Were any of you concerned about not being "good" at Radiology?

[AK_MD2BE]

I am a newly minted MS3 and I extremely interested in Radiology (so much so that I have scheduled an elective for the end of this year). I have spent some time hanging out with some of the Radiology residents at my university and love the diversity of studies, the anatomy and the pathology that Radiology entails. Were any of you Radiologists out there concerned that you wouldn't be a good radiologist? Or, like pretty much anything else in life, is being a good Radiologist simply a learned skill? The reason that I ask is that Anatomy was the only class in the first two years in which I did not score above the class average (ended up right at the average...however, you can probably chalk that up to the fact that I hated going into lab...ugh...the formaldehyde and the inefficency of aimlessly hacking through fat...👎) Thanks for the advice.

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[snowhard]

I am a newly minted MS3 and I extremely interested in Radiology (so much so that I have scheduled an elective for the end of this year). I have spent some time hanging out with some of the Radiology residents at my university and love the diversity of studies, the anatomy and the pathology that Radiology entails. Were any of you Radiologists out there concerned that you wouldn't be a good radiologist? Or, like pretty much anything else in life, is being a good Radiologist simply a learned skill? The reason that I ask is that Anatomy was the only class in the first two years in which I did not score above the class average (ended up right at the average...however, you can probably chalk that up to the fact that I hated going into lab...ugh...the formaldehyde and the inefficency of aimlessly hacking through fat...👎) Thanks for the advice.

Actually, I feel the same way... I am currently engaged in a radiology elective. Despite my hours of reading, I feel so inadequate and concerned that I just won't cut it

 

[colbgw02]

There are some people who have the "vision" more so than others. I'm thinking, in particular, of one attending I have that can scan through a CT as fast as the PACS system will let him and still make all the salient findings.

Obviously some modalities are more difficult than others. I remember looking at MRI and ultrasound, specifically, as a medical student and thinking it's just a bunch of noise. After you start doing it day after day, your brain rewires itself to filter out what's extraneous and what's important information. Besides, a comprehensive search pattern is much much more important than having a keen eye.

 

[Zweihander]

I am a newly minted MS3 and I extremely interested in Radiology (so much so that I have scheduled an elective for the end of this year). I have spent some time hanging out with some of the Radiology residents at my university and love the diversity of studies, the anatomy and the pathology that Radiology entails. Were any of you Radiologists out there concerned that you wouldn't be a good radiologist? Or, like pretty much anything else in life, is being a good Radiologist simply a learned skill? The reason that I ask is that Anatomy was the only class in the first two years in which I did not score above the class average (ended up right at the average...however, you can probably chalk that up to the fact that I hated going into lab...ugh...the formaldehyde and the inefficency of aimlessly hacking through fat...👎) Thanks for the advice.

I think that you can become competent at anything in medicine with due diligence. Whether you become "great" or not depends a lot more on the work you put into training and the degree of natural talent you have (or lack).

Radiology is definitely both a learned skill and an innate one, but I doubt that you could be so "bad" at it that you wouldn't be able to do a good job if you worked hard and studied.

Just remember this: a large part of being a successful radiologist is meticulous reading. You can't expect to walk into work and pick up enough day by day to become an independent, adept radiologist. You need to study a lot, and there is a HUGE volume of information you must absorb simply to be competent. The difference from other medical fields is that you spend less time in the hospital during residency but you must make up that time reading on your own.

 

[radslooking]

I think that you can become competent at anything in medicine with due diligence. Whether you become "great" or not depends a lot more on the work you put into training and the degree of natural talent you have (or lack).

Radiology is definitely both a learned skill and an innate one, but I doubt that you could be so "bad" at it that you wouldn't be able to do a good job if you worked hard and studied.

Just remember this: a large part of being a successful radiologist is meticulous reading. You can't expect to walk into work and pick up enough day by day to become an independent, adept radiologist. You need to study a lot, and there is a HUGE volume of information you must absorb simply to be competent. The difference from other medical fields is that you spend less time in the hospital during residency but you must make up that time reading on your own.

I agree. with due diligence i don't see a problem why you couldnt get passable as a radiologist. unless there was a learning problem or cannot pass boards, etc. As far as doing the actual work, I don't see how a hard worker could not get it done.

 

[eddieberetta]

Were any of you Radiologists out there concerned that you wouldn't be a good radiologist?

I still am and I just passed my boards.

Most medical students are smart people, and most smart people can be good radiologists. There is innate talent, but the more you read, and the more studies you interpret/perform, the better a radiologist you will be. Those are the only parameters you can modify.

As for your question -- It definitely should not deter you. I don't know when that feeling will go away. I'll let you know.

 

[AK_MD2BE]

Thank you for all of the encougaring replies. 🙂

 

[osli]

I like this thread, because I've wondered the same thing. I'm a pretty visual person, and have a lot of experience in making sense of what looks like garbage on a computer screen in other contexts (CAD modeling and FEA). But it still makes me cringe a bit thinking about missing something on the screen that is critical for diagnoses. I just have to trust that since others before me have become good at it, so too can I, if it turns out to be the area I want to pursue. It's strange, but no other field gives me the shivers in quite the same way. I think it's a tremendous responsibility to look at an image and not only diagnose the pathology of interest but also rule out possible pathologies in completely unrelated areas on the image. I guess that's why it is reimbursed well, and rightfully so.

 

[AK_MD2BE]

Bump...Gracias...😀

 

[inkare]

I'm somewhat concerned about this too. Has this ever happened to you: you are looking for something (like keys, pen, screwdriver , whatever) in a drawer or on your desk with a pile of other stuff. You look in the place you know it would be, and you don't find it. After spending 10 minutes looking elsewhere, what you were looking for was right in front of your eyes in the place you looked the first time, but you didn't find it !!! Whenever this happens to me I think whether or not it would happen to me while reading a scan as a radiologist.

Although I know you have a specific search pattern while reading scans and specific abnormalities you are looking for in the scan.

 

[Marsupilami]

I have been studying CT cross sections for a while on the internet to get a feeling for the field of radiology and to see how I perform at it ( one scource:
http://www.e-anatomy.org/anatomy/human-body/thorax/heart-coronary.html ).

Obviously, the human body has some morphologically complex structures such as the brain or heart etc. and I wonder how residents during their training make themselves familiar with the physiological shapes of all the different structures.
Are you able to create a mental 3D image of all the structures after reading several CT cross sections so that you can e.g. create a mental image of the shape of the auricle of the left atrium just by moving through the slices of the scan ? Or do you rely on other sources as well ?

I'm just wondering whether my visual abilities would be sufficient for this field, should I want to pursue a residency in rads.

I'd appreciate your input, thanks.

 

[AK_MD2BE]

Bump. Thanks for all the replies...I was just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on the matter/shared the same concerns. It just seems as if there is SO MUCH to know as a radiologist that it seems somewhat overwhelming. Thanks for the replies.

 

[striker79]

Im currently in radiology. To be good, you must work hard. Radiology is all about hard work. If you are not interested, its unlikely that you will work hard. The best radiologists are the ones that enjoy doing what they do. To be good, you will need to read the most you've ever read before and read for your entire life. Radiology encompasses all of medicine and to be a great general radiologist it takes a long time to master all of the material. One aspect involves training your eyes to make the findings...The other involves learning all the book knowledge behind it. True its not rocket science, its worse than rocket science...With rocket science, you have less concepts to grasp. With radiology you must master a books piled from the floor to the ceiling to be great. There are plenty of substandard radiologsts running around of course.
For anyone considering to enter radiology, I will tell you that it requires lots of hard work, lots of time for smart and dumb people alike and there's no way around that. #1 Trait of a good radiologist and #1 trait needed for the job, HARD WORK. None of you will realize what its like until you've gone through the process, thats the sad truth. The advice of a good seasoned radiology would be nice, but you wont appreciate it until you've gone through it. Most of what I say here will be wasted on your ears, just take away one thing: It's hard work. When they say 9-5, they mean 9-5 no breaks for lunch or to piss. And if youre slow, youre 9-5 will become 9-7pm. Make not mistake, radiologist work for every penny they earn and reimbursements are only going down, making them work even harder.

 

[Angio]

This truly is enlightening to hear, as i aspire one day to be the genius reading the films. Reading this positive stuff is always good to hear!

 

[DrVanNostran]

Decided to bump this tread, because this on the reasons that made me shy away from radiology. Also, I think this is why I sometimes say I would "hate" to become a DR. But, how many of you MSIIIs are like in this fear of being inadequate right off the bat? Any of you residents want to chime in on your progression through residency on being comfortable to read films, see the minor details, and becoming faster?

 

[cowme]

Decided to bump this tread, because this on the reasons that made me shy away from radiology. Also, I think this is why I sometimes say I would "hate" to become a DR. But, how many of you MSIIIs are like in this fear of being inadequate right off the bat? Any of you residents want to chime in on your progression through residency on being comfortable to read films, see the minor details, and becoming faster?

Every rads resident you will ever meet will tell you that they knew NOTHING on day one of residency. Don't let your ability as a med student dissuade you if you think you otherwise would enjoy the field.

 

[colbgw02]

Every rads resident you will ever meet will tell you that they knew NOTHING on day one of residency. Don't let your ability as a med student dissuade you if you think you otherwise would enjoy the field.

QFT. I tell prospective radiologists that you know as much about radiology on your first day of residency as you did about medicine on your first day of medical school. That comparison isn't 100% accurate, but it's close.

 

[DrVanNostran]

Thanks for the posts guys. Would it be correct to assume that as a 1st year radiology resident, knowing anatomy cold is a first priority? Basically spend the 4th year of medical school and PGY-1 year memorizing the hell out of anatomy and then worrying about the "radiology" when residency starts?

 

[Shifty B]

Thanks for the posts guys. Would it be correct to assume that as a 1st year radiology resident, knowing anatomy cold is a first priority? Basically spend the 4th year of medical school and PGY-1 year memorizing the hell out of anatomy and then worrying about the "radiology" when residency starts?

I wouldn't worry about it. Although it is nice to have some functional knowledge of anatomy, excessive effort this early would probably be wasted.

For the 4th year of med school just relax.

For your internship, just do a good job and pass step 3. Then you're ready to roll.

 

[fun8stuff]

Thanks for the posts guys. Would it be correct to assume that as a 1st year radiology resident, knowing anatomy cold is a first priority? Basically spend the 4th year of medical school and PGY-1 year memorizing the hell out of anatomy and then worrying about the "radiology" when residency starts?

it will be much more efficient to learn the anatomy during R1 when you're scrolling through CTs, reading studies, and dictating reports.

 

[gonogo]

As a current resident I second the previous post on how through hard work is the only way to become a good radiologist. You have to read lot of books in order for you to be able to function well on daily practice. Another aspect that I personally find very challenging during residency is the relevant part. In other words, trying to appreciate how our work is relevant to the clinicians. For example, many times you'll be reading a neuro CT or shoulder MR and you spend a lot of your time reading it only to realize the neurosurgeon or orthopod won't even look at your report. We have to learn so much minutiae in order to do well in our boards only to realize that many times clinicians won't pay attention to what we have to say. This is sometimes very hard to understand to some residents who come into radiology for the wrong reasons.

 

[badasshairday]

As a current resident I second the previous post on how through hard work is the only way to become a good radiologist. You have to read lot of books in order for you to be able to function well on daily practice. Another aspect that I personally find very challenging during residency is the relevant part. In other words, trying to appreciate how our work is relevant to the clinicians. For example, many times you'll be reading a neuro CT or shoulder MR and you spend a lot of your time reading it only to realize the neurosurgeon or orthopod won't even look at your report. We have to learn so much minutiae in order to do well in our boards only to realize that many times clinicians won't pay attention to what we have to say. This is sometimes very hard to understand to some residents who come into radiology for the wrong reasons.

What are these "wrong reasons"? They are wrong for thinking that every report will be read?

 

[DrVanNostran]

I wouldn't worry about it. Although it is nice to have some functional knowledge of anatomy, excessive effort this early would probably be wasted.

For the 4th year of med school just relax.

For your internship, just do a good job and pass step 3. Then you're ready to roll.

I am all about relaxing 4th year 🙂 I wonder how it would feel to go through netters on a beach 😉 JK, I plan on living it up for a few months! Thanks for the response.

it will be much more efficient to learn the anatomy during R1 when you're scrolling through CTs, reading studies, and dictating reports.

I noticed that during my radiology rotation, as the days went along, anatomy started to become second nature, at least the pertinent points the attending would point out.

As a current resident I second the previous post on how through hard work is the only way to become a good radiologist. You have to read lot of books in order for you to be able to function well on daily practice. Another aspect that I personally find very challenging during residency is the relevant part. In other words, trying to appreciate how our work is relevant to the clinicians. For example, many times you'll be reading a neuro CT or shoulder MR and you spend a lot of your time reading it only to realize the neurosurgeon or orthopod won't even look at your report. We have to learn so much minutiae in order to do well in our boards only to realize that many times clinicians won't pay attention to what we have to say. This is sometimes very hard to understand to some residents who come into radiology for the wrong reasons.

What are these "wrong reasons"? They are wrong for thinking that every report will be read?

I realized how relevant rads was during my rotation, when the ER or Surgery would either come running in or calling for a stat read; or when the attending would call another attending ASAP when he found something concerning.

But my MSK attending did say that ortho pretty much reads there own films except for MRs. But someone has go to get that dictation done🙂

I think a lot of people going into rads believe that they will always be the final answer. But a ton of surgeons, cardiologists read their own films and don't even bother with the report. However, I do feel that a majority of the hospital staff really does depend on that radiology report.

My favorite part about radiology occurred during my IM rotation. I was walking down with my attending for a read on a chest CT and he kept saying how annoyed he was radiology and how he loves having his own patients. Then when we left he reading room, he was like "damn I should have went into radiology."

The one reason I am scared about rads is my fear of it. But like many of you said, as a med student or PGY-1, we really know nothing. I guess its that fear of knowing near zilch has created a stronger motivation to learn 🙂

 

[tum]

It is possible to be good at anything with dedicated self study.

Some people never become good at IR or at ultrasound/CT biopsies. Outside of that, I think any diagnostic component of radiology can be learned.

If you're smart enough to get into residency, you're smart enough to figure out how to read studies.

But be warned, there is far more studying/reading in radiology than in almost any other field. It's almost like Med School 2.