Research?

[RexKD]

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How important would you say research is for getting a radiology residency?

Also, what would you consider to be the minimum skillset required to start research? Since radiology is a very technical field, would you say that a bachelors worth of physics would be necessary to do research?

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

No you don't need a physics degree to do rads research. Much of the research that radiologists do involves the clinical application of the technology. So while they generally need to have a general level of knowledge of the technology (learned during residency and on one's own), they don't need the extensive physics background. In most research oriented radiology departments, the radiation physicists work along with rads for the technical aspects. An example would be a radiologist coming up with the concept of using funtional MRI (an already developed technology) for the evaluation of renal perfusion in a certain patient population. The rad comes up with the clinical situation and criteria and works with the physicists and technologists to get the study done.

That is not to say that some rads are not more intimately involved with the development of new technologies. However, they are relatively rare.