Life of an Interventional Radiologist

[badasshairday]

What are the hours like? I know it isn't the DR lifestyle, and people compare it to more of a surgeons lifestyle. How true is this? I am on general surgery this month, and while I think it is cool, the waking up at 4am is killing me. My IM clerkship had pretty grueling hours but general surgery is another level. So what is it like?

I like to work hard, don't get me wrong, I am not looking for a derm lifestyle. Maybe general surgery feels like it is dragging for me because I am not all about surgery. An internists lifestyle would be fine.

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[Pontifex Maximus]

Hey, you don't have to defend yourself. Not everyone wants to work surgery hours and people shouldn't be douchy about it if you don't.

 

[DrJD]

Cant comment all around, but I do know that our IR department has morning "rounds" at 7:30... So thats quite a bit better than surgery!

 

[7summits]

This might be a helpful thread to look at: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=769295

 

[badasshairday]

Thought I would bump this. I have a few more questions.

I am on my Radiology elective as a MS3, and we get to do a little bit of everything. 2-3 days of MSK, Body CTMR, Thoracic, Nuclear Medicine, Neuro, IR. We also get to pick one topic that we want to see more of, to get around 5 days of experience, so I chose IR.

I have this sense that DR and IR people are completely different. DR people don't want anything to do with patient care besides reading studies.

I honestly, truly want to do IR, but I don't know if I could put up with the whole DR residency then moving onto IR. I see the draw the DR has, and maybe I'll like it more as I build some knowledge base in radiology. But, I crave patient interaction, the type that a surgeon gets. However, I really like the minimally invasive approach that IR has, and the neat endovascular procedures. Sometimes I think I could be happy in Vascular surgery as well, but I could care less about general surgery and most open procedures.

 

[Dr.CCM]

Have you considered Direct Pathway IR or Interventional Cards. There's also the Integrated Vascular programs. All of which would work.

 

[MossPoh]

This is anecdotal, but something I talked about my dad with. When he went into radiology, he originally hated his decision because he liked seeing patients. As time went on and his knowledge base built up, he said he realized that it was just as much fun. He dealt with clinicians more than patients, but still had something. Eventually, he did do a cardiovascular radiology fellowship in order to gain a little more patient exposure.

Growing up I never realized how hard he really worked. He usually left the house around 6 and got home around 7 p.m. Before nighthawk, he'd also get a couple calls a night when he was on. He eventuallly dropped procedures as he was slowing down for retirement, but does seem to miss them a bit. As it currently stands for him, one of the best parts about radiology is he can work a couple months a year and make some cash and then just take it easy. The biggest transition involves getting used to a different computer system.

Obviously that is a small sample size and it depends on the person, but it was never really a 9 to 5 type job for him. I believe that was mostly by choice since he loved what he was doing.

 

[PistolPete]

Interesting post. Thanks for that. I'm curious if you've asked him what he thinks about the future of radiology, and the future of medicine in general?

 

[werewethere]

Thought I would bump this. I have a few more questions.

I am on my Radiology elective as a MS3, and we get to do a little bit of everything. 2-3 days of MSK, Body CTMR, Thoracic, Nuclear Medicine, Neuro, IR. We also get to pick one topic that we want to see more of, to get around 5 days of experience, so I chose IR.

I have this sense that DR and IR people are completely different. DR people don't want anything to do with patient care besides reading studies.

I honestly, truly want to do IR, but I don't know if I could put up with the whole DR residency then moving onto IR. I see the draw the DR has, and maybe I'll like it more as I build some knowledge base in radiology. But, I crave patient interaction, the type that a surgeon gets. However, I really like the minimally invasive approach that IR has, and the neat endovascular procedures. Sometimes I think I could be happy in Vascular surgery as well, but I could care less about general surgery and most open procedures.

The advice on DIRECT pathway/clinical pathway is right on. If there is no good option in those regards, remember that not all radiology programs are the same. Some programs are IR friendly and allow you up to 12 months of IR training during a 4 year DR fellowship along with time to do clinical rotations.

 

[txguy]

Although this interview/article is geared more towards a high school or college student interested in Radiology, and more specifically IR, I think its a good read!

http://www.jobshadow.com/interview-with-a-radiologist/

 

[Vince]

What are the hours like? I know it isn't the DR lifestyle, and people compare it to more of a surgeons lifestyle. How true is this? I am on general surgery this month, and while I think it is cool, the waking up at 4am is killing me. My IM clerkship had pretty grueling hours but general surgery is another level. So what is it like?

I like to work hard, don't get me wrong, I am not looking for a derm lifestyle. Maybe general surgery feels like it is dragging for me because I am not all about surgery. An internists lifestyle would be fine.

It is extremely varied depending on whether or not you are working in private practice or academics. It also depends on the kind of radiology you do. A radiologist who specializes in mammography is going to have a very different day/hours/etc than one who specializes in IR.

And IMHO, when a radiologist is working, they are working, constantly getting calls from referring doctors, or making phone calls based on findings. And if you work in a hospital, there can be numerous interuptions throughout the day when doctors come in to the reading room for advice. It can get very stressful and frustrating. Everyone thinks that the study that they order is STAT and they "demand" reads faster than you can reasonably look at the images. Having completed residency, I'm currently an IR Fellow and our days are about 6:30am to 6:30pm, rarely getting out at 5 or 5:30pm, and often getting out at 8pm or 9pm. Interventional radiologists in private practice are usually very busy and may be on-call frequently.

I think the notion that Radiologists have a cush job with easy hours is false, and while it admittedly may not be as crazy as a general surgeons lifestyle, it may get close sometimes depending on the job you take. And Radiologists are often treated unprofessionally by referring providers.

Just my $0.02.