Radiology residency for someone interested in CNS/PNS

[Yoyomama88]

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I'm primarily interested in the CNS/PNS and not a huge fan of the rest of medicine. Would this preclude me from doing a radiology residency. I really do find looking at imaging fun and I feel that I am good at it...but I'm not sure how much I will enjoy doing all the abdominal/chest reads.

Are there any radiology residencies that allow residents to cater to their interests early on? If I applied to radiology, it would be with the sole purpose of becoming a neuroradiologist.

 

[colbgw02]

I'm primarily interested in the CNS/PNS and not a huge fan of the rest of medicine. Would this preclude me from doing a radiology residency. I really do find looking at imaging fun and I feel that I am good at it...but I'm not sure how much I will enjoy doing all the abdominal/chest reads.

Are there any radiology residencies that allow residents to cater to their interests early on? If I applied to radiology, it would be with the sole purpose of becoming a neuroradiologist.

Depending on your electives, you can expect to do no more than 8-10 rotations of neuro-related medicine (I'm assuming at most 2 months during internship) in the first 5 years of GME training. This says nothing of the breadth of knowledge you'll be expected to have in medical school or the limitations you're placing on yourself for post-training employment.

Why not explore neurology or neurosurgery if the nervous system is your focus? Or, better yet, what about a PhD in neuroscience?

 

[Yoyomama88]

I will be applying for residencies soon... I am considering Neuro, Neurosurg, Radiology, and Psychiatry. I would have applied to a combined Neuro/Rad residency if it existed.

 

[colbgw02]

I will be applying for residencies soon... I am considering Neuro, Neurosurg, Radiology, and Psychiatry. I would have applied to a combined Neuro/Rad residency if it existed.

I see. I thought you were pre-med school based on your status.

It's difficult to see someone interested in only one organ system being happy in radiology, particularly when specialties exist that deal solely in that organ system. I'm suppose you could find a niche in radiology where you'd be happy, but you might be unhappy getting to that niche.

 

[Yoyomama88]

I wasn't necessarily unhappy getting through medical school, but I guess I know that I prefer the CNS above all else. I'm not sure, it's a tough decision, I believe there are pros/cons to each of those 4 fields, but I'm not sure how to commit to one of them for the rest of my life.

 

[ar2388]

what about a joint neuro/psych residency?

 

[cowme]

with mini-fellowships, you could probably tailor your residency/fellowship so that you spend 2-2.5 of 5 years in neuro.

Just be aware that you will need to learn plenty in the other areas those 2.5 years in order to pass your boards

 

[Yoyomama88]

If it's half and half that would certainly not be a big deal for me. I got through medical school, so I can get through residency...Do you know which residency programs might be most conducive to this type of schedule or is this something I could accomplish anywhere?

 

[cowme]

any big program (10+ residents / class) typically will have a 9-12 month minifellowship in place for 4th years (which you would do in neuro). You will obviously apply to a neuro fellowship, so that will be another year. You would likely do another 3-4 months of core rotations in neuro, with an additional smattering of neuro cases on call, in peds, nucs, MSK, and IR rotations too

 

[Yoyomama88]

also heard some neuroradiology fellowship programs accept neurologists. How rare is this? I also heard that these physicians would only be suitable for appointment at an academic medical center.

 

[DrBowtie]

If I were you, I would not pursue rads over more focused neuro, neurosurg or even PM&R. Each have imaging components and you won't have to worry about taking Gen rads call.

 

[shark2000]

Go for neurology or neurosurgery.

Radiology is great, but not for everyone. Your post smells like a neurologist, not radiologist or even neurosurgeon.

 

[ar2388]

cowme, where did you see any rpograms with more than 10 residents? or do you mean 10 residents over the 4 years, not 10 per year? biggest programs i saw were 9-10 per year.. medium were around 6 per year

 

[MDPhDeac]

Go for neurology or neurosurgery.

Radiology is great, but not for everyone. Your post smells like a neurologist, not radiologist or even neurosurgeon.

Agree with above. If you're questioning it at this point, you're prob not a radiologist and definitely not a neurosurgeon. But that's just my opinion based on what I think I'm reading into your posts.

 

[Doctor D]

IMO instead of looking at the organ system you should ask yourself which field offers the daily routine that you prefer the most?

Radiology: Mostly at a PACS station dictating reports. Hours are not as bad as neurology and not even close to neurosurgery. No note taking (a major bonus IMO).

Neurology: Lots of rounding, physical exam is king whereas it doesn't exist in radiology.

Neurosurgery: extreme hours and is physically demanding. Procedure. Not for the faint of heart.

 

[Yoyomama88]

Right, I'm trying to make a decision based off of 1)educational interest 2) Lifestyle-hours worked 3) Salary 4) Day to Day activities.

I feel like all 4 categories could be good as a radiologist. I think I need to spend more time shadowing in each of these fields to understand the differences in day to day activities.

 

[deleted116380]

cowme, where did you see any rpograms with more than 10 residents? or do you mean 10 residents over the 4 years, not 10 per year? biggest programs i saw were 9-10 per year.. medium were around 6 per year

Resident/yr:

18 - WashU/MIR (1 is research track)
16 - Emory
15 - Indiana, Yale
14 - UPMC
13 - USCF, UF Gainesville, Mayo Rochester, UTSW, UTH
12 - Duke, UTSA, Baylor Houston, UWashington
11 - UMiami, Michigan, UCLA, MGH, Minnesota

Some don't list resident # on Freida and I pulled some of that info from the nrmp match data (UF was 13 not 11 and Yale 15).

 

[greg1184]

Resident/yr:

18 - WashU/MIR (1 is research track)
16 - Emory
15 - Indiana, Yale
14 - UPMC
13 - USCF, UF Gainesville, Mayo Rochester, UTSW, UTH
12 - Duke, UTSA, Baylor Houston, UWashington
11 - UMiami, Michigan, UCLA, MGH, Minnesota

Some don't list resident # on Freida and I pulled some of that info from the nrmp match data (UF was 13 not 11 and Yale 15).

13 eh? Makes what happened this year more depressing. 😡

 

[fun8stuff]

I'm primarily interested in the CNS/PNS and not a huge fan of the rest of medicine. Would this preclude me from doing a radiology residency. I really do find looking at imaging fun and I feel that I am good at it...but I'm not sure how much I will enjoy doing all the abdominal/chest reads.

Are there any radiology residencies that allow residents to cater to their interests early on? If I applied to radiology, it would be with the sole purpose of becoming a neuroradiologist.

If you pursue radiology at an academic institution, there are research tracks available that would allow you to minimize your time in other areas of radiology. I believe nucs and mamms are the only rotations that have real defined requirements. So this way you could pursue neuro research for ~ 6 months/year for 4 years and do neuro for all of your electives, minimizing your time in the other areas of radiology. Keep in mind you would still have to learn the rest of radiology for the boards (but you would have more than enough time to study with that much research time). Then if you get a job at an academic institution, you could only do neuro and forget the rest of radiology.

I'm not so sure I would let anyone know during your interviews that you don't want to do or learn all of radiology... I would stick to letting them know you have a strong interest in neuro and on a research pathway.

edit:
http://www.theabr.org/ic-holman

 

[Shifty B]

If the nervous system is your only interest, I'm afraid you will be quite bogged down by the day-to-day operations of radiology, and neurology or neurosurgery are probably for you. You can do neuroradiology as a fellowship 5 years after starting, but there is a lot of other stuff to do. If it's all interesting to you, it will be fun, but otherwise you may find yourself bored out of your mind.

If you like radiology, then do it. If you're only doing it as route to do nervous system work, it's possibly not worth it.

 

[shark2000]

If you want to do neuroradiology, be prepared to do 50% general radiology or non radiology stuff.

If you end up in academic center, you will be able to do 100% Neuro, but you have to deal with a lot of non clinical thing like research (a plus for some), administrative stuff and politics.

If you end up in pp, you have to be ready to do a lot of non neuroradiology work including CXR, mammo, barium swallow, shoulder arthrograms or liver biopsies.

For many who enter radiology, the diversity of the field is a huge plus. I did MSK, but can not see myself doing it everyday. I enjoy a lot of other aspects of radiology, some more than MSK. I know people who did neuro, but really enjoy reading Body CT or MSK MR. This is the beauty of the field and is an important factor in choosing it.