Kari J. Nelson, MD, FSIR
Kari J. Nelson, MD, FSIR, has been named the 2022 Women in Interventional Radiology (WIR) Champion—an annual award from SIR’s WIR Section that recognizes an individual who has consistently made a significant contribution to the advancement of women in IR. SIR Today spoke with Dr. Nelson about her award, her passion for equity and the future of IR.
What was your reaction upon being named the WIR Champion Award winner?
Kari J. Nelson, MD, FSIR: I received the call at work, during a break between two large IR cases, and I was caught off guard, admittedly. Initially I was a little stunned and confused, because two years ago, I left academics for a private practice job—so receiving an award like this wasn’t remotely something I’d expected. I felt some imposter syndrome, as if I haven’t really done enough to deserve this, but I’m making peace with that now and feel very honored.
Why is the WIR mission important to you?
KN: It’s important to me because I never imagined that women would face the things we do every day just trying to practice medicine. I was born a few years after the Equal Rights Amendment was passed, and I was always told that your sex and gender have nothing to do with your potential or what you can do for a living. I truly believed that, but that perception was completely rocked when I started medical school.
When I face adversity, I want to try to do what I can to make it easier for the people coming behind me, which grew into my work and passion for equity. It was never really a mission—it was just necessary to practice medicine, and it became important to me to encourage other women. Not everyone has a background like mine, where my whole support system and environment told me I could do anything. So given the challenges that I faced with everyone in my corner, I realized it can be even more difficult for others.
As an academic IR chief, it became very important to me to create a network for women in medicine and in IR. I have continued my mentorship and networking activities in my private practice. I want to do everything I can to help create the inclusive environment I have always believed in.
Can you tell us a bit about some of the initiatives you’ve worked on the WIR Section?
KN: When I was on the governing council of the WIR, we worked on many endeavors to support women in IR, including writing the SIR Parental Leave Statement. I then transitioned out of that position—there are so many amazing women in IR leading the section now. Over the last year, I’ve been working with the FSIR Task Force as the WIR representative to help ensure the criteria for FSIR recognition are transparent and representative of the demographics and practice settings of IR.
However, a lot of my work with respect to equity started outside of SIR. It was 2000 when I first started encountering adversity in medicine, and WIR didn’t really get kicked off until 2014. As a result, my initial sounding board was the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), with whom I’ve remained active. AMWA was founded in 1915 because women were denied membership in the American Medical Association. These issues don’t just impact IR—inequity is a problem across the board in all specialties where women are underrepresented.
What drives your passion for IR?
KN: When I decided to go into medicine, I thought I was going to do surgery. I didn’t stumble onto IR until halfway through medical school and, though it sounds kind of cheesy, it was love at first sight. IR accomplished what surgery did while fixing problems in an elegant way—and the patient can get up and walk away. That true love and ability to fix things and be minimally invasive is what gets me out of bed in the morning.
Despite some of the difficulties, I still really love the field and I continue to be challenged by it. There is no way I could be bored by IR—the passion is real, and it’s not going away.
Where do you predict (or want to see) IR going in 10 years?
KN: Hopefully in 10 years, given the movement and support of SIR leadership, we’ll be past the walls of adversity. Hopefully we will have done enough to raise awareness of the challenges faced by underrepresented populations and those who have been made to feel othered in their practice. Hopefully, we will have moved to a more universally congenial practice environment. We still have a ways to go, especially because it seems like a lot of membership currently isn’t even aware of some of those challenges. However, SIR’s efforts to raise awareness and create support networks and opportunities has really been great in recent years. I hope in 10 years, we reach a place where you may be the only one in the room who looks like you, but it’s a nonissue because it does not impact your ability to practice or the way you are treated. I believe SIR will help us get there.
