Trainees first

Why participate as a program director?

• Support and address some of the educational needs that affect the training of future interventional radiologists.
• A great way to stimulate interest in and provide guidelines for the critical evaluation of abstract proposals.
• Promote a culture of inclusion and strengthen the specialty of interventional radiology (IR).
• Empower others and at the same time strengthen your leadership skills.

What are the responsibilities of the participating program director?

• The program director will select their residents to review and comment on the abstracts that have been assigned.
• After the review by the trainee, the program director will assess the reviews and provide the trainee with feedback on their review.
• The program director is responsible for submitting the final review (score and comments) into the review module.

Participation is optional. Program directors may participate solely as abstract reviewers without participating in "Trainees First."

Why participate as a resident?

• Receive valuable training on how to review abstract proposals and learn the overall abstract review process of the SIR Annual Scientific Meeting, which attracts over 5,000 attendees each year.
• Increase your critical evaluation skills and allows for personal growth.
• Cultivate a collaborative relationship with the program director and your colleagues.

How to participate?

• To volunteer as a program director, please send an email to annualmeeting@sirweb.org. You will receive a form to collect your details and the names and emails of your residents who will participate.
• Residents may participate in the review of the scientific abstracts for the SIR Annual Scientific Meeting by encouraging their program director to participate in the program.
• If you are selected to participate, you must be available to review the abstracts assigned to you by your program director. (Review dates to be posted). SIR membership is required.
• Participating programs will be recognized on the SIR website, APDIR website, and in the official SIR 2025 JVIR supplement.

• “It was a great opportunity to participate! My only comment is it would have been nice if the trainee could log on electronically and complete preliminary reviews that were then sent to the attending. This would make it feel more official (and save on paper).”
  — Michael R. Acord, MD, FSIR, Attending Interventional Radiologist, Program Director, Pediatric Interventional Radiology Fellowship Program, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
• “We really enjoy this program. Looking forward to participating again next year!“
  — Jennifer R. Buckley, MD, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Interventional Radiologist, Saint Luke's
• “This is a great opportunity for our trainees it not only sparks interest in the variety of research/educational presentation ideas; The trainees now have a better understanding of how the submission process works and gain some insight into the "peer review" process that most trainees are not familiar with. We were able to provide an algorithm-based overview of the structured process of peer review for these abstracts and will build upon this approach in abstract review to apply the process to full scientific journal submissions. Our two trainees learned balanced unbiased feedback and constructive critique. I chose familiar subjects and subjects that they do not have much familiarity with to show that a reviewer must have some knowledge of the subject for an effective, fair review. We appreciate the opportunity.”
  — Paula Novelli, MD, FSIR, Vascular and Interventional Radiology Specialist, University of Pittsburg Medical Center
• “It was an excellent opportunity for resident engagement, and the resident’s reviews contributed valuable perspective and feedback.”
  — Jason C. Smith, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Associate Professor, Professor of Radiology, Head, Radiology, Interventional Radiology Division, Loma Linda University
• “It’s a great program and I suggest to keep offering it each year. I think my trainees like participating and they learn a lot from it.”
  — Bedros Taslkian, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director of Clinical Research Integration, Director, Vascular and Interventional Radiology Research Program, NYU Langone Health