radiology and private practice

[mikedoc]

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As a radiologist, can you open a private practice or group practice (by this I mean, by having a private practice, there's no max for earning potential such as salary, but you could work as much as you want and sky is the limit for earning potential)?

Also,
does radiology require a lot of analytical thinking more than surgery fields?

Which field in medicine would require analytical thinking most?

 

[hans19]

As a radiologist, can you open a private practice or group practice (by this I mean, by having a private practice, there's no max for earning potential such as salary, but you could work as much as you want and sky is the limit for earning potential)?

Also,
does radiology require a lot of analytical thinking more than surgery fields?

Which field in medicine would require analytical thinking most?

Regarding your first question:

You can work as much as you want, work yourself into the ground, and alienate your family and friends in almost ANY field to make a lot of money. But after a certain number of consecutive hours you are less efficient, you start missing things, you get sloppy-- you'll screw up and hurt the patient and yourself. After endless days of same shi-- different day you get burned out. And if you weren't doing it because you liked it in the first place, you will be miserable.

Now this is the typical part of the post where someone rants about why you are in medicine in the first place if your main motivation is money... blah blah blah... You should have gone to business school... more blah blah....

then typically someone else will retort with "hey get off your high horse! give the guy a break! medicine is just a business like any thing else...." blah blah

My take is this: sure medicine is a business, and we all feel a little entitled to make good money for our many years of hard work and delayed gratification, but if you chase the money and aren't in a field because you like it, you're going to be miserable especially when [not if] your salary takes a hit. Just watch... its a matter of time before we switch to a socialized health system.

Next topic--

all fields require some degree of analytic thinking (except for Emergency medicine--- J/K!!!). I would say that radiology relies more on analytic thinking because you dont have the benefit of interaction with the patient and you can't rely on intuition to guide your decision making. After a while it becomes more like pattern recognition and the 'analytic' aspect is lost and you spit out the differential diagnoses like the multiplication-tables.

Perhaps pathology may be more 'analytic'

Besides, most people don't pick a field because its more or less analytic than another. If you want analytics - be an actuary.

Try this-- find out what interests you intellectually. Do you perceive diseases in a structural/anatomic framework (like radiology and surgical fields) or is it more conceptual (medicine, psych). Do you like working with your hands (procedural fields like surgery/GI/cards) or do you like to 'think' (IM diagnostic radiology)? What kind of pathology interests you? What kind of patient populations do you prefer to work with?

Do your homework, find out what a field is about, what kind of diseases they treat thats how I would pick a field. Money and lifestyle -- that can change with an act of congress. If the money and lifestyle happens to be good, its bonus! Unless you are set on doing CT surgery or nuclear medicine, you'll be able to find a job and make decent money. Unless you plan on doing general surgery or neurosurgery, you'll probably have a decent lifestyle - no matter what field you choose.

-H

 

[colbgw02]

^ that's a great post. someone should tack that to the top and make it required reading before posting any questions.

 

[delicatefade]

I agree. That is one of the best posts I have ever seen on the decision making process that MS-3's and MS-4's must go through.

 

[ReefTiger]

I agree, and this is usually what I advise students to do when trying to select a field.

1) Select subjects that you enjoy learning about (physiology for example) and subjects or type of work that you strongly dislike.

2) This is important because you will be reading a lot in residency if you want to really learn your chosen field. Furthermore, you want to be able to enjoy reading that subject throughout your career.

3) Do whatever it takes to follow a physician in private practice for a couple of days. Even if it means cold calling them and explaining your interest in the field, but really want to see what the real world is like prior to selecting a field. During your visit do not try to impress with your medical knowledge. Only try to find out how enjoyable they find their career, if there is anything they wish they would have done differently, what do they percieve as good and bad aspects of the job, etc. Ask if they are happy with their choice.

4) Always remember that your impression of a field can be skewed based on people you worked with at that time.

5) Take advice from people who tell you why they like their field, ignore those who only tell you what they dislike about all the other fields.

 

[Trindelinberg]

"Just watch... its a matter of time before we switch to a socialized health system."

 

[sirus_virus]

Regarding your first question:

You can work as much as you want, work yourself into the ground, and alienate your family and friends in almost ANY field to make a lot of money. But after a certain number of consecutive hours you are less efficient, you start missing things, you get sloppy-- you'll screw up and hurt the patient and yourself. After endless days of same shi-- different day you get burned out. And if you weren't doing it because you liked it in the first place, you will be miserable.

Now this is the typical part of the post where someone rants about why you are in medicine in the first place if your main motivation is money... blah blah blah... You should have gone to business school... more blah blah....

then typically someone else will retort with "hey get off your high horse! give the guy a break! medicine is just a business like any thing else...." blah blah

My take is this: sure medicine is a business, and we all feel a little entitled to make good money for our many years of hard work and delayed gratification, but if you chase the money and aren't in a field because you like it, you're going to be miserable especially when [not if] your salary takes a hit. Just watch... its a matter of time before we switch to a socialized health system.

Next topic--

all fields require some degree of analytic thinking (except for Emergency medicine--- J/K!!!). I would say that radiology relies more on analytic thinking because you dont have the benefit of interaction with the patient and you can't rely on intuition to guide your decision making. After a while it becomes more like pattern recognition and the 'analytic' aspect is lost and you spit out the differential diagnoses like the multiplication-tables.

Perhaps pathology may be more 'analytic'

Besides, most people don't pick a field because its more or less analytic than another. If you want analytics - be an actuary.

Try this-- find out what interests you intellectually. Do you perceive diseases in a structural/anatomic framework (like radiology and surgical fields) or is it more conceptual (medicine, psych). Do you like working with your hands (procedural fields like surgery/GI/cards) or do you like to 'think' (IM diagnostic radiology)? What kind of pathology interests you? What kind of patient populations do you prefer to work with?

Do your homework, find out what a field is about, what kind of diseases they treat thats how I would pick a field. Money and lifestyle -- that can change with an act of congress. If the money and lifestyle happens to be good, its bonus! Unless you are set on doing CT surgery or nuclear medicine, you'll be able to find a job and make decent money. Unless you plan on doing general surgery or neurosurgery, you'll probably have a decent lifestyle - no matter what field you choose.

-H

Great post. When socialized medicine comes, I hope you personallly take enough of a salary hit to remind you of how you celebrated it on this thread. Until then, good luck absorbing radiation for society.

 

[hans19]

When socialized medicine comes, I hope you personallly take enough of a salary hit to remind you of how you celebrated it on this thread. Until then, good luck absorbing radiation for society.

Are you a little bitter or do you just need to need to manually disempact yourself?
Why don't you just hop in the scanner and we'll find out?

Remember, when we do CT the abdomen and pelvis, its YOU who's getting all the radiation. Cheers! 👍

 

[sirus_virus]

Are you a little bitter or do you just need to need to manually disempact yourself?
Why don't you just hop in the scanner and we'll find out?

Remember, when we do CT the abdomen and pelvis, its YOU who's getting all the radiation. Cheers! 👍

 

[schan]

Regarding your first question:

You can work as much as you want, work yourself into the ground, and alienate your family and friends in almost ANY field to make a lot of money. But after a certain number of consecutive hours you are less efficient, you start missing things, you get sloppy-- you'll screw up and hurt the patient and yourself. After endless days of same shi-- different day you get burned out. And if you weren't doing it because you liked it in the first place, you will be miserable.

Now this is the typical part of the post where someone rants about why you are in medicine in the first place if your main motivation is money... blah blah blah... You should have gone to business school... more blah blah....

then typically someone else will retort with "hey get off your high horse! give the guy a break! medicine is just a business like any thing else...." blah blah

My take is this: sure medicine is a business, and we all feel a little entitled to make good money for our many years of hard work and delayed gratification, but if you chase the money and aren't in a field because you like it, you're going to be miserable especially when [not if] your salary takes a hit. Just watch... its a matter of time before we switch to a socialized health system.

Next topic--

all fields require some degree of analytic thinking (except for Emergency medicine--- J/K!!!). I would say that radiology relies more on analytic thinking because you dont have the benefit of interaction with the patient and you can't rely on intuition to guide your decision making. After a while it becomes more like pattern recognition and the 'analytic' aspect is lost and you spit out the differential diagnoses like the multiplication-tables.

Perhaps pathology may be more 'analytic'

Besides, most people don't pick a field because its more or less analytic than another. If you want analytics - be an actuary.

Try this-- find out what interests you intellectually. Do you perceive diseases in a structural/anatomic framework (like radiology and surgical fields) or is it more conceptual (medicine, psych). Do you like working with your hands (procedural fields like surgery/GI/cards) or do you like to 'think' (IM diagnostic radiology)? What kind of pathology interests you? What kind of patient populations do you prefer to work with?

Do your homework, find out what a field is about, what kind of diseases they treat thats how I would pick a field. Money and lifestyle -- that can change with an act of congress. If the money and lifestyle happens to be good, its bonus! Unless you are set on doing CT surgery or nuclear medicine, you'll be able to find a job and make decent money. Unless you plan on doing general surgery or neurosurgery, you'll probably have a decent lifestyle - no matter what field you choose.

-H

I know this is an old post--I came across this post while surfing the older posts on SDN in radiology. But hans19, well said!! I really enjoyed reading your post. Very true 🙂

Steven Chan MD