Research Article
Assessment of the Perceptions of Interventional Radiology among Radiologists in India
Sayed SF*, Kumar P and Dias A
Department of Radiodiagnosis and Interventional Radiology Goa Medical College, Goa, India
*Corresponding author:Shoaib Farook Sayed, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Interventional Radiology Goa Medical College, Goa, India. E-mail Id:shoaibsayed2699@yahoo.com
Copyright: © 2025 Sayed SF, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Information:Submission: 20/12/2024; Accepted: 07/03/2025; Published: 10/03/2025
Abstract
Background: Interventional radiology is an upcoming branch in India and globally and the impact it holds on the field of traditional diagnostic radiology is vast. Not only does it mark the shift of radiology from a purely diagnostic branch to a majorly therapeutic branch, but it also opens up the avenue of super specialization options for radiologists which was not unavailable until recently. This study aims to record the existing perceptions of Interventional Radiology among radiologists in India and with the help of its study hopes to shed light on ways to better the stream of Interventional Radiology in India and existing
programs.
Methods:It was a cross-sectional study conducted on 73 participants across the country.
Results:Only 71.2% (52) participants were aware about IR when they joined Radiology. Among those, only 73.1% (38) were aware of all subtypes of interventional radiology. Only 45.2% (33) participants had IR specialization available at their institute at the start of their training. 39.7% (29) participants thought that the exposure to IR in radiology residency currently is insufficient whereas only 6.8% (5) thought that the exposure to IR currently is great. 65.8% (48) participants said they would opt for fellowship programs over DM programs. 56.2%(41) participants felt that IR training programs should last 2 years compared to a 1 year fellowship or a 3 year DM program.
Conclusion:There is a severe knowledge and opportunity deficit within institutes which is serving as a deterrent towards candidates picking this specialization. This complete data suggests that Radiology candidates want to pursue IR but there is a severe gap on multiple levels within institutes in India, which if addressed well will not only improve the scope of IR in India but change the way this sub-stream of radiology is perceived.
Methods:It was a cross-sectional study conducted on 73 participants across the country.
Results:Only 71.2% (52) participants were aware about IR when they joined Radiology. Among those, only 73.1% (38) were aware of all subtypes of interventional radiology. Only 45.2% (33) participants had IR specialization available at their institute at the start of their training. 39.7% (29) participants thought that the exposure to IR in radiology residency currently is insufficient whereas only 6.8% (5) thought that the exposure to IR currently is great. 65.8% (48) participants said they would opt for fellowship programs over DM programs. 56.2%(41) participants felt that IR training programs should last 2 years compared to a 1 year fellowship or a 3 year DM program.
Conclusion:There is a severe knowledge and opportunity deficit within institutes which is serving as a deterrent towards candidates picking this specialization. This complete data suggests that Radiology candidates want to pursue IR but there is a severe gap on multiple levels within institutes in India, which if addressed well will not only improve the scope of IR in India but change the way this sub-stream of radiology is perceived.
Abbreviations:IR-Interventional Radiology
Keywords:Interventional Radiology; Perceptions; India Radiology Trends; Super Specialization; Post Graduate; Training; Radiology