So This Is Radiology, Part One
I haven’t written much about radiology, namely because there isn’t much to write. Our clerkship has, unfortunately, been less than productive. I don’t know if it’s just poor scheduling plus lots of conferences and flus, but we’ve had a number of classes cancelled, and the morning readout sessions seem more focused on getting through the images than teaching about them. A number of us think it would have been better to just get a textbook, some websites, and take the month off to study. Most of the other clerkships I’ve had so far at least had some component of teaching during the physicians’ work day.
I’ve also become pretty frustrated with the constant radiologist obsession with income. It’s definitely more prominent in the younger docs and residents than the older physicians, but more than anyone else so far our lecturers have expounded the virtues of radiology for the amount of money one can make. Maybe I’ll feel the same way in one year’s time–I’m not above saying that I won’t–but as a third-year student, still fairly new to clinics and not-so-jaded, it was really unattractive.
I spent 45 minutes one day waiting for a fellow and an attending to start reading films while the attending whispered to the fellow about his new job, how much money he can make a month, and how much time he gets off per year. After being told “we’re about to start reading” 5 or 6 times, I finally got up and walked out of the room, feeling so frustrated. Had I spent another second in the room I felt like I would have started to turn jaded and bitter down to my core. (This was in addition to the fact that the radiologists in the room had described clinicians as “annoying” when they ask the radiologist for help reading a film.)
We must, of course, remind ourselves that this is not all radiologists, and maybe it’s not even a fair representation of the radiologists about which I write; maybe they had a bad morning, or didn’t get any sleep last night, or who knows what. But their effect on me was the same. Just another personal reminder that my behavior, attitude, and actions do affect the way other people see the world.
In light of the lack of time spent in the classroom, I have come up with a great list of radiology online resources, which are truly excellent:
LearningRadiology – My favorite, by far. Talks specifically for medical students, quizes, cases of the week, all in really easy to understand format. I thank this website for helping me to get a general understanding of the chest radiograph.
Yale Cardiothoracic Imaging – A beautifully-designed website, easy to use, with great images and illustrations, all annotated. Has normal anatomy plus a number of basic diseases.
Radiologyeducation.com and medicalstudent.com have a huge number of links; the UCSF Radiology website also has a great number as well.
I’ll be adding more as the week goes by; I have a number that are bookmarked, but I’m not ready to give the full Over My Med Body stamp of approval.
Go check out Scott Atlas at LPCH if you want to see and learn from a great radiologist at work. He can diagnose just by looking at scans of kids brains – absolutely amazing radiology and clinical understanding.
Thanks for posting those resources … I figured they had to be out there, but never found them myself. When I return to clinical medicine in July, I’ll definitely need to brush up on things like reading x-rays.
As for the financial discussions, I wonder if it’s because radiologists are likely to be the first physicians to be outsourced. They have reason to be scared about their pay — thanks to digital films, they are about to find themselves competing with physicians in India, Pakistan and other tech-savvy but low cost of living places. And to be honest, as long as the quality of the readings can be certified, I’m all for finding the lowest bidder.
If you want to commodify your profession, then beware of the consequences.
damningly helpful sites. I’ve been to Yale’s before in the past.
it’s funny how much the intern/resident radiologists i’ve come across also brag about their future lifestyles and incomes as well. i asked about outsourcing and they replied due to lawsuits, it won’t happen so much anytime soon that their livelihoods would be affected. altho, some US grads and board cert are being sent overseas with healthy perks to allow for nightly reads.
It’s true that radiology has become one of the most lucrative specialties in medicine. But, you have to remember, that a decade ago it wasn’t. A decade ago, everone wanted to be a CT surgeon and make the 7 figures. Now that interventional cardiology has made CABGs a near thing of the past, tides have shifted.
That’s medicine. Things are dynamic. Radiology is a hot field now, but who knows what happens in the future? (outsourcing is not the issue… it’s self-referal BTW).
The key when deciding ANY specialty is whether you *love* it or not. For me, being able to diagnose a patient’s problems and thereby help in their recovery is gratifying. I don’t hate patients, nor do I hate talking about cases with clinicians. I enjoy educating our clinical counterparts. Seriously, when in medicine have you made a treatment move without radiologic confirmation?
well im a radiologist practising in India and i luv to teach!! u ll enjoy my site best of luck..
welcome to the jaded world of medicine you soft youth.
in a couple of years you will be the asshole talking about income and lifestyle.
mark my words, it is impossible to overcome unless you are am extraterrestrial.
and it never gets any better until you retire or die.
love,
an attending rad in his 8th year
ps- everyone is an asshole in medicine except for the medical missions and some have assholes in there too.