A radiologist answers “should you go into radiology?”
Dr. Saurabh Jha was once a surgical resident in the U.K and then decided to change course to go into radiology.
An article Dr Jha wrote on the topic of whether or not a junior doctor should go into the profession of radiology has appeared on popular blog KevinMD.com. The pros and cons are summarised below.
The Pros:
- Radiology is leading health care in information technology, which can make it exciting for the tech-savvy medical student.
- Growing demand in international health, though you would not sent to heal diseases in remote countries or quarantined in the military base.
- Although radiology is now 24/7 and there are times when you will be on-call, when you are off, you are off
The Cons:
- Not ideal for those who wish to make lots of money (compared with some other surgical specialties)
- Prepare for 20 to 30 hours of reading a week during the training.
- The shifts are non-stop
- The practice of radiology now involves more interaction with patients, so don’t go into this area if you think that you are going to avoid patients – radiologists doing interventional, ultrasound, mammography and fluoroscopy must speak well to patients.
- Radiology is not a backup plan – radiologists do what other doctors do – mastering anatomy, radiological pathology, physics, and clinical medicine.
More resources on My Health Career:
- The role of the clinical radiologist
- Becoming a radiologist – the training pathway
- Should I become a surgeon? Traits for aspiring surgeons
- What sort of doctor do you want to be? Medical specialites
Image: Praisaeng – freedigitalphotos.net