Pediatric Interventional Radiology

Purpose and Rationale for the Course: The purpose of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of pediatric interventional radiology and its role in the overall care of the pediatric patient. It happens too often that medical students are exposed to interventional radiology extremely late in their training and sometimes even after they have chosen a residency field. It is our hope that this course will allow for earlier interaction with this exciting specialty, inspiring some students to pursue it as a career choice. At the very least, a thorough understanding of what interventional radiology can offer will allow for the best care of pediatric patients by newly trained physicians no matter their area of specialty.

Target Students: This elective is designed for the third or fourth year medical student who is interested in pursuing pediatric interventional radiology as a career or is interested in obtaining a good understanding of interventional radiology. Students interested in a surgical subspecialty or in radiology but wanting more patient contact may view this elective as valuable. No prior experience in radiology is required.

Course Description: Students should expect to progress from observation to “scrubbing in” and get more actively involved with cases as the rotation evolves. This will occur mainly under the supervision of one of the three full time attendings, although pediatric radiology fellows may also be involved. The student is expected to attend the 7:30am radiology medical student, resident, and fellow lecture daily. In addition, an interesting case conference on Friday at noon is also encouraged. Students will participate in:

1. Supervised direct patient contact in the operating room, the interventional radiology suite, and at the patient bedside with an attending during which the student will observe procedures and tools used to perform those procedures.
2. Case based discussion during daily “morning viewbox rounds” and during inpatient rounds.
3. “Workstation teaching” during consultation work up.
4. Self-directed learning including presentations.
5. Didactic conferences in the hospital.

Course Learning Objectives: 

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Discuss the indications and contraindications for commonly performed procedures in interventional radiology.
2. List the steps of common interventional radiology procedures.
3. Describe the challenges facing interventional radiologists in performing procedures at the bedside.
4. Describe how diagnostic radiology modalities impact the decision to perform procedures and aid in the performance of procedures.
5. Identify the appropriate imaging studies for common clinical scenarios.