Interventional Radiology is continuing to gain momentum among medical students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. On February 10, over 20 students from VUSM attended our 2nd Hands-On event, focusing on microsphere technology for the treatment of liver tumors.
The session was led by Dr. Dan Brown, chief of Interventional Oncology, who introduced the students to the treatment options available in interventional oncology for solid tumors by focusing on microsphere delivery options for radio- and chemo-embolization. The session was organized by MSTP students, Mary Ellen Koran and Jennifer Watchmaker. Two companies supplied setups demonstrating their microsphere technology.
Other participating interventional radiologists included Drs. Andrew Lipnik and Reed Omary, chair of Radiology, and interventional radiology fellow, Dr. Ashkan Shahkarami. They were able to assist in guiding the students and answer any questions, including what it's like to be in this field. These are the people that pioneer modern minimally-invasive image-guided medicine to diagnose and treat diseases in nearly every organ system.
As IR transitions into a primary specialty in medicine, the radiology department is looking forward to additional opportunities to involve the undergraduate medical audience through hands-on-sessions, research opportunities, and rotations in IR.
