 1992–93
- Anne C. Roberts, MD, FSIR: 1996–97
- Janette D. Durham, MD, MBA, FSIR: 2004–05
- Katharine L. Krol, MD, FSIR: 2006–07
– Other women currently serve on the SIR Executive Council:
- SIR Treasurer: M. Victoria Marx, MD, FSIR
- Councilor-at-large: Laura Findeiss, MD, FSIR
There is no lack of opportunity for women in the field, and SIR is taking additional steps to better support this segment of the community. The SIR Women in IR Section, a formal group dedicated to the needs of IRs who are women, will hold its first official, general assembly in conjunction with the SIR 2015 Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Ga. (Feb. 28–March 5, 2015).
The challenge, says Christine E. Ghatan, MD, a founding member of the group, is that medical students may not be aware of those opportunities. “Lack of exposure to IR is the biggest hurdle,” she says. “Education is key. There is a lack of knowledge among medical students about IR as a career choice.”
Equal Opportunity Outreach
With the development and coming launch of the new IR Residency (likely in 2015), now is the perfect time for SIR to reach out to medical students and actively promote a career in interventional radiology. To ensure that this outreach effort resonates equally with male and female candidates, however, Society leadership must better understand why there has been such a tremendous disparity between men and women entering the field.
The big surprise is that, despite some studies in the past decade that reported the numbers entering medicine and medical specialties by gender, none have definitively answered why so few female medical students choose to specialize in IR—and few studies have even asked the question in the first place. Is the current prerequisite residency in diagnostic radiology a barrier? Is it the extent of IR call? A lack of mentors or role models? A misperception that the specialty is purely procedural with no clinical practice? Is it exposure to radiation during fluoroscopy procedures?
Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: SIR must better understand the factors leading to lower numbers of women in IR before attempting to attract them to the field. To this end, Nishita Kothary, MD, FSIR, has paired with Dr. Ghatan and others to conduct an epidemiological survey designed to determine what has reduced the number of women joining the field.
“As IR becomes its own specialty, and no longer just an extension of DR, we need to address their concerns so medical students will know what an incredible career path IR is,” says Dr. Kothary. “We need a greater balance of genders in the profession if the
change is going to succeed.”
A matter of perspective
IR Quarterly recently asked several IRs to share their perspectives on their career path in interventional radiology. Such experiences may answer trainees’ questions and help them better recognize the opportunities available. SIR members should share these stories with med students, residents and other trainees who may be considering a career path in IR.
M. Victoria Marx, MD, FSIR, SIR Treasurer
As a medical student, I chose general surgery as a career path. I liked the concrete clinical problems surgeons handled, the straightforward relationship between diagnosis, treatment and outcome as well as the relationships with patients. During my general surgery internship, however, I had second thoughts. I found the culture of general surgery unappealing and burdensome; the role models provided to me were fundamentally not people who projected a positive attitude about their lives. I started looking for an alternative career path that combined the positive clinical qualities of surgery with a more collegial teambased culture. During my internship, I came to admire the chief of “Angio” (as it was then called) at my hospital very much. I made an appointment with him and asked him, “Do you enjoy your job—do you like coming to work every day?” His response was that he loved it! That was all I needed to hear. I completed my internship and transferred into a diagnostic radiology residency with the specific goal of becoming fulltime interventional radiologist. After completing my IR fellowship, that’s what I did and I’ve never looked back. Just like Michael Van Aman, MD, at Ohio State University in 1982, I love the challenges and rewards of my IR career.
I perform challenging, new procedures that require innovative problem solving, and I experience the rewards of patient care and interaction. I’ve also enjoyed my many years of volunteer contributions in SIR. It’s an amazing community.
Ramona Gupta, MD
In 2012 Dr. Gupta learned that she was expecting her first child. As a fulltime practicing IR, she was concerned about the radiation exposure risks for her baby.
Throughout my pregnancy, I practiced five days a week and my radiation exposure levels remained low. I took the appropriate measures to reduce exposure, including wearing an extra lead apron, optimizing fluoroscopy to reduce dose and tracking my exposure levels on a regular basis. I am lucky to have colleagues who were tremendously supportive and helpful while I was expecting and continued to practice.
I also spoke to other women in the profession—those with older kids who had practiced during their pregnancies. I picked their brains about the safety precautions they took, the steps they took to reduce their dose and their experiences as a whole. It helped ease my mind and I had no doubt that continuing to practice was both safe and appropriate.
Katharine L. Krol, MD, FSIR
I came into IR accidentally. It was a field just beginning to have an identity as I entered residency and practice. I chose DR residency for several reasons, and I found DR fun and rewarding. However, I really wanted the patient contact that IR offered. The ability to directly help patients, the longitudinal relationships with patients and families, the daily variety of problems/procedures, and the excitement of innovation inherent to IR all appealed to me. I absolutely loved my career. I have been able to offer cutting-edge therapies as they were developed for the past 30+ years, including participation in clinical trials. Despite my being in private practice, SIR embraced my interest in volunteer work and fostered leadership skills that expanded my experiences in the field far beyond clinical work. Women have much to offer patients and the field of IR. All of the perceived obstacles to entering the field of IR can be overcome, and the rewards are great! The rewards are shared by women IRs, their patients, their partners and staff, and their referring physicians.
