IRs on the RiiSE: the UK IR student movement

Created - 31.12.2019

It’s fair to say that 2019 – a year that was monumental in the wider history of UK IR for obvious reasons – was significantly important for the medical student (and junior doctor) IR ‘movement’ in the UK. From the proliferation of events raising the profile of IR careers across the UK to the large representation of UK medical schools at CIRSE 2019 (featuring the thoroughly enjoyable ‘InspIRed’ dedicated student programme) and the hugely successful BSIRT trainee day during the BSIR ASM 2019, it’s a trajectory we must aspire to maintain in 2020.

It would be remiss of me to not acknowledge the positive engagement which I and others have had from the BSIR and BSIRT committees regarding student engagement over the last 12 months. An important mention is required for Gregory Makris who, in his dual role as BSIRT chair and chair of the CIRSE Training Forum last year, showed excellent leadership and travelled far and wide to spread the IR word and inspire medical students and junior doctors.

I’ve been involved in student and junior doctor engagement in IR in recent years through the Radiological Imaging and Intervention Symposium Edinburgh (RiiSE) project. I started work on the RiiSE project in 2017 after coming across an earlier published article in the JACR entitled: ‘Interventional Radiology Symposium for Medical Students: Raising Awareness, Understanding, and Interest,’ by Kattapuram et al. (2015). The inspiration drawn from article combined with my background interest in IR and the opportunity, I felt, to spark that same interest in other medical students were the inspiration behind the initiative. The RiiSE team, which has since grown year-on-year and has involved collaboration between medical students, junior doctors, trainees, consultants and academics, is now on the verge of running RiiSE20, our 3rd national symposium. 

We have been truly taken aback by the support and recognition we have received over the last 18 months, notably from the University of Edinburgh (Student Experience Grant), NHS Education Scotland (Innovation in Training Commended Award) and CIRSE 2019 (Students on Stage).

This ‘movement’ which truly came to the forefront in 2019, in now being much larger than RiiSE, is also exemplified by other excellent initiatives across the UK – such as NIRS and KiRCo as well as Bart’s NURC and YiiRS (both taking place in early 2020). The proliferation of student IR events last year and the growing student contingent attending the BSIR ASM and CIRSE meetings must be perceived as massively encouraging for the wider UK IR community. To top it all off, the end of 2019 also saw the launch of the IR Juniors (IRJ) group. IRJ, in aiming to harness the growing focus and enthusiasm on the future generation of UK IRs, has tasked itself with building and uniting a community of aspiring interventional radiologists and developing the UK’s first dedicated website for medical students and junior doctors interested in IR (IRJuniors.com). 

It is, without doubt, an exciting time to be a medical student interested in IR. The range of events focusing on the future of IR are providing a range of outlets for those already interested and raising the profile of IR careers to so many others. Additionally, the growing presence of IR on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram is clearly adding to this accessibility. The perspective from medical school now is that the tide does seems to be changing; stating that you are interested in a career in ‘IR’ now draws responses on the wards reflective of a growing awareness of the field. Outdated diagnostic radiology -themed comments on ‘dark rooms’, and ‘no patient contact’ are – whilst still present – encountered far less frequently. There is much ground yet to make however and I know the BSIRT will be working on several projects to continue to build awareness in the coming year.

Finally, while there is much to look forward to in 2020, I firmly believe that an important next step on this front is for BSIR members to push for greater integration of interventional radiology into medical school curricula across the UK. By organising core teaching, developing dedicated attachments and using resources such as the recently published CIRSE Medical Student Curriculum in the process, the IR community can meet this flourishing student ‘movement’ halfway and we can work together to develop the speciality.

RiiSE20 – the 3rd annual event organised by the RiiSE project – will take place at the Chancellor’s Building, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Edinburgh on the 4th of April. Medical students and junior doctors from across the UK and Ireland are invited for a day of keynote talks, break-out sessions, delegate presentations and interactive workshops. Registration is open and abstracts are being accepted (RiiSEdinburgh.com).

Niall Burke Final Year Medical Student, University of Edinburgh; BSIRT Medical Student Representative; Coordinator of Radiological Imaging and Intervention Symposium Edinburgh (RiiSE).