What does a radiologist actually do? Day in the life

[Futurephys]

I understand the enteral aspect of what a radiologist does but I'm confused about the day to day stuff... When a radiologist says they read cases from 1-4p.m., what does that mean? Do they look at the image then call whoever sent it or what? Just curious about what they do in any given day. Thanks!
*not trying to sound ignorant just curious


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[Cognovi]

Look at the images, dictate the report, repeat. In between, maybe look at the chart, call whoever ordered it with urgent results, input protocols, interact with technologists to troubleshoot, answer phone calls or visits from clinicians asking about the ordering or interpretation of specific studies. I'm not sure what you mean by "enteral aspect" but the cognitive aspect happens mostly in the first two steps, wherein the radiologist detects, describes, diagnoses, and determines/decides further management (the 4 D's of reading and reporting).

 

[loljkttyl]

In general, the diagnostic radiologist is sitting at a desk with multiple computer monitors in a dimly lit room. Each monitor serves a different purpose, such as showing the list of studies to be read, showing the images for the current study, showing the images for the prior studies, showing the reports of prior studies, and/or showing clinical information about the patient's medical history. In one hand, the radiologist holds the dictaphone which he can speak into. In the other hand, the radiologist holds the computer mouse which he uses to view and/or scroll through the images. While looking at the images, the radiologist speaks into the dictaphone which magically transcribes the words into a report. After finishing the study, the radiologist reads the report and makes any corrections by either speaking into the dictaphone with commands or by manually correcting it on the keyboard. Then the radiologist will sign the report and move onto the next study. If there are any critical findings, the radiologist will call the ordering provider to communicate these results and/or recommendations. Different radiologists focus on different studies. Some read several modalities while others focus on a few or a single modality or organ system. Some radiologists are purely diagnostic and interpret images. Others do some image-guided procedures in addition to reading studies. Hope that helps you have a better picture of radiologists do on a daily basis

 

[Cognovi]

Some radiologists may also explain the results of studies directly to patients, such as for breast imaging. Interventional radiologists may also have an outpatient clinic in which they see patients before or after having had an image-guided procedure done.

 

[Futurephys]

Some radiologists may also explain the results of studies directly to patients, such as for breast imaging. Interventional radiologists may also have an outpatient clinic in which they see patients before or after having had an image-guided procedure done.

So you can still have patient contact in radiology without doing IR? Also, I don't know what I meant by external aspect either but I think I just meant the general understanding... Thanks!


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[meister]

Non-IR trained radiologists routinely and frequently do procedures, particularly in private practice. This varies widely and depends on the specific practice. A non-IR holding clinic or doing only procedures all day would be unusual. It's typically done as either a dedicated mammo day with breast biopsies throughout the day or a non-mammo diagnostic day with drains/biopsies/injections sprinkled throughout.

 

[Resident2015]

Radiology is busy. REALLY busy. You are sitting at your workstation 90% of the day or more. While some procedures occur, these are mainly for interventional radiology. Mammo is an exception. Average day in a busy private practice would include reading dozens of CT/MRIs and 50-100 xrays. Many radiologists work through their lunch break.

IR is more similar to surgery in a lot of ways but they are still radiology-lite. Helping to decompress the worklist and take diagnostic call as needed. Some IR docs do 100% procedures without any significant diagnostic radiology reads.