Interventional Radiology in China: Current Status and Future Prospects

An Overview of Vietnamese Society of Interventional Radiology

Introduction

The Vietnamese Society of Interventional Radiology (VSIR) is one of the world's youngest interventional radiology (IR) societies, with more than 150 members. During the first decade of the development phase, in addition to a number of achievements, the VSIR has continued to address problematic circumstances.

Aim

This article aims to describe the current status of VSIR, to introduce VSIR to other IR societies.

Methods

We investigated VSIR, using internet sources and related academic and clinical papers.

Results

VSIR was founded in 2010 and has succeeded in advancing education and scientific research during the last 10 years.

Conclusion

VSIR is widely involved and accepted in Vietnamese medicine. We recommend the launch of an IR training program and support a unified global IR platform, for the benefit of both clinicians and patients in the near future.

Benchmark Status of Women Interventional Radiologists in China

PURPOSE

To evaluate the current status of women interventional radiologists in China and discuss possible measures to boost their representation in this male-dominated field for a more diverse workplace environment in the future.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The list of Chinese interventional radiologists obtained from the Chinese College of Interventionalists was retrospectively reviewed. Key information was extracted from the database, including sex, chronologic trends of representation of women interventional radiologists, position, education level, geographic distribution, interventional radiology (IR) practice time, departmental affiliation, and hospital classification.

RESULTS

Of the 13,855 entries, 7,324 (52.9%) were interventional radiologists having valid information. Among them, 684 (9.3%) were identified as women. The number of women interventional radiologists has continued to increase since the first woman registered in 1992. The average age of women interventional radiologists was 39.1 years ± 5.7 (range, 26-50). The majority of them were attending physicians (n = 280; 40.9%) with a bachelor's degree (n = 363; 53.1%). Most women interventional radiologists (n = 215, 31.4%) joined this specialty 5-9 years after becoming physicians, whereas 128 (18.7%) started practicing IR from the very beginning. A total of 42.4% of women interventional radiologists were from the departments of IR and cardiology.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the total number shows an upward trend, women interventional radiologists are still underrepresented. Education level, geographic areas, and other socioeconomic factors may simultaneously influence the population size of women interventional radiologists in China.

Changes in IR from 2007 to 2017 in China

In this article, the updated status of interventional radiology (IR) in China is reported and compared vs that a decade ago based on a poll carried out in 2017 in Jiangsu Province, where the economy and overall health level are among the best of the 31 provinces in China. All 98 polled centers responded, and 56 IR departments (57%) had become independent departments separate from the radiology department; 74 (76%) had inpatient wards. In 2017, there were 538 interventional radiologists performing IR procedures in Jiangsu Province, with a total of 69,277 procedures performed, with interventional oncologic procedures accounting for the largest proportion (58%).