how do rads make so much $?

[chef]

i dont understand how rads make the highest salaries in medicine by reading a bunch of films (forgive my ignorance).. nothing in the world comes free, there's gotta be a catch for the high salaries, so what is it? horrible hours? do u have to read 500 films/day? ?? also rads isnt even in the top5 hardest to match list anymore??

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[MacGyver]

1. reading films all day is boring. interventional radiology is the way to go

2. there is a rads shortage, driving up salaries

3. Medicare reimbursement for rads procedures is high relative to other specialties--this will change eventually


Possible pitfalls to rads:

4. Long term, rads is facing a huge threat with teleradiology. If the ABR decides to certify foreign doctors overseas (which they are contemplating right now) then american rads will go into decline rapidly

5. Extremely long term, rads is facing another huge threat with computer automation. Its not here yet, and probably wont take over during our careers, but eventually thats where things are headed.

 

[Jim Picotte]

Another reason for the salaries is because of the efficiency of radiology. A good radiologist can just sit on his/her PACS system and just plow through a stack of films. There are two fees for each study, a technical fee (this pays for the tech, equipment, supplies) and the professional fee (the reading of the film). The professional fee isn't as high as most people would think for reading a CT or MRI, but because we can be fairly efficient, we can do a lot of volume. We don't have to wait for an OR to open, wait on a patient with 10 different problems in the office that will put us way behind...just read studies. It sounds bad for me to say this, but dealing with patients is a very inefficient use of your time. We're also helped by the explosive growth in studies being ordered in the last 10 years and the legal environment actually helps our bottom line as nervous primary care physicians are ordering studies that they know have a very low likelihood of showing any pathology.

The hours aren't as nice as everyone says however and in a lot of hospitals, they're expecting 24 hour a day on site coverage from at least one radiologist there at night and because of the shortage there is a lot of volume to read. If you look back in time, radiologists have always been well compensated but I agree that the salaries have grown a bit in the last 5 years and will come down someday. It's a good specialty though and I love it.

 

[droliver]

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
Sadly, being a patient's physician, counseler, social worker, confidant, and friend everyday, day after day is just too time consuming for me.

Wow...that's pretty cynical stuff, especially for being 2 months out of med school.

 

[RADRULES]

Reality is that we make a LOT of diagnoses in the hospital. We are pretty important, and so we make a lot of money.

There are treats to the field, but nothing I think is too serious. People have been telling me not to go into IR, that the future is not bright, turf wars, etc. I think all of that is bs, just like people predicting the end of rads 5 or 6 years ago. Now rads is one of the most popular fields again.

 

[Voxel]

I think that reading films is not boring. In fact it is incredibly challenging and interesting. We do get paid well for what we do. Radiology as specialty is becoming much more effecient than it used to be. However with this efficiency comes much more work and responsibility.

As a resident, what I have said can and does alter the management of patients. Clinicians appreciate my input. Right now it is my resident colleagues and later on it will be my attending colleagues.

 

[eddieberetta]

Originally posted by MacGyver
1. reading films all day is boring. interventional radiology is the way to go
2. there is a rads shortage, driving up salaries
3. Medicare reimbursement for rads procedures is high relative to other specialties--this will change eventually

Possible pitfalls to rads:

4. Long term, rads is facing a huge threat with teleradiology. If the ABR decides to certify foreign doctors overseas (which they are contemplating right now) then american rads will go into decline rapidly
5. Extremely long term, rads is facing another huge threat with computer automation. Its not here yet, and probably wont take over during our careers, but eventually thats where things are headed.

C'mon MacGyver, just because you think something is boring doesn't mean everyone else feels the same way. Anyone who thinks reading studies is boring should forget about radiology. I was initially all about IR, but the more I am exposed to DR, the more I like it (although I always liked it -- I just like it more now). The wide range of modalities, variety of cool anatomy covered and the sense of puzzle-solving posed by each case is really fun. And the variety is great for people with short attention spans (like me). I agree that VIR is very cool though.

The great thing about the job of a radiologist is that most of your time is spend on medical tasks. Radiologists do not arrange appointments, call secretaries, page social workers, arrange home care etc. etc. This kind of stuff fills up about 65% of an IMs day, and maybe 35% of a surgeon's. Scut work for rads (protocolling, helping techs) is maybe 5-10%. The rest is reading, procedures, and consulting with referring staff. You have time to focus on the job at hand. I love that.

As for your predictions about reimbursements -- no one can predict the future. The whole medical profession is being hit hard by managed care and a lot more spending on administrative stuff (the hospital CEO is now the richest "doctor" in the house). But radiology has always been a well-compensated specialty. Radiologists play a critical role in the smooth running of any healthcare enterprise, and cannot easily be replaced.

As for your predictions for the future, I disagree. Teleradiology will ease the pinch of on-call imaging but in-house rads will always be needed -- for DR AND IR.

And as for computer assisted imaging, it will be just that -- another productivity tool. And what makes you think any other area of medicine is immune? Radiology is a cutting-edge specialty that stays on the forefront of medicine and technology. There will be no shortage of work for radiologists. Just consider what radiology consisted of in 1970 and what it is today. The future is wide open.

 

[Thewonderer]

Diagnostic radiology and pathology are for people who went into med school and found out that they do not like patients (or dealing with patients). But of course, when they applied to med school, they had to say they liked patients very very much or else they would not have been admitted in the first place.

But this is also the beauty of medicine. You will find a specialty you like that fits your personality, be it diag. radiology, surgery, ped or even psychiatry! If you cannot find a field in medicine you do like, then there is probably no profession in the world that fits your taste.

 

[grouptherapy]

here, it's 8 bucks a series and watching the radiologist, he can fly through...

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by Thewonderer
Diagnostic radiology and pathology are for people who went into med school and found out that they do not like patients (or dealing with patients).

Wow, that's me...where do I sign up?

 

[squeek]

There are others of us entering diagnostic radiology who like patients VERY much. I am one of those. However, I found that I was very dissatisfied with the type of interactions forced upon me by the current medical system.

I love to chat with patients, to serve as a counselor and sounding board, and to help them with both social and medical aspects of life. However, such an endeavor is next to impossible today, without running yourself into the ground. You don't have nearly enough time simply to listen to patients, much less complete all of the other tasks vying for your attention. What ends up happening is you rush into someone's room at 6am, make sure they're not in pain, and you rush out and on to the next 35 patients, so you can hopefully roll home by 7:30 at night. Not what I had envisioned when I signed up for medicine.

I found that I love the intellectual challenge of radiology, and I realized that I can pursue meaningful interactions with individuals by volunteering outside of the sphere of my employment--i.e., at nursing homes, community centers, etc.

So not ALL of us are hermits and curmudgeons who can't take patient interaction! Besides, radiology is all about personal interaction--with colleagues, other physicians, technicians, you name it.

Just my opinion...

 

[Thewonderer]

Originally posted by squeek
There are others of us entering diagnostic radiology who like patients VERY much. I am one of those. However, I found that I was very dissatisfied with the type of interactions forced upon me by the current medical system.

I love to chat with patients, to serve as a counselor and sounding board, and to help them with both social and medical aspects of life. However, such an endeavor is next to impossible today, without running yourself into the ground. You don't have nearly enough time simply to listen to patients, much less complete all of the other tasks vying for your attention. What ends up happening is you rush into someone's room at 6am, make sure they're not in pain, and you rush out and on to the next 35 patients, so you can hopefully roll home by 7:30 at night. Not what I had envisioned when I signed up for medicine.

When you said interacting with patients = while they are taking their scans, you make sure they are not in active pain nor coding?

If so, do attendings do that or only residents do?

Yeah, but the interactions with colleagues are very different than interactions with patients. Fellow doctors and patients are two toally different beasts

 

[unregistered]

Volunteering brings up an interest q: can radiologist donate their time as primary care physicians. Are there any legal issues with this? I know at the free clinic i used to work at, we had to get board certified family practice or int med guys, but can a radiologist or gas doc do the same?

Otherwise, I think it would be tough or costly for either of these professions to donate their services to free clinics.

 

[Vince]

I had the same question as unregistered. I often travel to Mexico to help at free clinics and it would be nice to do that every so often even if I was a radiologist, because the patients appreciate your time/energy more. Here in the states I don't think that's the case as much. Any radiologists out there offer any services to international programs in ANY capacity?

to all the posters in this thread, very helpful information