Radiology Future

[docshop12]

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1. On average an MD has higher IQ than an optometrist. If you doubt it, you are stupid.

Scientific peer-reviewed source?

2. I have not seen patients routinely other than my mammo and IR rotations. Prescribing many of pain medications including narcotics is day to day practice of our IR. If you doubt it, let me assure you I am more than qualified for it.

You sort of make my point for me about oral meds... what makes you qualified initially to prescribe narcotics? because you were trained... even if only for a some months on a couple different services after intern year. What makes opto qualified? because they are trained throughout the entirety of their training and continuing into their professional practices. Radiologists know their limits when it comes to treatment just as opto does...

3. If you are jealous of radiologists or you are brainwashed by some stupid surgeon (read loser ) in med school, you are very stupid to express it in a RADIOLOGY forum. You are a stupid medical student or a troll to think we encourage more and more studies. The last time I tried to block a CT, all of a sudden patient's history changed in 10 minutes to an essential history for doing the study.

I never said nor implied radiologists are responsible for an excess of studies... you were the one complaining about "useless" studies ordered by midlevels and I was pointing out you should not care because you will get paid the same regardless. Personally never have seen, for example, opto order any imaging study ever but do agree there are lots of excess studies though unsure if it is more from midlevels compared to MDs. Anyway wow take a chill pill.

4- You are so stupid that you do not understand one of the most challenging parts of radiology is the border between a normal and abnormal study.

not sure where you got that from based off what I said or where you are going with that statement. calm down.

5- who was talking about radiology itself here ? You are an obvious troll here or a stupid mentally ******ed. If you loath radiology (which is obvious from your post) do not come here.

I actually like radiology though not going into it. I just loathe your attitude. What? Having trouble finding a job?

 

[yappy]

I loath attitudes like the guy optometrist above me. If you wanted to practice medicine you should have gone to medical school. Physicians are not only trained - they're educated first. Becoming educated is an important step and not something you should be able to side step in an effort to serve your own interests by giving meds and performing procedures you cannot do safely due to your education.

I'm not a physician; however, my goal is to be a dentist and eventually an oral surgeon. In order to be an OMS I will need to make up the holes in my education by attending medical school for two years during an OMS residency to obtain an MD.

I think you need to step back and critically look at what educational avenues that are available to achieve your professional goals and then do the work necessary to safely perform those.


Ophthalmologist = MD

 

[docshop12]

I loath attitudes like the guy optometrist above me. If you wanted to practice medicine you should have gone to medical school. Physicians are not only trained - they're educated first. Becoming educated is an important step and not something you should be able to side step in an effort to serve your own interests by giving meds and performing procedures you cannot do safely due to your education.

I'm not a physician; however, my goal is to be a dentist and eventually an oral surgeon. In order to be an OMS I will need to make up the holes in my education by attending medical school for two years during an OMS residency to obtain an MD.

I think you need to step back and critically look at what educational avenues that are available to achieve your professional goals and then do the work necessary to safely perform those.


Ophthalmologist = MD

Clearly you don't know what you're talking about. I know this because you think you must get a MD to do OMFS... if you actually researched the topic you would have found that you can do 4 year residencies straight from dentistry school that don't require the MD degree and these guys do the same stuff. Now if you want the MD degree more power to you as I'm sure there must be some advantages. But it is not required nor necessary. You'll also find when all is said and done a vast vast majority of what you learn in med school will have nothing to do with your final practice set-up.

 

[yappy]

It will be "my power" and my patients benfit. Attendings that work in inpatient settings have expressed that the six year program helped them with pre and post operative managment of their patients. Some out-patient OMS I have shadowed did do the 4 year and were happy with it; however, their surgical scope was not as broad as what I saw the six year OMS doing.

 

[T99]

Clearly you don't know what you're talking about. I know this because you think you must get a MD to do OMFS... if you actually researched the topic you would have found that you can do 4 year residencies straight from dentistry school that don't require the MD degree and these guys do the same stuff. Now if you want the MD degree more power to you as I'm sure there must be some advantages. But it is not required nor necessary. You'll also find when all is said and done a vast vast majority of what you learn in med school will have nothing to do with your final practice set-up.

I have a suggestion. Go to aunt Minnie they will welcome all of your great opinions. You might learn a thing or two about trolling from chopra or chosen1 as well.

 

[deleted103644]

Clearly you don't know what you're talking about. I know this because you think you must get a MD to do OMFS... if you actually researched the topic you would have found that you can do 4 year residencies straight from dentistry school that don't require the MD degree and these guys do the same stuff. Now if you want the MD degree more power to you as I'm sure there must be some advantages. But it is not required nor necessary. You'll also find when all is said and done a vast vast majority of what you learn in med school will have nothing to do with your final practice set-up.

Why are you still here? And why are you now telling an OMFS candidate how to become qualified for OMFS?

Shouldn't you go back to Walmart and get back to handing out contacts?

 

[docshop12]

Shouldn't you go back to Walmart and get back to handing out contacts?

I could say "go back to reading and dictating reports of 50 portable cxrs that were done in the ICU 7 hours ago and already seen and acted upon" but that would be stooping to your level.

whether you believe it or not I'm in medical school... so stop trolling me. thnks. If you hate what I have to say so much there is such a thing as an "ignore list". I know because I have added you to mine.

 

[deleted103644]

I could say "go back to reading and dictating reports of 50 portable cxrs that were done in the ICU 7 hours ago and already seen and acted upon" but that would be stooping to your level.

whether you believe it or not I'm in medical school... so stop trolling me. thnks. If you hate what I have to say so much there is such a thing as an "ignore list". I know because I have added you to mine.

Sorry, your posts were in close proximity to a troll and off-topic. I don't really care what you do, just stop posting here.

 

[shark2000]

I could say "go back to reading and dictating reports of 50 portable cxrs that were done in the ICU 7 hours ago and already seen and acted upon" but that would be stooping to your level.

whether you believe it or not I'm in medical school... so stop trolling me. thnks. If you hate what I have to say so much there is such a thing as an "ignore list". I know because I have added you to mine.

I try not to use the word STUPID, but sometimes it is inevitable.

What you do not understand is the rationale common sense behind things. There should be two options: Either you should freely sell medications in the drugstores or you should put some CHECKPOINTS. Now if any group takes a course of pharmacology and starts to prescribe medications, then the whole process will be mess. The way things are going, PAs, NPs, psychologists, optometrists, ... will start to prescribe medications. Now the question is if an optometrist can prescribe narcotics why he/she can not prescribe anti-depresants. And why he/she can not prescribe systemic steroids for optic neuritis? And why he/she can not prescribe interferon beta for optic neuritis or multiple sclerosis?
Another time you proved your hatred for radiology. We dictate ICU portables and get paid for that because we can. Now if you can do it, go for it. Otherwise, STFU and order your insulin sliding scale or talk to the family to change the code status.
I don't hate what you say because it is not your words, you have heard it from some losers jealous of my job everyday they enter the hospital. And for your information I have already signed my contract about more than a year in advance, so no need for looking for a job.

Good luck.

 

[Medstudentquest]

Dude, he/she is a hidden soldier fighting for optoms. Its def not me or anyone I know. Like I said before, America lets all of us enter the pursuit of happiness. There shouldn't be people keeping others down by bigotry and bashing. Just be the best Doctor you can be and people will come to you. Don't worry about creating concrete walls that will only get broken down anyway.

Bigotry has nothing to do with unqualified people trying to do things they should not. Each specialty should do what it's trained to do. Now we have dentists doing lipo, OBs running spas, nurses wanting to do surgery and other crap. Gosh people, stick to what you are good at and at what you have trained! That will make you be the best doctor you can be. I realize there is a bottom line, but you should also realize that there is a reason why certain procedures, etc are done in certain fields vs. others.

I'm not going to attempt to try to take someone's appendix out, or do a bypass on someone, or do lasik on a patient just because it'll bring $$. I am not trained in it, and I'm not in a specialty that does that sort of procedure.

You went to optometry school, so stick to what you are trained for. If you wanted to do surgery and treat serious diseases of the eye, you should have gone to med school.

 

[cbtk18]

Wow. Well this thread really went downhill.

 

[Radonkulous]

Wow. Well this thread really went downhill.

That's because mid-levels got involved haha.

 

[deleted103644]

Let's ignore them if they return and switch to another controversial topic.

What do folks think about national teleradiology groups taking over resudency programs?

Happened to Wayne State and Bronx Lebanon (although they then shut their program down).

Discuss, and block the OD interlopers.

 

[Dr. USMLE]

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[deleted103644]

I have been curious about this...how many of you think Wayne State will shut down in the next year or two?

6 people still matched there, but they didn't even try to fill the last 4 spots in SOAP.

I'm sure someone ended up filling those 4 spots, but they must have really scraped the bottom of the barrel since all the good applicants would have found better spots in SOAP.

No idea if they're going to close down - I think the teleradiology companies want a few residencies, it's just a question of whether residents and the ACGME go for it.

 

[colbgw02]

Wait. What?

How can anybody run an entire residency by teleradiology?

 

[deleted103644]

Wait. What?

How can anybody run an entire residency by teleradiology?

Run by a teleradiology company. I believe they're planning on using DMC as a base of operations.

 

[fun8stuff]

i think only FMGs going there...

 

[deleted103644]

i think only FMGs going there...

That was partially true before the acquisition.

 

[Dr. USMLE]

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[Brachyury]

If Wayne did close down, what exactly happens to the current residents? They just get picked up by sympathetic programs since they're already fully funded?

What about those doing their intern year when the program dissolves? They have to re-apply or they are also guaranteed a rads position elsewhere?

When St. Vincent (Manhattan) closed, the residents were helped in finding new programs. Fortunately, the medicare funding for each resident was preserved and transferred

 

[shark2000]

Despite what people think, the role of tile radiology is becoming less and less.
Still we hear stories about groups lost their contract to teller audiology groups, but the whole trend is towards having a radiologist on site.
We provide much more than reading just films. I you want quality you need a radiologist on site.
Regarding residencies with tele-rad they will close soon. Probably not the first or second year, but they will be closed, no doubt.
I can not even imagine having training over telephone or net.

Good luck.

 

[fun8stuff]

Despite what people think, the role of tile radiology is becoming less and less.
Still we hear stories about groups lost their contract to teller audiology groups, but the whole trend is towards having a radiologist on site.
We provide much more than reading just films. I you want quality you need a radiologist on site.
Regarding residencies with tele-rad they will close soon. Probably not the first or second year, but they will be closed, no doubt.
I can not even imagine having training over telephone or net.

Good luck.

wayne/dmc lost an ortho residency and i think a derm (or some other residency) a couple years ago due to poor decisions by dmc management. it's not that bad for the residents actually... their funding transfers with them, so they get to go to other programs- most of which are better than the program they were in.

and usually I agree with shark, but the role of radiology has increased exponentially over the last 10 years. Ask any of your older attendings. Physicians are addicted to imaging. It's so bad that residents and med students dont truly learn the art of the physical exam- not that it matters... they just sit back and order studies and labs. While some of the subspecialties will be pretty good at reading their imaging studies pertaining to their narrowed field of practice, they will not be good with interpreting findings outside their domain of practice or protocoling the actual exams. The majority of ordering clinicians (primary care, ER docs, NP/PA/midlevels) have almost no idea about the majority of imaging exams beyond checking the box on the computer screen to order the study.

 

[Dr. USMLE]

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[shark2000]

Again, I do not know specifically about DMC, but the model of having exclusive tele-rad for a hospital is doomed to failure. hybrid model may work and in fact has its own advantages, though with a lot of problems. I have seen small groups are getting sub-specialized reads from tele-rad for very limited studies like for example for PRENATAL MR. For example our medical center is providing prenatal MR for a local group. But for day to day practice of radiology, you need an on-site radiologists. A lot of ED doctors and surgeons were asking for night coverage by the same group in the past when the night coverage by tele-rad was very common. These days with financial problems and also increasing number of studies that justify having a radiologist working many groups are going towards their own night coverage.
And whatever they said to justify this contract, is self-serving ( read BS). In a year or two DMC will lose its accredition.

 

[deleted103644]

Again, I do not know specifically about DMC, but the model of having exclusive tele-rad for a hospital is doomed to failure. hybrid model may work and in fact has its own advantages, though with a lot of problems. I have seen small groups are getting sub-specialized reads from tele-rad for very limited studies like for example for PRENATAL MR. For example our medical center is providing prenatal MR for a local group. But for day to day practice of radiology, you need an on-site radiologists. A lot of ED doctors and surgeons were asking for night coverage by the same group in the past when the night coverage by tele-rad was very common. These days with financial problems and also increasing number of studies that justify having a radiologist working many groups are going towards their own night coverage.
And whatever they said to justify this contract, is self-serving ( read BS). In a year or two DMC will lose its accredition.

I'd like to agree with you, but the truth is if teleradiology became better (which is quite possible with better IT infrastructure and a weak employment environment leaving more talent available).

Dealing with teleradiology right now (for non-radiology services) is a pain relative to in-house, but be honest, does it always have to be? If the reads were fast, from competent people, and they were more accessible by phone/teleconferencing, it would be hard to say it's still inherently inferior.

Obviously anything that required patient contact (eg IR) would need to be in-house.

 

[Shnurek]

BRO, you hit your quota! Stop, please, really, before proceeding, check this out: click here.

I promise that it will BLOW your mind.

lol excellent analysis of this MD on his holy elitist pedestal. I bow before you shark2000.

Now the question is if an optometrist can prescribe narcotics why he/she can not prescribe anti-depresants. And why he/she can not prescribe systemic steroids for optic neuritis? And why he/she can not prescribe interferon beta for optic neuritis or multiple sclerosis?

1) Because anti-depressants have nothing to do with the eye unless they can make your unattractive wife look attractive 🙂

2) We already can prescribe oral steroids in many states. http://cms.revoptom.com/index.asp?ArticleType=SiteSpec&Page=osc/mar02/lesson_0302.htm 16 states as of 2002, I'm sure the number now is more like 30 states.

3) We can do injections in a bunch of states: http://www.aoa.org/Images/Injectables-12-2011.gif
And here is an article talking about MS and interferon beta: http://www.revoptom.com/content/c/33147/

 

[deleted103644]

Please do not respond to any further OD posts. They should be moved to their own forum.

 

[Dr. USMLE]

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[owlegrad]

Just a friendly reminder to abide by the TOS when posting on SDN. No name-calling or other nastiness, please. Heated debates are welcomed, but don't make anything personal. 😉

Thanks. 🙂

 

[Taurus]

CT lung screening and cardiac CTA are coming down the pipe for radiology. My academic program will starting them up soon and we are playing catchup to other programs from around the country.

 

[docshop12]

CT lung screening and cardiac CTA are coming down the pipe for radiology. My academic program will starting them up soon and we are playing catchup to other programs from around the country.

If CT lung cancer screening starts to be adopted and pushed for I think it will backfire. No major organization, such as the ACR, recommends lung cancer screening. Not one. If it starts to be done with the indication "screening exam" it simply will not be reimbursed or reimbursement will be revoked retrospectively. I've had several lectures by radiologists on this subject. So I would not count on lung cancer screening with CT in the near future. It's simply too expensive and nonspecific right now.

 

[badasshairday]

Personally, I think cardiac CTA ultimately will be done mostly by radiologists. Of course these will be studies ordered in the ED or on inpatients, for outpatient anything goes. It just makes sense to have one person read the whole study rather than have one part read by a cardiologist and the other part read by the radiologist. On the interview trail it seemed that most programs either had radiology do the cardiac CTA alone and the minority of programs had a split between cards and rads. The split is very inefficient and wastes precious healthcare dollars..

In fact, radiologists should be doing echo's too, so they can compare/correlate chest X-rays, CT chest, cardiac CTA, with those studies. Alas, that is not going to happen.

 

[Medstudentquest]

Why is it that people keep using the word "bigotry" regarding mid levels? No one is born an optometrist. There are no federal statutes requiring equal opportunity for optometrists vs ophthalmologists.

And why do you keep posting here? Go away, and ideally please delete your posts.

Haha, this is one of the funniest posts you've ever made. Thanks johnnydrama! It made my day.

 

[Deceptacon]

If CT lung cancer screening starts to be adopted and pushed for I think it will backfire. No major organization, such as the ACR, recommends lung cancer screening. Not one. If it starts to be done with the indication "screening exam" it simply will not be reimbursed or reimbursement will be revoked retrospectively. I've had several lectures by radiologists on this subject. So I would not count on lung cancer screening with CT in the near future. It's simply too expensive and nonspecific right now.

really? i just attended a grand rounds on the subject. the hospital is going to start it at ~250 per low dose CT, though i think you pay out of pocket. some neighboring pulmonary hospital already was doing it but for like 400-500 bucks out of pocket.

 

[jellofish]

In fact, radiologists should be doing echo's too, so they can compare/correlate chest X-rays, CT chest, cardiac CTA, with those studies. Alas, that is not going to happen.

But by that logic, shouldn't the radiologist also listen to the patient's chest, palpate the PMI, and analyze the EKG to be able to correlate as many things as possible?

(Not disagreeing with you entirely, just playing devil's advocate...)

 

[Dr. USMLE]

But by that logic, shouldn't the radiologist also listen to the patient's chest, palpate the PMI, and analyze the EKG to be able to correlate as many things as possible?

(Not disagreeing with you entirely, just playing devil's advocate...)

Nope...since a radiologist is an imaging specialist. Since reading echos falls within the core competence of a rad's specialized training skill set, at the very least they should overread the cards interpretation (that is, if the highest standard of patient care is desired). Unfortunately, hospital politics overrules logic.

 

[Taurus]

If CT lung cancer screening starts to be adopted and pushed for I think it will backfire. No major organization, such as the ACR, recommends lung cancer screening. Not one. If it starts to be done with the indication "screening exam" it simply will not be reimbursed or reimbursement will be revoked retrospectively. I've had several lectures by radiologists on this subject. So I would not count on lung cancer screening with CT in the near future. It's simply too expensive and nonspecific right now.

Lung cancer screenings 'a good value,' study finds
CT scans for longtime smokers would be less costly than tests for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, researchers say, and would save lives.​

I'm not interested in getting into an academic discussion about if CT lung screenings are cost effective or not.

I will say this. I hope that Medicare and insurance companies never reimburse for it. Why? Because it's one of the few procedures in radiology where you can actually be cash-based. Got a history of smoking? For only $75, you can get a screening of your lungs. Believe it or not, there are billboards going up with that message. For experienced radiologists, chest CT's are simple and can be read in 5-10 minutes. So for 5-10 minutes of work, you can make $75 minus operating costs.

Second, you have to understand the economics of hospitals to understand why hospitals want CT lung screening services. It will drive other proftibable services. If you find a lung cancer, then that patient may need surgery, chemo, or radiation therapy. So CT lung screening is like the front-door to the hospital to find new patients, kinda like the ED. This is why hospitals love mammography. Mammography drives breast biopies, surgeries, chemo, radiation therapy. Think about it. Lung cancer is more common than breast cancer! So if you're a hospital doesn't offer CT lung screening but your competitor does, it won't be long before you offer it too.

 

[docshop12]

really? i just attended a grand rounds on the subject. the hospital is going to start it at ~250 per low dose CT, though i think you pay out of pocket. some neighboring pulmonary hospital already was doing it but for like 400-500 bucks out of pocket.

oh yeah I neglected out of pocket payments because so few people do it where I am but it's probably more feasible for certain populations. You know, the type of people who pay for psychoanalysis. Could be really profitable actually and it isn't really a totally bad thing but IMO is unnecessary. However if a patient wants to pay for it then so be it.

Lung cancer screenings 'a good value,' study finds
CT scans for longtime smokers would be less costly than tests for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, researchers say, and would save lives.​

I'm not interested in getting into an academic discussion about if CT lung screenings are cost effective or not.

I will say this. I hope that Medicare and insurance companies never reimburse for it. Why? Because it's one of the few procedures in radiology where you can actually be cash-based. Got a history of smoking? For only $75, you can get a screening of your lungs. Believe it or not, there are billboards going up with that message. For experienced radiologists, chest CT's are simple and can be read in 5-10 minutes. So for 5-10 minutes of work, you can make $75 minus operating costs.

Second, you have to understand the economics of hospitals to understand why hospitals want CT lung screening services. It will drive other proftibable services. If you find a lung cancer, then that patient may need surgery, chemo, or radiation therapy. So CT lung screening is like the front-door to the hospital to find new patients, kinda like the ED. This is why hospitals love mammography. Mammography drives breast biopies, surgeries, chemo, radiation therapy. Think about it. Lung cancer is more common than breast cancer! So if you're a hospital doesn't offer CT lung screening but your competitor does, it won't be long before you offer it too.

very good points. Did not look at that way. I was thinking on a more societal level where I think we should limit unnecessary tests and a screening CT for lung cancer is, at this point, considered unnecessary. But again if a person wants to pay out of pocket as opposed to using up the limited supply of medicare dollars or in their insurance pool dollars then they can do what they want.

 

[shark2000]

A screening test for lung cancer is not considered unnecessary. It has proven to be beneficial in RCTs, in certain population. IMO, it is necessary.
On the other hand it will not be a huge money maker. That 250 USD somebody mentioned is horrible reimbursement. It is equal to getting paid 10-20 bucks for the interpreter which is damn low for measuring all that nodules. It is pain in the neck.
TAURUS is excited about it because he is an intern or medical student and has never read a chest CT to know about it.

Regarding teleradiology the technology is very good right now. But the general Trend is towards having radiologist on site. Again we do lots of things including checking study quality at the scanner, doing additional sequences in the middle of study, contrast reaction management, talking with for example pregnannt patients, consulting with referring doctors on the already read studies face to face, minor procedures like biopsies and drains that are done in many places by non-IR, other minor procedures like CT myelogram by neurrads and MR arthrogram by MSK Rads, GI barium work which is uncommon but critical like evaluating leaks. Also in the ideal world you have to check all US with tech before completing them. Mammo inmany places are partly done by everybody. IR is a different story. Although many of these still can be done over phone, Still you need a radiologist on site for a high quality comprehensive radiology department. Also consider that tele-radiology is still done by radiologist, so generally speaking it is not a danger to the field.

 

[deleted103644]

But by that logic, shouldn't the radiologist also listen to the patient's chest, palpate the PMI, and analyze the EKG to be able to correlate as many things as possible?

(Not disagreeing with you entirely, just playing devil's advocate...)

There are only two logical ways to split up imaging work.

1) Each medical specialty offers subspecialty training in their relevant imaging modalities (and there is no separate radiology specialty)

2) Radiology covers all imaging.

Due to politics and history, we have a mishmash of the two, where it's mostly option (2) with an exception for cardiac imaging.

Frankly, I'd think (1) makes more sense, but I'm playing the game the way it is, not the way it ideally should be.

 

[Shnurek]

but I'm playing the game the way it is, not the way it ideally should be.

Same here hoss, same here.

 

[shark2000]

There are only two logical ways to split up imaging work.

1) Each medical specialty offers subspecialty training in their relevant imaging modalities (and there is no separate radiology specialty)

2) Radiology covers all imaging.

Due to politics and history, we have a mishmash of the two, where it's mostly option (2) with an exception for cardiac imaging.

Frankly, I'd think (1) makes more sense, but I'm playing the game the way it is, not the way it ideally should be.

Your option 1 may work only for a fraction of imaging, not for all.
Could you please tell me who should read CT Abdomen/Pelvis for abdominal pain? Is it GI? Surgery? Urology? Ob-Gyn? Oncologist? Ortho for the spine part? Vascular surgeon?colorectal surgeon?
Even Ob-Gyn who read OB ultrasound do not touch the Gyn US as it is more complicated.

You may be able to split some part of imaging in this way as it occured so far for echo and Ob- US and vascular ultra-sound in some places. However, for CT and MR it has not happened in large scale. There has been many pressures from different groups, but they have not been successful. In addition, the continuity of service is also a key. A neurosurgeon who wants to read CTs should be availabe for ED CTs round the clock like radiology.
Currently you have to read a full day of studies to make reasonable money put of it, otherwise it is not worth it to read 2 head CTs a day to make money.

IMO, in the foorseable future we will cover the majority of imaging and as before we will have turf issues and we may lose some turf. But in the end of the day, we are the major players.
Despite all these turf issues and decreased reimbursements, radiology is the best.

 

[deleted103644]

Your option 1 may work only for a fraction of imaging, not for all.
Could you please tell me who should read CT Abdomen/Pelvis for abdominal pain? Is it GI? Surgery? Urology? Ob-Gyn? Oncologist? Ortho for the spine part? Vascular surgeon?colorectal surgeon?
Even Ob-Gyn who read OB ultrasound do not touch the Gyn US as it is more complicated.

You may be able to split some part of imaging in this way as it occured so far for echo and Ob- US and vascular ultra-sound in some places. However, for CT and MR it has not happened in large scale. There has been many pressures from different groups, but they have not been successful. In addition, the continuity of service is also a key. A neurosurgeon who wants to read CTs should be availabe for ED CTs round the clock like radiology.
Currently you have to read a full day of studies to make reasonable money put of it, otherwise it is not worth it to read 2 head CTs a day to make money.

IMO, in the foorseable future we will cover the majority of imaging and as before we will have turf issues and we may lose some turf. But in the end of the day, we are the major players.
Despite all these turf issues and decreased reimbursements, radiology is the best.

I'm not saying this will happen, just that it's one of two logical extremes.

 

[auburnO5]

I've always been very interested in radiology, and throughout the whole college and medical school process always kind of figured I'd end up in rads. But now that it's coming down to decision time, threads like this scare me.

👎

 

[Taurus]

I would take anything that sharky says with a grain of salt. He probably does teleradiolgy from his parent's basement and has no clue where radiology is going. I give the perspective of what a large academic radiology program is doing.

 

[deleted103644]

I've always been very interested in radiology, and throughout the whole college and medical school process always kind of figured I'd end up in rads. But now that it's coming down to decision time, threads like this scare me.

👎

It's hard to predict the future.

Radiology is flexible and it attracts some of the brightest minds in medicine (although not all for the right reasons). It will survive and adapt.

As long as you have no expectations of a huge salary for little work without nights or weekends, you'll be fine.

 

[auburnO5]

It's hard to predict the future.

Radiology is flexible and it attracts some of the brightest minds in medicine (although not all for the right reasons). It will survive and adapt.

As long as you have no expectations of a huge salary for little work without nights or weekends, you'll be fine.

Just curious, but what is your definition of "huge?"

Not sure if it would be worth it to be making $150k.

 

[deleted103644]

Just curious, but what is your definition of "huge?"

Not sure if it would be worth it to be making $150k.

Why not?

I don't think it will drop that far, but if you really wouldn't be happy being a radiologist at a primary care salary, you should probably look somewhere else.

I'd rather be paid $600k than $100k, but I'd rather like what I'm doing at $100k than be miserable at $600k. And really, we're talking the difference between $250k and $450k, which is an even easier decision.

 

[auburnO5]

Why not?

I don't think it will drop that far, but if you really wouldn't be happy being a radiologist at a primary care salary, you should probably look somewhere else.

I'd rather be paid $600k than $100k, but I'd rather like what I'm doing at $100k than be miserable at $600k. And really, we're talking the difference between $250k and $450k, which is an even easier decision.

I agree with you, I just think for that salary I can find another specialty that I also like that has better reimbursement (assuming the 150k thing). I don't think it will drop to 150k either.