Education
Where are they now? The first IR residents
O
n March 18, 2016, the first group of trainees matched into the all-new integrated IR residencies as part of the
NRMP Main Residency Match. Seven Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited integrated IR residency programs participated, filling 100% of their 15 residency positions.1
One year later, in 2017, the independent IR residency program was approved, creating two residency pathways into IR. The creation of two pathways (integrated and independent) ensured that medical students could apply directly to the IR residency (the integrated path) and that physicians who chose IR during DR residency were able to pursue IR training after completion of DR residency (the independent path). The existence of two training paths also provided radiology departments and institutions with some flexibility in implementing the new residency.
The first group of IRs to go through these new pathways have now graduated and firmly enmeshed in their practices, and the desire for IR residencies has only grown. IR Quarterly spoke to three of those IR residency pioneers to hear what their experience was like.
Nishant Patel, MD, MBA, and Michael Cline, MD, both graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018. Minhaj Khaja, MD, MBA, FSIR, was the IR program director and Janet Bailey, MD, was the diagnostic program director.
Kapil Wattamwar, MD, completed the first cycle of the integrated IR residency at Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2023. His program director was Jacob Cynamon, MD, FSIR.
1998 Clinical pathway in IR
Clinical Pathway in IR is established as a training path toward candidacy for the American Board of Radiology's diagnostic radiology primary certificate and vascular radiology Certificate of Added Qualification.
18 IRQ | WINTER 2025
What drew you to IR? What made you want to be an IR? Nishant Patel, MD, MBA: I was deciding whether to do cardiothoracic surgery or vascular surgery, both of which I literally love because I love those organ systems. But then I was on a rotation and I happened to have radiology rounds where they showed us a really cool foreign body retrieval case that the IR performed. That was the moment where I thought this is probably the right specialty for me. It’s a specialty that allowed for a lot of creativity in problem solving. That was extremely appealing to me, especially the multidisciplinary kind of interaction that you have with so many different doctors.
Michael Cline, MD: I went into residency not exactly sure if I 100% wanted to do IR. Then, very early in residency, I realized that IR was my passion. I chose radiology because I enjoy the diagnostic aspects of it, but didn’t realize until I’d started doing diagnostic rotations that my passion is ultimately in patient care. I quickly realized that IR was going to be the best pathway for me. However, I was initially intimidated by a lot of the procedures and the complexity of everything, and I also wanted comprehensive diagnostic training. But I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be fulfilled without the majority of my day involving direct patient interaction and care.
Kapil Wattamwar, MD: At the time, IR had a brand-new training paradigm and was still building a foundation. I felt that I was joining something exciting, and I could be a part of pioneering something new. When you zoom out, everyone wants the same outcomes in a less invasive way. Everyone would want a same-day procedure over a long hospital stay. Everyone wants to avoid inherent surgical risks. With IR, you can leverage
1999 2000
technology to access a part of the body minimally invasively and perform any kind of intervention once you get there. The possibilities are endless. I knew from day one that if I joined the residency, then I would be able to be part of that conversation and not have to join it years later when I was applying.
Since graduating, what has your career looked like? NP: I applied across the country to several groups that have a clinic, round on patients and do consults in the hospital. I interviewed at a few and got lucky to land the job with the group I’m in, which is based in Denver’s Radiology Imaging Associates. It’s a large, subspecialized radiology group, but every subspecialty gets to do their subspecialties. I’m a 100% IR physician with a clinic, APP support staff and multiple hospitals.
MC: I went to Ohio State University to work for 2 years and now I’m in New Orleans working at Ochsner, which is more of a hybrid than the kind of academic centers I’ve previously worked at. Initially, I was interested in education and I think it’s still an interest of mine. But as I got more comfortable with the breadth and complexity of IR procedures, I realized I just want to do procedures, so that’s ultimately my passion much more than education. Where I’m at now is perfect because I’m primarily a clinical interventional radiologist. I’m 100% IR. I do get a little bit of education, but it’s not my primary responsibility.
Do you think that the IR residency prepared you for your career that you’ve had? NP: I definitely think so. If you’re coming from a purely diagnostic background, I don’t know that you’re prepared with a mindset of how to make your IR practice bigger or how to recruit patients. With the IR mindset, we can help a lot of patients that aren’t being helped. We can provide that help, even from primary care directly to us, and give them some knowledge
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