Communicating with Your Department Chair: A Primer on How to Advocate for Your IR Section

Many interventional radiologists express concern about communicating their practice needs to their radiology department chairs. As a result, they may have difficulty getting support for hiring of additional physicians and staff, capital investments in equipment, and marketing of IR services. Some perceive that chairs have a preference for diagnostic radiology initiatives over interventional and want to know why. More importantly, they want to know how to approach their chair and succeed in their advocacy for IR. The key to success is understanding the perspective of the chair and the pressures and demands they face. That understanding allows the IR to propose their initiatives in a form that helps address some of the chair's needs and thus eases their path to success.