Humans of IR
Humans of IR Azzam A. Khankan, MD, PhD: King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
“Humans of IR” is a project by the SIR-RFS and Diversity and Inclusiveness Advisory Group which explores the origins, personal stories and connections that led our physicians to pursue a career in interventional radiology. Watch for entries in the series on SIR's instagram, @SIRspecialists.
How did you first discover IR? I studied at The Faculty of Medicine at Damascus University in Syria, where I received my MD and started my residency in internal medicine. During rotations in the intensive care unit, I gravitated toward bedside procedures such as the insertion of central venous or drainage catheters. I worked a lot with attending intensivists from different background specialties who taught me a great deal about bedside procedures. Those intensivists kept telling me about the uniqueness of interventional radiology in performing such procedures.
There was no IR training program or even structured practice of IR in Syria in 1996, so I decided to pursue radiology instead. After completing my training at Damascus University, I received a scholarship from the Japanese government to continue my postgraduate study and advanced clinical training in IR at Osaka University, in Japan, where I got my PhD in Advanced Medical Sciences- Interventional Radiology. After that, I joined the 2-year fellowship program at McGill University Health Canada. My international training has exposed me to multiple cultures of practice and widened my view of IR practice. After realizing my lack of exposure to pediatric patients, I have completed a
pediatric IR fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Who was your biggest inspiration? My biggest inspiration was my mentor and friend, Keigo Osuga, MD, an IR at Osaka University. Dr. Osuga is a phenomenal teacher and brilliant clinical scientist who taught me, perseverance and patience. We worked together on experiments testing new embolic microspheres, and on weekends wrote and prepared the manuscript that resulted in our first two papers published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. He also introduced me to the SIR Annual Scientific Meeting, which I have attended since 2004.
Kaname Tomoda, MD, the radiologist-in- chief at Osaka University, has also had an impact on me. When he supervised my procedures, his cool head and warm hands in addition to his kind manner of mixing humor, knowledge, expertise and
wisdom were so inspiring. Dr. Osuga and Dr. Tomoda taught me how to overcome the challenges of my profession with self-confidence and indefatigability, plus to seek the betterment of care for patients. Because of them, IR became not only a career but my passion, and my work become a joy and hobby.
By doing IR, what do you fight for? I fight to keep providing patients with good diagnostics and interventions, using IR’s sophisticated tools and techniques for the best outcome and betterment of patient care. I communicate with other specialists and look for opportunities to support comprehensive clinical care and utilize IR procedures in conventional or novel ways.
There is nothing more rewarding at the end of each day than the patient’s satisfaction with a procedure, especially when associated with a smile. I also fight to educate and train residents, fellows and medical students about IR. I greatly enjoy teaching; as a result, performing IR procedures and mentoring trainees makes me happy and allows me a kind of self-satisfaction that comes from knowing that I am making a difference in the lives of both patients and trainees. It is all to the service of man.
Azzam A. Khankan, MD, PhD (top middle), in training at Osaka University, Japan.
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