At the recent CIRSE Executive Committee Manuel Maynar was vociferous in arguing for the total independence of interventional radiology from radiology. He also argues that blocking other specialties from acquiring these skills is not in the best interests of the patient. Throughout the strategic review and in an article in the next issue of the CIRSE newsletter, he calls for the formation of multi-specialty task force that will set the training requirements for a new minimally invasive specialty.
According to Maynar, Seldinger started the revolution that has meant that "these techniques are now widely accepted as alternatives to open surgical procedures". However, he also points out that "this evolution away from the traditional invasive surgical procedures occurred not only through image guided interventions, but great leaps forward occurred also with the development of flexible endoscopy, laparoscopy, microsurgery and more recently with the development of robotics".
Maynar does not believe that it is right for any discipline to try to monopolize the application of these new techniques: "Being a pioneer in the development of a new technique or method does not grant the individual the right to exclude other properly trained specialists. Attempting to block the access of non-radiologists to these procedures, for example to the endovascular techniques, just because fluoroscopy is needed as a guidance method is a no win battle, because every physician trained in vascular pathology needs and wants to improve his or her surgical skills in endovascular techniques, especially the younger generations."
Maynar calls for the formation of a multi-specialty task force whose charter will be the development of training guidelines for a new minimally invasive specialty. "These guidelines will specify the type and length of training needed which may vary depending on the original training received, the required instrumentation needed at the training sites, the number of procedures needed to qualify as a training site and the qualifications of the faculty. Well supervised, uniform high quality training can then be made available to all physicians interested in minimally invasive therapies independently of their original field of specialization. At the end of their training the trainees must then be certified by a central certifying body in order to verify the quality of the training received. This certification should be for a time limited, with recertification required after a fixed period of time, in order to insure the maintenance of knowledge and skills to insure that the patient is getting the best care available by certified individuals."
Maynar concludes by calling for interventional radiologists to "lead the training of the new generations in this specialty in order to insure the achievement of our main goal: The best diagnosis and treatment for the patient".
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