Radiologists and residents...are you happy in radiology?

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TheBoneDoctah

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I haven't seen a thread in the radiology forum yet like this and feel it would really be a big help to students thinking about radiology. If any current residents and/or radiologists can comment that would be great. Thank you.
1. Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
2. What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
3. What's the best part of your job?
4.What is one thing you would change about your job?
5. Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
6. Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
7. Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
8. Which state do you practice in?
9. Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
10. Would you choose radiology again?
11. If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
12. If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?

Anything else you can think of that would be helpful for students. Thank you
 
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I LOVE radiology. I'm not going to say something ridiculous like I'd rather do radiology than go on vacation jetskiing at the beach or traveling out of the country, but I do enjoy going into work each day, and I recognize that I am privileged to be able to enjoy the work I do rather than go in just for the paycheck.

I chose radiology because it is efficient and not only do you learn so much interesting details about the imaging manifestations of most diseases, you in essence describe pictures to people as your job. I was an engineer before I came to medical school, and in association with that, I've always been a fan of efficiency and cutting out the bull**** from my daily work. I really disliked the clinical years of medical school because I felt like the whole clinical field of medicine was inefficient and full of paperwork due to the medicolegal and insurance environment. Clinical fields were too full of rounding and talking on and on about management, and surgical fields require a certain passion for cutting people open in the OR that I do not have. Also, as someone who hates paperwork, the thought of filling out daily progress notes alone is bad, let alone all the social issues and the red tape, I could see that dealing with all that inefficiency would eventually give me an ulcer some time down the line due to frustration.

Radiology is fast, efficient, and right up my alley in terms of minimizing bull**** when it comes to work. The work is interesting and has way more variety than virtually any other field -- one moment I am reading an MR brain, the next a CT abdomen/pelvis, then a chest radiograph, then a renal ultrasound, then a HIDA scan, and so on. There is no real bread and butter in radiology, in contrast to most other specialties. Virtually every hospitalized patient gets imaged, so I get to see almost every interesting case in the hospital instead of being stuck with a few rocks. Even the most complicated case does not take long before I leave it behind and can move on to something new. Dictations are nothing in terms of paperwork compared to filling out daily progress notes on patients. I feel like I'm making a difference every day especially when I am on call, and I really could not imagine being happier in any other specialty. And I also enjoy seeing patients and doing procedures, and interventional radiology provides just enough of that for me without it becoming an undue burden in terms of the occasional unpleasant patient encounter that I saw as an intern in internal medicine. If it weren't for radiology, I don't think I'd be nearly as happy in any other specialty.

I'm sure they exist, but I personally have not yet met a single radiologist or resident who was unhappy to be in radiology. Transplants from other specialties are common in radiology, but the reverse of radiologists switching to other specialties is rare. I also often hear of medical students or other specialties saying "Oh, I could never sit in a dark room in front of a computer all day by myself," but that kind of practice only happens if you want that to happen. If you want to do procedures, you can gear your practice towards seeing many patients a day.
 
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I'm a first year radiology resident. I absolutely love my job. I'll post some quick answers to your questions below.

What was your reason for specializing in radiology in the first place : I like radiology more than any other rotations.
What's the best/worst part of your job? The best part is when you make a finding that the clinician didn't see (happens regularly) that changes patient management.
Do you like your hours (how many hours a week do you work)? Residents work 55 to 70 hours per week depending on call. Try to read at home at least an hour per night after work.
Do you feel like you have enough time with your family? Yes.
Do you work in an academic center? Yes.
Do you feel you are fairly compensated? Yes, for a resident.
Would you choose radiology again? Yes.
If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be? I know nothing about the actual practice of dermatology, so I'll say dermatology.
 
Best field in medicine. I genuinely enjoy the profession. It also helps to be in a good group.

Unless you want to do teleradiology, it's hard to find a job exactly where you want or in highly desirable cities. However, very few specialities except primary care, ED, derm, neurosurgery, etc can you name your city. But you can still find jobs in decent cities.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
I am just curious as to how everyone is liking their specialty and choice of career:

Residents and docs...are you happy working in radiology?
What was your reason for specializing in radiology in the first place?
What's the best/worst part of your job?
Do you like your hours (how many hours a week do you work)?
Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
Do you work in an academic center?
Which state do you practice in and do you see any trends in working hours/job market/salaries in your state? (for example, maybe it is really hard to get a job in X city)
Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
Would you choose radiology again?
If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be?
Anything else you would like to add?
Click to expand...
OP since you're asking about different specialties like radiology and emergency medicine, you might like this book:

Amazon product ASIN 0071790276
 
Not sure if it's something on my end, but the book doesn't seem to be showing up where I am, so for good measure it's The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty (3rd edition) by Brian Freeman.
 
bashwell said:
Not sure if it's something on my end, but the book doesn't seem to be showing up where I am, so for good measure it's The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty (3rd edition) by Brian Freeman.
Click to expand...
Yeah I was having that problem too on my phone, but it shows up on the computer.
 
kirbymiester said:
I was going to post this! Whenever someone posts some BS on AM that makes my brain and soul hurt, I find myself pulling this article up.

Equally biased and half-truthful as AM, but tons more fun.
Click to expand...
Not sure if OP or others new to radiology are aware, but just in case: AM = Aunt Minnie. A famous or infamous (depending on your perspective) forum for radiology, to say the very least.
 
I changed a few of the questions.

I haven't seen a thread in the radiology forum yet like this and feel it would really be a big help to students thinking about radiology. If any current residents and/or radiologists can comment that would be great. Thank you.
1. Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
2. What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
3. What's the best part of your job?
4.What is one thing you would change about your job?
5. Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
6. Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
7. Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
8. Which state do you practice in?
9. Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
10. Would you choose radiology again?
11. If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
12. If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?

Anything else you can think of that would be helpful for students. Thank you
 
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1. Hell yes I'm happy. 9/10.

2. I hated all other fields in medicine and took a shot at radiology. It paid off bigtime

3. Everything. I get to work at 8, hours after my friends in other fields. I sit in a comfy chair and look at interesting cases all day. A super busy day really just equates to dictating words faster with more chance for typos and scrolling a mouse faster. I rarely leave the hospital after 5.

4. Training is too long. Intern year is an absolute waste, and 4th year of radiology has turned into a waste now that boards are taken as a 3rd year. People can talk up mini-fellowships all they want, but the vast majority of groups and academic positions don't really care too much about them.

5. As above, love my hours. No call is ~50 hour week. 60-70 with a call week.

6. Yes.

7-9. Irrelevant, I am a resient

10. Hell yes

11. I would leave medicine

12. Whatever makes you happy. There is no wrong answer to this question, all fellowships are valuable. It is the mini-fellowships that I think are a waste -- since they aren't really being valued by most groups and hospitals, it is essentially a wasted year you should be making 5X the salary--just like internship.
 
1. Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
Absolutely. 9/10. Awesome field and job.

2. What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
Extremely interesting field when you are actively interpreting images. Also, it seemed like a specialty you could do as long as you want. You don't get the praise from the patients or the referrers but you do realize how lost the health system would be without you.

3. What's the best part of your job?
Great cases everyday. At least at this stage in my training I feel engaged pretty much the whole workday. However, if you have a day of plain films, you can also turn on autopilot at times.

4.What is one thing you would change about your job?
I also feel that the 4th year is BS if we take our boards during the 3rd year. Makes no sense. The mini fellowship idea is a joke. Nobody cares what you did during R4 once you're a fellow.

5. Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
Pretty good. Not as good as derm or outpatient medicine. Much better than surgical fields during training at lest. Probably 40-50 hrs/wk up to 60-70 if call shifts or moonlighting a lot. However, from what I have heard from attendings 50-60 hrs/wk can be expected as an attending, which is very similar to what most surgeons work as attendings. Maybe not trauma surgeons but most others. Just an FYI.

6. Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
Yes.

7. Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
Large community hospital with employed academic type radiology department.

8. Which state do you practice in?
Midwest.

9. Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
Yes if medical school in the US didn't force the majority of student to have over $300,000 in loans once interests acrues during residency. So since that is not the case, I feel we are not fairly compensated.

10. Would you choose radiology again?
Absolutely. Best decision ever.

11. If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
Maybe a surgical subspecialty.

12. If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?
IR, Neuro, or MSK.
 
Medicine/radiology is only a mistake if you even entered the field to make money. It is intellectually stimulating and you get to help people by practicing, even if rads is only indirect help.

That said, it is still a very nice income. The ceiling of salary for salary isn't As high as law in business, but the floor is significantly higher (and you don't had to sell your soul to make that money). Also doesn't have the same caste system that those schools have. Joe Schmo DO from community hospital in North Dakota will make the same salary, probably even more, than the Harvard Med school/ucsf residency trained person.
 
Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
Yes, 8-9

What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
Interventional Radiology

What's the best part of your job?
Diagnostic: Being able to diagnose pathology across a wide spectrum of specialties. I can intelligently converse with neurology, GI, urology, ER, medicine, you name it. There aren't many (if any at all) specialties that can do this.
IR: Being able to offer minimally invasive therapies that avoid surgery and save lives on a daily/weekly basis.

What is one thing you would change about your job?
Sometimes I think it might be nice to get a little more respect from patients. But this isn't a big deal. I didn't go into radiology for the glory.

Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
Yes; 55

Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
Yes

Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
Academic

Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
Sort of

Would you choose radiology again?
Yes

If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
If I HAD to, maybe orthopaedics; I enjoy procedures/surgery and Ortho is very well compensated.

If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?
IR. Hands down, IR.
 
Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
Yes, 8-9 out of 10.

What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
Disliked long term patient interactions. Found most 3rd year clinical rotations tedious.

What's the best part of your job?
Regular work hours. Predictable work schedule 8 am - 5 pm. No nights or weekends.

What is one thing you would change about your job?
I'm in a very small PP. My co-workers whom I share the worklist with are very old, not computer savvy and very slow so I end up doing the bulk of the day's work. But that will change as we are in the process of hiring new blood.

Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
Yes; 45

Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
Yes

Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
Private practice

Which state do you practice in?
CA (SoCal)

Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
Sort of

Would you choose radiology again?
Yes

If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
Not sure I'd be happy doing anything else in medicine.

If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?
MSK
 
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Resident here

1. Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
Love it, 9-10.

2. What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
Intellectually stimulating field with less paperwork than other specialties. Making the diagnosis is my favorite part of medicine and I get to do it multiple times each day.

3. What's the best part of your job?
Hard to pick my favorite. But to list a few...interesting cases, great co-workers, and regular hours outside of call.

4.What is one thing you would change about your job?
Call can be pretty tough. It offers many learning opportunities, but in my program we are on by ourselves overnight in a relatively busy level 1 trauma center. Sometimes the studies and pages come in incredibly fast and there is only so much that you can do as one person. Still, you make it work and I prefer this system to the alternative of having an attending on with you. It would be nice if the volume was about 20 percent less, so that's what I would change.

5. Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
Overall the hours are fair, but variable. 7:30-5pm in general on regular days for ~50 hr work week. About 8 weeks of night float and 8 weeks of evenings during residency as well as numerous scattered weekend shifts. Including morning readouts the night float weeks approach 80 hrs.

6. Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
Relative to many other residents in different specialties absolutely.

7. Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
Academic

8. Which state do you practice in?
I'm in the Northeast

9. Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
Yes

10. Would you choose radiology again?
Absolutely. I was between several specialties and I am glad to have chosen radiology. I have a pretty optimistic view of medicine, and I'd probably be happy in most field. However, radiology is an especially great fit for me.

11. If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
Internal medicine. I enjoyed my intern year and paperwork aside found the specialty interesting. Also there are many fellowship options.

12. If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?
The most useful job market wise is probably Mammo or IR.
 
scootad. said:
Are you happy working in radiology (0-10)?
Yes, 8-9 out of 10.

What is your main reason for choosing radiology as your specialty?
Disliked long term patient interactions. Found most 3rd year clinical rotations tedious.

What's the best part of your job?
Regular work hours. Predictable work schedule 8 am - 5 pm. No nights or weekends.

What is one thing you would change about your job?
I'm in a very small PP. My co-workers whom I share the worklist with are very old, not computer savvy and very slow so I end up doing the bulk of the day's work. But that will change as we are in the process of hiring new blood.

Do you like your hours and how many hours do you work/week?
Yes; 45

Do you feel like you have enough time with your family?
Yes

Do you work in an academic center, private practice, etc?
Private practice

Which state do you practice in?
CA (SoCal)

Do you feel you are fairly compensated?
Sort of

Would you choose radiology again?
Yes

If you HAD to choose a different specialty, what would it be and why?
Not sure I'd be happy doing anything else in medicine.

If you had to complete a fellowship, which would it be?
MSK
Click to expand...
Scootad, just out of interest, where did you do your residency? I'm wondering if you need to do it at a gunner place to get a good PP job with reasonable hours like yours?
 
Mid Tier East coast university program. Definitely not considered an elite program, but reasonably solid.
 
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