Career in Musculoskeletal Radiology

[futureSuperStar]

It seems like many musculoskeletal radiologists perform a number of procedures and some have a clinic. I know one msk radiologist that performs ablations/embolizations of bone tumors and mets, kyphoplastys and screw fixation for fractures, and lots of US/fluoro guided injections for pain patients. However, I'm not certain what the rest of his week looks like when not doing procedures.

My question for msk radiologists on this forum: If one would like to do lots of procedures and have a clinic, would this limit your ability to read MRI and do for example sports imaging when not doing procedures? Basically is it possible to be an MSK radiologist that has a very procedural career while also retaining expertise in sports imaging enough to read MRI for athletes?

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[guytakingboards]

It seems like many musculoskeletal radiologists perform a number of procedures and some have a clinic. I know one msk radiologist that performs ablations/embolizations of bone tumors and mets, kyphoplastys and screw fixation for fractures, and lots of US/fluoro guided injections for pain patients. However, I'm not certain what the rest of his week looks like when not doing procedures.

My question for msk radiologists on this forum: If one would like to do lots of procedures and have a clinic, would this limit your ability to read MRI and do for example sports imaging when not doing procedures? Basically is it possible to be an MSK radiologist that has a very procedural career while also retaining expertise in sports imaging enough to read MRI for athletes?

Not an MSK rad but that's a pretty specific career path you're aiming for.

That MSK rad you described is practicing at the high-end of MSK procedures; most aren't doing that, even in academics. You'd both have to be at a large enough referral center to get bone tumor ablations but also coincidentally be at a big sporting institution to get a decent volume of sports imaging. I'm imagining a Duke or Stanford.

That being said, both high-end MSK procedures and sports imaging are a small part of MSK. Pain procedures are much more common. Sports imaging is usually a much smaller part of the day than degen/trauma/infection at most hospitals. As an MSK rad you'd probably be doing a fair amount of non-MRI like plain films and/or CT.

Bottom line, it can be done but its a narrow path.

 

[brownman23]

An MSK radiologist will definitely have expertise to read an athlete's MRI. I'd argue that a non-MSK radiologist will have plenty of expertise to read an athlete's MRI.

 

[futureSuperStar]

Really appreciate the responses. The guy I was referring to is dual boarded in msk rads and pain management which might explain his procedural inclination. He's also at an academic institution that's a high volume referral center. I thought it would be awesome to pair his procedural expertise with his knowledge of msk MRI for sports imaging (which it seems like is an important point of emphasis during msk fellowship). I know sports imaging wouldn't be a full time job on its own, but I wasn't sure how much of one's career needs to be dedicated solely to sports imaging to have a contract with professional teams for example.

 

[jazzman84]

I’m an MSK rad in a large private practice. I think you would be hard pressed to find a practice setup where you are running a pain clinic while still being a go to person for elite/VIP exams. I don’t know how many groups have an MSK person running any sort of clinic, but there are definitely very procedure heavy fellowships (Wisconsin and Colorado come to
mind) where MSK does things like kyphoplasty.

Most practices do not have contracts with pro sports organizations so if that’s an area your interested in then I would recommend looking at the groups in areas you are interested in, since those things are readily advertised.

It’s very common to do basic procedures like steroid injections, arthrograms, and biopsies in a normal practice. If you are more interested in spinal interventions or pain management, you just have to look for a setting that suits your needs.

 

[radsresident-US]

It seems like many musculoskeletal radiologists perform a number of procedures and some have a clinic. I know one msk radiologist that performs ablations/embolizations of bone tumors and mets, kyphoplastys and screw fixation for fractures, and lots of US/fluoro guided injections for pain patients. However, I'm not certain what the rest of his week looks like when not doing procedures.

My question for msk radiologists on this forum: If one would like to do lots of procedures and have a clinic, would this limit your ability to read MRI and do for example sports imaging when not doing procedures? Basically is it possible to be an MSK radiologist that has a very procedural career while also retaining expertise in sports imaging enough to read MRI for athletes?

Pretty rare to have a clinic. Common to do injections, arthrogram, biopsy, and other basic procedures. Ultrasound guided pain injections are also becoming common at places that have Msk ultrasound service.

More high end stuff than that tends to happen in ivory tower type places where the people doing them are focused proceduralists. And usually they are not the same people who do the athlete/VIP MRI reading. But, I’m sure someone could easily retain the skills to do both of those things, in addition to reading general Msk or even general radiology in call scenarios.
The issue is, the kind of high end academic center that would be doing either the VIP athlete imaging or ablations tends to be the type of place where people are sub subspecialized (ie one guy is the tumor person, another sports, another rheum disease, etc). So everyone reads the general Msk list, but when it comes to an easily distributable task - such as an athlete coming for an mri or an ablation procedure - they tend to get delegated to the expert

 

[Bluepineapple3]

@jazzman84 do you mind sharing how your typical day is spent reading vs procedures as an MSK radiologist? Is it a 80/20 mix? Always was curious but could never really find solid answers online. Thanks!

 

[bobjonesbob]

@jazzman84 do you mind sharing how your typical day is spent reading vs procedures as an MSK radiologist? Is it a 80/20 mix? Always was curious but could never really find solid answers online. Thanks!

Ep 036 – Musculoskeletal Radiology with Dr. Peter Young

Dr. Young is the Interim Section Head of Musculoskeletal Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, as well as the Director of Medical Imaging for the Cleveland Browns of the Natio…

www.undifferentiatedmedicalstudent.com

 

[AnxietyMonster]

Ep 036 – Musculoskeletal Radiology with Dr. Peter Young

Dr. Young is the Interim Section Head of Musculoskeletal Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, as well as the Director of Medical Imaging for the Cleveland Browns of the Natio…

www.undifferentiatedmedicalstudent.com

Second this podcast! I really enjoyed this episode and also appreciated Dr. Young's advice on life, money, happiness, etc.

 

[jazzman84]

Depends on the rotation, could be a third of the day if there are a lot of inpatient requests to approve. Usually not more than 1-2 hours total. Some practices will have one person doing all fluoro exams at a certain location so you could be doing GI cases, HSGs, and arthrograms throughout the day.