This article is the first in a series celebrating the most popular resources SIR makes available to the interventional radiology community, in the words of our members.
On Feb. 12, 2015, SIR announced a new resource that would enable members to interact with each other, compare notes on procedures, share new discoveries and connect. As then SIR Executive Director Susan E. Sedory, MA, CAE, announced in the inaugural communication on this platform, SIR Connect was built to “provide members with direct access to the society’s greatest resource—the thousands of IRs who make up the SIR Membership.”
Kicking the tires
It wasn’t long before members began trying out this new platform—asking each other questions about IVC compression, hepatocellular carcinoma and more. According to Arun Jagannathan, MD, one of the very first IRs to post on the SIR Connect Open Forum, “There weren’t a lot of good ways to reach out to the broader IR community back then—especially for someone in a small rural practice like I was. Since I wasn’t in an academic setting, it was like I was on a remote island.”
Mary Costantino, MD, FSIR, a frequent user of SIR Connect to this day, also underscores the platform’s value for smaller clinical practices. “For small and rural practices, this is the IR community. Some bigger practices don’t need this kind of resource, but it’s really good for independent labs. It’s a tremendous way for SIR to support practices of all types.”
As helpful as it was to be able to post to the community, the true advantage was in the feedback. “When I started seeing good, educated responses on SIR Connect from IR luminaries, I realized how much value it had,” Dr. Jagannathan said. “I could get feedback from experienced IR colleagues all over the world—some of whom I’d never had the chance to meet before. It was so much more beneficial than my usual outlets, like sending direct messages to colleagues on Twitter.”
By the end of the first year, traffic on SIR Connect had hit “critical mass,” as Dr. Jagannathan puts it, and the frequency of posts accelerated from a few queries or comments per month, to several per day, to multiple posts per hour.
The platform grows
According to frequent user Raj Pyne, MD, FSIR, its value is still clear.
“Allowing IRs to communicate and share ideas, exchange thoughts, debate heated controversies, and even crowdsource thoughts not only connects us on a daily basis but also directly improves patient outcomes and advances our field,” he said.
From the time of its launch, Joseph J. Gemmete, MD, FSIR, has found the platform to be an interesting way to discuss complex cases. “I think it is a great forum for information about current relevant topics important to SIR members, and it give us an opportunity to discuss complex cases and post surveys that are relevant to the practice of IR,” he said.
“SIR Connect is the pulse of the IR community,” said Steven J. Citron, MD, FSIR. “When I have a pressing question or just want to know the answer to something, posting it on SIR Connect allows me to get all sorts of different perspectives from others who are as passionate about our specialty as I am.”
Another SIR member who is often seen on SIR Connect, R. Torrance Andrews, MD, FSIR, notes the particular value of posts on topics that had never occurred to him. “IR is a very dynamic field, and a large percentage of the work that I do now didn't even exist when I was in training,” he said. “And some of those procedures were first brought to my attention through discussions on SIR Connect.”
Some IRs’ practices have benefited from discussions as well.
“I have even had direct patient referrals from IRs—some that I do not know—allowing them to transfer their patient’s care directly to someone they trust in a different part of the country,” said Dr. Pyne.
Community center
The popularity of SIR Connect isn’t limited to the Open Forum. Focused member communities have proliferated, with discussion areas dedicated to the needs of the society’s disparate sections, treatment discussion groups, and areas for committees and work groups to better collaborate and organize their work.
Dr. Jagannathan cites the value of discussions in specific groups like the venous community, though he says he prefers the general forum because of its greater volume of traffic. So does Dr. Andrews, who finds these subgroups less interesting because the conversations in smaller communities are, by design, less diverse.
SIR Connect also offers opportunities for both formal and informal mentoring. Via general forum conversations, Dr. Pyne says, early- or earlier-career IRs can reach out to those more established for advice ranging from procedural techniques to job and financial advice.
“I love seeing posts where someone talked about their challenges and then received the input of more established IRs who can say, ‘Back in the day …’” said Dr. Costantino.
The ties that bind
The open forum, specialized communities and additional directory resources have solidified SIR Connect as a true digital community for IRs, one that can help forge bonds that may not have been possible otherwise.
“I've lost count of the number of times that I have met someone at the SIR annual meeting or elsewhere, and we realize that we already know each other through our online posts,” said Dr. Andrews.
Dr. Citron agrees. “Many replies I’ve received to my posts have come from people I had heard about but didn’t know—but now do. It’s been a tremendous resource.”
To Dr. Pyne, the most important aspect of SIR Connect are the nonclinical discussions: practice management, private practice issues, coding and billing topics, or even philosophical discussions—topics that aren’t frequently discussed in other places, or at lectures or conferences.
“There is often a common fiber that binds different groups for different reasons, and IRs are no different. SIR Connect facilitates the exchange of thoughts between likeminded individuals who have never met, who are from different backgrounds, and who might otherwise never meet, so they can lament together, discuss freely, and then potentially work together to change the game,” said Dr Pyne. “I cannot understate how important this resource has been for many who feel underappreciated, disregarded or even marginalized in part of their practice or because of who they are.”
All-time top posts
- April 3, 2018: “The elephant in the room,” 165 replies
- Aug. 28, 2017: “New ABR designations,” 138 replies
- Nov. 11, 2020: “Academic Department of surgery hiring an Interventional Radiologist?” 132 replies
What else is on SIR Connect?
- SIR member directory: A convenient search designed to help members network.
- Mentor Match: A platform that connects mentees with mentors on the basis of mentorship preferences, practice area or demographics.
- SIR Speakers Bureau: A digital resource that will allow SIR members to search for interventional radiologists at all career levels who have spoken at national and regional meetings, conferences, workshops, or other continuing education programs.
Don’t miss IR Quarterly’s Solved on SIR Connect column, which summarizes and provides updates on the most challenging cases shared by SIR members!
