Working as a radiologist while on a sailboat?

[sylvanthus]

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Ridiculous? Or is it?

How possible is it to read CTs, MRIs, etc etc from a sailboat while traveling around the world? This is probably a ridiculous question, but how sweet would it be to sail around the world and read films while away from shore via satellite linkage?

Heck many EDs employ Nighthawk, which is essentially Radiologists who are on the other side of the world and awake, while the Radiologists here are asleep and off-duty. Why not just travel around and read films via computer with the correct capabilities from basically anywhere?

Feel free to flame away if need be. Just something I was thinking about while out sailing today.

 

[The Angriest Bird]

Not sure about sailboat, but I heard reading CT scans on an Australian sunny beach hugging two blonde hotties is a reality.

 

[jdh71]

Maybe you could do it while smoking a doob and getting a rimjob too . . .

 

[sylvanthus]

Hah, totally what I expected, thanks for not disappointing.

 

[DrBowtie]

How fast/reliable are the satellite connections? You'd need phone and internet, diagnostic level screen. I don't know how Nighthawk PACS works.

 

[Mattabet]

Why not work as a pediatrician or orthopedic surgeon from a sailboat too?

Actually, if we substitute 'aircraft carrier' for 'sailboat' and add the word 'Naval' before the career choice, anything is possible!

 

[sylvanthus]

Surgery, totally possible, after all aren't robotic surgeries via remote connections already done?

 

[Morsetlis]

A satellite uplink would be pretty expensive, no? Satellite phones certainly are.

 

[isoquin]

So here's the scenario. You're out in your sailboat in the middle of the ocean. And your monitor dies. Or your internet link. Or your motherboard. Or your hard drive.

Now say you're a hospital system and need to decide which radiologist night-float to hire. One is floating in the middle of the ocean, the other is in a radiology super center. Which do you pick?

 

[sylvanthus]

Simple enough solution. You go into business with several other radiologists who all share a database of films to be read, similiar to Nighthawk. If one Radiologist drops out of the system and is unable to connect, you have several others available to read films in a timely manner.

 

[sylvanthus]

Also, if you are going to be reading "emergent" films, you obviously wont rely on an unreliable network and be out at sea. The person would be stationed someplace with a reliable connection. But, for routine films, why not do it from random places via satellite or some other connection?

 

[dbth77]

Ridiculous? Or is it?

How possible is it to read CTs, MRIs, etc etc from a sailboat while traveling around the world? This is probably a ridiculous question, but how sweet would it be to sail around the world and read films while away from shore via satellite linkage?

Heck many EDs employ Nighthawk, which is essentially Radiologists who are on the other side of the world and awake, while the Radiologists here are asleep and off-duty. Why not just travel around and read films via computer with the correct capabilities from basically anywhere?

Feel free to flame away if need be. Just something I was thinking about while out sailing today.

Is this a serious question? You're kidding about being in med school, right?

 

[Sheldor]

Probably not right now. Most Radiologists who work from home end up investing in a T1 line to handle the enormous data size of CT/MRI files. So, until you can get that kind of bandwidth from a satellite, then I'd say no.

 

[richse]

Probably not right now. Most Radiologists who work from home end up investing in a T1 line to handle the enormous data size of CT/MRI files. So, until you can get that kind of bandwidth from a satellite, then I'd say no.

I'm guessing you didn't mean to say T1 (1.54 mbps) since that is a rather slow connection by today's standards and would really hinder anyone from getting large CT/MRI files.

 

[Sheldor]

I'm guessing you didn't mean to say T1 (1.54 mbps) since that is a rather slow connection by today's standards and would really hinder anyone from getting large CT/MRI files.

Ya sorry bout that, I was tired and my mind regressed to back in the day...

 

[colbgw02]

Reliability issues notwithstanding, there's no technical reason someone couldn't do it. Like U.S. radiologists abroad, you could only provide preliminary reads because the 800-pound gorilla in the reimbursement room (Medicare) requires the final read to originate from the U.S. There are all sorts of practical issues as well, like conversing real-time with ordering providers. All in all, it's a highly improbable and impractical idea, but not impossible.

 

[colbgw02]

I'm guessing you didn't mean to say T1 (1.54 mbps) since that is a rather slow connection by today's standards and would really hinder anyone from getting large CT/MRI files.

Ya sorry bout that, I was tired and my mind regressed to back in the day...

Most teleradiologists I know are limited not by their own internet connection, but by the upload speed at the acquisition site. Accordingly, a typical cable modem is sufficient, or wideband if you're feeling saucy. In any case, there typically isn't a need for anything other than what is commercially available through the local cable company or AT&T U-verse.

 

[FunnyCurrent]

Imagine if you miss something. What the lawyer might do with the information that you were on your yacht with Ukranian prostitutes when you missed mommy dearest's tumor. Imagine what the jury will do to you. You think that Connecticut case was bad?

I would never do something like this simply because it is in bad taste.

 

[link2swim06]

I just looked it up, satellite data is between $5-15 per megabyte depending where in the world you are and apparently you cant even get it reliably in the south hemisphere.

I am guess most CTs are between 100-300MB (completely random guess here, anyone know the exact number?)

Therefore per CT you are paying about $3000 to download it....i doubt u are getting paid that much to read it....

 

[shopsteward]

In Europe, there are remote/IT workers who live on converted commercial freight barges (the sort which are big enough to have a winch to take the car on and off the roof). Because they spend less than 90 days a year in any one country (possible, moving Germany/Netherlands/Belgium/Luxembourg/France) they pay no income tax. The same lifestyle should also be possible travelling along the Danube, now life there is settling down after the most recent Balkan wars, although the IT connections are still patchier there. The no-tax thing doesn't work for US citizens, though.

 

[link2swim06]

In Europe, there are remote/IT workers who live on converted commercial freight barges (the sort which are big enough to have a winch to take the car on and off the roof). Because they spend less than 90 days a year in any one country (possible, moving Germany/Netherlands/Belgium/Luxembourg/France) they pay no income tax. The same lifestyle should also be possible travelling along the Danube, now life there is settling down after the most recent Balkan wars, although the IT connections are still patchier there. The no-tax thing doesn't work for US citizens, though.

The ultimate nail in coffin for this idea is I believe to receive medicare payments you have to be in the US. So apart from making a bunch of pit stops at US embassies to sign your reads I don't know how this would work....

 

[tohsimas135]

If you're interested in radiology, you better hope that they won't allow you to do it remotely. If radiology could be done on a sailboat, there's no reason why some guy from India couldn't do it for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Suncrusher]

If you're interested in radiology, you better hope that they won't allow you to do it remotely. If radiology could be done on a sailboat, there's no reason why some guy from India couldn't do it for a fraction of the cost.

it already is done remotely... 😕 i know radiologists who work out of their homes

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

it already is done remotely... 😕 i know radiologists who work out of their homes

It's a US soil thing. Pretty sure they have to be read inside the country IE; at home, private practice or hospital.

This is my understanding of it, not sure on the details

 

[shadowfox87]

It's called teleradiology, been around for a while.

 

[Asp]

Of course you could do this, but why the hell would you want to. The whole point of having a sailboat is to flaunt it as a status symbol, not actually use it as a place of work and residence.

 

[link2swim06]

It's a US soil thing. Pretty sure they have to be read inside the country IE; at home, private practice or hospital.

This is my understanding of it, not sure on the details

I think that the prelim reads could be done anywhere, but the final read must be signed on U.S. soil. Therefore, some in india could prelim read whatever, but for payment policies it gets signed here.

 

[DrBowtie]

I think that the prelim reads could be done anywhere, but the final read must be signed on U.S. soil. Therefore, some in india could prelim read whatever, but for payment policies it gets signed here.

This and its harder to sue someone half way across the world.

 

[michaelrack]

there's no reason why some guy from India couldn't do it for a fraction of the cost.

there's the whole practicing medicine without a license issue

 

[CaptainSSO]

Does anyone else feel like reading images all day would get ridiculously boring, no matter where you were located?

Teleradiology sounds awesome, I could lounge at home drinking coffee and sitting on my couch. I could see doing it for a few months. But as a career? Hell no.

 

[JC Denton]

dang, a T1 connection is considered slow now?
even with this horrible DSL connection I have?
I can't believe that stuff was only good "back in the day"...

 

[mfrizzo3]

Does anyone else feel like reading images all day would get ridiculously boring, no matter where you were located?

Teleradiology sounds awesome, I could lounge at home drinking coffee and sitting on my couch. I could see doing it for a few months. But as a career? Hell no.

No.

 

[Bartelby]

It's nice having the radiologist down the hall so that you can stop in and look at a study together, but I don't see why some radiologists couldn't be doing reads remotely. If you're doing reads remotely who cares where you are (boat v land) as long as you are reliable? I think it is possible as long as you can meet the technical data demands, and I don't really see it as immoral if you prefer to do the job somewhere you enjoy.

But I do think malpractice lawyers could get a jury to crucify you for just about anything once they find out you work from a sailboat!

 

[CaptainSSO]

No.

Interesting point of view--very descriptive. I can totally see where you're coming from, and I have a changed perspective.

 

[jdh71]

Interesting point of view--very descriptive. I can totally see where you're coming from, and I have a changed perspective.

 

[searun]

This and its harder to sue someone half way across the world.

Pretty hard to hand someone a summons for a lawsuit when you are in the middle of the Indian Ocean.....Relax, you pseudo lawyers, yes I realize that you can publish a summons in the newspaper, but service could be challenged if the plaintiff's lawyer knew the doc was floating around in the middle of some ocean.

 

[Sheldor]

Pretty hard to hand someone a summons for a lawsuit when you are in the middle of the Indian Ocean.....Relax, you pseudo lawyers, yes I realize that you can publish a summons in the newspaper, but service could be challenged if the plaintiff's lawyer knew the doc was floating around in the middle of some ocean.

Challenge to service would fail because if you have the connectivity to practice radiology, then you have the connectivity to be "aware" of being served. Jus' saying.

 

[searun]

Challenge to service would fail because if you have the connectivity to practice radiology, then you have the connectivity to be "aware" of being served. Jus' saying.

Pretty sure that it is not legal to serve a lawsuit on the internet. Personal service is required, i.e. handing you a copy of the lawsuit at your office or your home...or a judge has to authorize service by publication in a local newspaper. But, you are right, probably service by internet will be legal pretty soon. It is only a matter of time before the radiologist on the sailboat will be served on his computer connection.

 

[richse]

dang, a T1 connection is considered slow now?
even with this horrible DSL connection I have?
I can't believe that stuff was only good "back in the day"...

Yeah man, a T1 hasn't been a fast connection since back when everyone was on dialup. My cable modem clocks in somewhere around 30 times faster. I just think it has been used synonymously with "fast connection" for a long long time and people now assume it's fast without really knowing the speed. You wanna see fast check out some of the fiber connections like an OC3 and up.