Executive director’s column By Keith M. Hume The wheel is turning
A dedicated, engaged membership is above all else a sign of a healthy, vibrant society. With this as our base, the rest is a matter of bold vision and smart planning.
H
ealthcare is a dynamic industry with a myriad of moving parts and a diverse group of stakeholders.
When maximized, enhanced healing, better patient care and environments for innovation flourish. Maximizing this potential requires inventiveness, collaboration, common vision and an unwavering commitment to advancement. SIR 2021—our first full-scale virtual meeting—reinforced how the digital realities brought on by the pandemic could not dampen the enthusiasm and energy of our members and the constant innovation that occurs in healthcare. A dedicated, engaged membership is above all else a sign of a healthy, vibrant society. With this as our base, the rest is a matter of bold vision and smart planning.
The most exciting—and challenging— opportunity I face is answering the call to help channel this energy in ways that put SIR and SIR Foundation at the center of interventional radiology. One of my goals is to ensure the work of our strategic plan emanates from this strong center in a hub-and-spoke fashion— with bidirectional inputs, delivering best-in-class IR education and training, advocacy, practice development, grants, research, and patient awareness. We must close gaps: between the physicians and patients who know about IR and those who don’t; between urban centers with access to a wide variety of IR specialists and rural areas where our treatments and therapies are in dire need; and between the value IRs deliver and the recognition and reimbursement matters we regularly navigate with hospitals and payers.
At SIR 2021, the creativity and drive of our members was evident in the sheer range of sessions and topics that were covered in new and exciting ways,
8 IRQ | SPRING 2021
including programming created by SIR’s medical students, residents and fellows, early career members, women in IR, and clinical associates. What better way to begin the meeting than through the eyes and ears of the next generation of IRs? Plenary sessions thoughtfully examined the value of IR, physician wellness, diversity, and collaboration to raise the global profile of the specialty. Clinical IR—the center of the meeting— was surrounded by a dizzying array of spokes that embodied the amazing work of our members from the field and on behalf of SIR and SIR Foundation. The scientific sessions on PAD and venous disease, interventional oncology, musculoskeletal interventions, TIPS, pediatric IR, and men’s and women’s health were not only well attended but enhanced by lively Q&A between expert faculty and members.
We watched as physicians and researchers were presented with awards by their colleagues for their scientific, scholarly and clinical achievements in IR. We listened as our Dotter Lecturers, Ziv J Haskal, MD, FSIR (2021), and Karim Valji, MD, FSIR (2020), offered compelling perspectives on the philosophy of interventional radiology to solve the toughest medical problems. Corporate supporters brought their best to the Virtual Expo, symposia and product showcases, while members met and relaxed together in our evening receptions. It was collaboration in action, all the spokes on the wheel of IR coming together to carry our field forward.
The confidence with which you look toward the next decade of IR is exhilarating and is shared by SIR leadership and staff alike. The wheel of IR is turning, with SIR and SIR Foundation at the center. Let’s keep moving, together.
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