Finding IR research as student

[MossPoh]

The title kind of says it.

Is there any efficient way to find research opportunities in Interventional Radiology as a 3rd/4th year student?

I'm at a distinct disadvantage from the structure of my school. We do not have a home institution radiology program. Also, our clinical rotations are placed in "regional campuses" which are focused on community hospitals without much academic medicine. The site I'm going to has an ob/gyn, peds and family medicine residency (I think) but that is about it.

I'd really love to get involved with some kind of research for educational purposes and exposure, but I have no idea how to even find a mentor when everyone is private practice. Aside from Interventional, I also have a pretty big interest in EMR/EHR/PACS type implementation, organizational structure and usability kinds of things, but that is also a bit tricky.

If it makes a difference, I will be in Pensacola, FL for rotations.

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[7summits]

If you haven't already, I'd suggest you check out the Find a Mentor link on the SIR site to get you started: http://directory.sirweb.org/mentors/

This was extremely helpful for me when I was trying to find out more about IR as a 3rd year. Contact several of them and ask about research and also shadowing, if you're interested. If you do decide that IR is for you, a good mentor is really indispensable.

Is there another medical school with a Radiology program close by? If so, you might want to try reaching out to their faculty. I have a friend who did this and eventually got a research project this way. It required sending a lot of emails, but eventually it happened!

If you're finding yourself too limited in Florida, consider looking for a mentor/contacting IRs in another area where you would be willing to spend a month and do a research elective in your 3rd year or at the beginning of your 4th year. Perhaps another city where you have family or significant ties? Or an institution/region you're looking at for residency?

Hope this helps!

 

[MossPoh]

Yea, I tried to get in touch with someone at UF and it fell through. Now, I'm moving further away from Gainesville and won't have the opportunity either way.

Thinking about it, I guess university of south alabama is the closest program to where I'll be. Our program is "primary care oriented", which basically means they don't give us any free time third year to explore options because we are required to do rotations like geriatrics.

I'll check out the site and see if there is anyone close to where I'll be.

Thanks.

 

[Gvataken]

I agree. I think it would benefit you to look up a nearby mentor in sirweb.org and then see if you could do a research rotation at their facility. I had a student do that this past year for a month and now we have a publication that is going to come out in the January edition of Vascular Disease Management. So, it can be of benefit to both the motivated student and the attending. I know that the baptist and cardiac vascular insitute in miami has had students rotate through there to do research so that may be an option.

GOod luck

 

[phatfarm]

MGH is pretty big on PACS/EHR/EMR stuff. Try getting in touch with Dr Rosenthal at MGH. They have an entire group there (The Radiology Consulting Group) dedicated to radiology and business issues, which is separate from the academic side of things. You probably want to be working on the academic side of things.

You should email as many different places as you can, looking up the type of research each attending is doing, and constructing an email why you'd like to work with them. A lot of radiology dept webpages have lists of current research projects (UCSF) so those are also good places to look. I managed to find a research mentor as a 2nd year med student and published a few things before residency which I think was very helpful in my career.

 

[MossPoh]

Thanks everyone. I greatly appreciate the replies. I will will undoubtedly get the ball rolling as early as possible on this stuff.

My dad actually did his fellowship in cardiovascular radiology at Jackson memorial and worked at Miami Heart for a while. Since he is in his 70s now and hasn't participated in academia since the 1970s, his connections are probably all but vanished.

It looks like my third year will just entail trying to get exposure and learn as much as I can during free time while trying to set things up for early 4th year!

Thanks again everyone for the replies so far.