JJ Hospital starts interventional radiology PG course, first in the city

Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals in Mumbai have launched a postgraduate course in interventional radiology. The sub-speciality applies minimally invasive procedures guided by imaging to diagnose and treat diseases in almost every organ system. The college will admit its first five students to the course this year. The interventional radiology concept has gained ground and involves less risk and recovery time compared to conventional open surgeries. The course will strengthen the radiology department of JJ Hospital.

Mumbai: The Grant Medical College (GMC) and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals became the first public medical college and hospital in the city to start a postgraduate course in interventional radiology, a medical sub-speciality of radiology utilising minimally invasive image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases in nearly every organ system.

HT Image

The institute, which is 179 years old, will be getting its first five students for interventional radiology this year.

Interventional radiology is the future of treating many diseases, said Dr Pallavi Saple, dean of GMC. “We undertake interventional radiology in the hospital since we are a pioneer institute, we thought it is high time to start training students too since the non-surgical and non-invasive way of treatment is here to stay. For example, as much as heart bypasses are concerned, there are more angiography and angioplasties done now.”

The interventional radiology concept gained momentum as it diagnoses and treats patients using invasive techniques, and involves less risk, less pain, and takes less recovery time compared to conventional open surgeries.

“Once the super speciality postgraduate program begins, research work will go hand-in-hand. We will also have more interventional radiologists and thereby patients will benefit,” said Saple.

To strengthen the radiology department of JJ Hospital, Dr Hemant Deshmukh, the ex-dean of KEM Hospital, joined the department as an honorary professor a month back.

“In 2007, we first felt the need to have a fellowship course for interventional radiology. We were not being recognised as a separate sub-speciality of radiology, and a lot of corporate hospitals in India were not ready to employ interventional radiologists. They always worked in tandem with the referring physician or surgeons,” he said.

Dr Deshmukh said from treating random diseases, this sub-speciality of radiology has come a long way as many interventional radiologists are doing onco-intervention.

“Earlier, it was closing down blood vessels, looking at normal blood vessels that are bleeding, or blood vessels organs which have become cancerous. Interventional radiologists are now doing a lot of onco-interventions, which is a major flare-up of teaching in this sub-speciality. Newer types of therapies have come into the picture, and having a postgraduate interventional radiology program was a need of the hour,” he said.