? about Interventional Rads

[jmou123]

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Could someone please tell me what the work hours are like for an interventional radiologist. I am planning on contacting a doctor in the community for some other questions, but I want to find a few things out here before hand. Thanks in advance.

 

[f_w]

The work hours are whatever you want them to be.

It depends on the type of hospital you are practicing at, the type of radiology practice, how many people in your group, how strong your group is politically in the hospital the presence of a cancer center or trauma service, whether you deal with dialysis access etc.

Some IR's will work 9-5 and limit themselves controllable cases. Others are 'allways on' and will gladly do a simple central line at 11pm.

Nobody will be able to give you a reasonable number for work hours, it is highly variable.

 

[jmou123]

Thanks for the reply. I guess that I am really attracted to radiology because of the great hours. However, I really like the idea of being able to do procedures....so, I have started thinking about IR. The only downfall is....I have heard that you give up the great hours the minute you sign up for IR.
Any other input or experiences out there would be appreciated. Thanks again

 

[f_w]

Mh, ehm if you are attracted to radiology for the 'great hours', you might want to re-think your priorities a bit. While there are radiology gigs that are stricly 9-5 or even part time, it is not the norm. The times that the radiologist came to the hospital at 10, left at 4 and took wednesday afternoon off to golf are long gone. More likely you will work in a 7-10 member group (-->take 1:6 to 1:9 call with little sleep) and put in similar hours to your clinical colleagues (medical not quite surgical). Hospitals today want 24/7 radiology coverage. While there are commercial practices that offer various forms of teleradiology overnight coverage, this costs money and will take away from your bottom line. Not all hospital based practices avail themselves of the telerad services, so don't expect the 'great hours' as a given.

Go into radiology because
- you like to diagnose (and sometimes treat) conditions from the entire spectrum of medicine
- are interested to work as a consultant to other physicians
- have an interest in the technology involved
- etc

Don't go into radiology for
- the 'great hours'
- the 'big money'
- the 'insane job market'

I can guarantee you that the first set of attributes of radiology will be there when you come out (probably 6-7 years from now). I can't guarantee you that ANY of the second set of attributes will be there.