Hi. I'm a radiologist with a an ABR CAQ in nuclear medicine doing 50% nuclear medicine in my practice. In my opinion, the pure nuclear medicine physician will be obsolete soon, with the possible exception of some academic practices in which research is a heavy component of the practice. Cardiac nuclear medicine is or will soon be practiced solely by cardiologists. What's left is primarily oncologic nuclear medicine which will be mostly PET-CT. You simply cannot do PET-CT well without being an experienced body CT reader. And that skill is difficult to acquire without a radiology residency training program. For that matter, I find that MRI competency is often necessary in interpreting and correlating nuclear medicine exams, particularly bone scans. Also, Like it or not, the field of nuclear medicine, especially without nuclear cardiology, has become "nuclear imaging'. In private practice in particular, productivity is measured by exams interpreted. Deep knowledge in nuclear medicine pharmacy, instumentation, radiation safety, etc. is nice but it doesn't translate into RVU's. I wish it weren't this way, but times have changed.
I would strongly encourage doing a radiology residency. If you know that your interests lean toward nuclear medicine and perhaps body imaging, you can tailor your residency to meet those goals. If getting accepted to a radiology program is a problem, keep trying. And remember the name of the program is less important than the type of experiences that are offered. Good luck!
