It is great the rads makes all that money now. But in the future you are going to see all the xrays, cts etc etc be done by techs and out sourced to india or china because the hospitals are going to find a cheap contract. A radiologist can't do anything other than read a scan. You can always find someone that will do that cheaper. You can't outsource going to the OR!
God bless clinical medicine
I can't believe someone is this IGNORANT. Radiologists do more different procedures than almost any other specialty. This is DURING general radiology training.
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General radiologists perform a wide variety of procedures:
Biopsies - Biopsies are performed with image guidance (usually CT, ultrasound, or fluoroscopy). Common biopsy sites include the neck, lung, breast, mediastinum, liver, kidney, adrenal glands, chest or abdominal masses, or other soft tissue masses.
Angiograms - Angiography is a specialized field within radiology. Angiography is performed for a variety of indications including trauma, atherosclerotic disease, planned surgery (i.e., free flap planning), as well as the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary embolic disease.
Arthrograms - Arthrograms are commonly performed on the knee, shoulder, and hip. Virtually any joint is accessible to the radiologist.
Interventions and Drainage - Interventional radiology involves using catheters and drains to treat obstructions (i.e., biliary system, urinary system, GI tract) and drain abscesses. Also interventionalists create and maintain vascular fistulae and other types of venous and arterial accesses (PICC lines, central venous catheters, Groshongs, etc.). Insertion of IVC filters and vascular stents and grafts is also routinely performed. Treatment of atherosclerotic disease is a routine part of interventional procedures. Endovascular interventional techniques and materials are rapidly developing, and abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is beginning to be the domain of the interventional radiologist.
Other miscellaneous procedures that radiologists perform include GU studies (cystograms, IVPs, retrograde urethrograms, hysterosalpingograms, etc.) and GI studies (barium and Hypaque enemas, upper GI, esophagography, fistula and sinograms, etc.).
Depending on the practice mix, the procedures can range from plain film x-rays (a large proportion of which will be chest x-rays and bone films) to MRI, CAT scan, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and vascular and nonvascular interventional procedures. The time spent on various procedures varies widely, with plain film readings taking anywhere from thirty seconds to five or ten minutes depending on the complexity of the plain film study and the number of prior studies necessary to compare, to more complex procedures that can take up to four to six hours. Fortunately, the radiologist's satisfaction can be great when reading both the routine plain film or performing the most technically challenging vascular and nonvascular interventional procedures.
