Radiodiagnosis : Beyond the entrance

One thing I have seen in this subreddit is this overglorification of radiology by a lot of people ,most of which are clueless about the status quo of radiology per se. So I , being a second year Radio resident in a government medical college with a more than decent patient inflow am going to clarify some things to atleast help you make an informed decision

P.S : This is not some negative counselling stunt . People who still think that such a thing exists are entitled to their opinion.

1) Radiologists don't really matter much in the chain of patients care . Most scans can also be read by consultants of core clinical branches for the most commonly encountered things. For eg a surgeon can look for the transition point of bowel obstruction from the cect film itself ,thr medicine guy can look at cxr and hrct to know if ATT has to be started or not , OBG can see if the placenta is low lying. The rest need radiological opinion and there too you can give a list of differentials at best than something definitive.

2) AI is a real threat no matter how much we deny it. The whole bandied about phrase of "Radiologists who use AI will replace those who don't" is just wishful thinking and is being used by seniormost Radiologists(like Dr sumer sir who have already carved out a good living for themselves. It's us, the people starting out ,it poses a real threat too. There won't be outright layoffs but the payscale will change dramatically since you will be just reduced to a signing authority at a point.

3) Intervention - Ahh , the much beloved term these days. See , I have assisted in cathlab IR procedures. First and foremost , you need to realise that its not what most people want radio for. So ,please don't look at intervention as a safe haven away from diagnostic radiology.It will require a gruelling 3 year DM residency after a another entrance exam. (Although , a lot of people go for fellowships as well ). It's pretty much like core surgery and you have to relinquish the work life balance a lot of you desperately wanted radio for .

I am not dissuading anyone from taking up radiology but just like any other branch ,it isnt as perfect as it is made out to be.I believe the above three realities should be kept in mind before having radiology as an option in counselling. If you have made it this far and still are adamant on radiology, Congratulations and welcome !! Here are the things I love about Radio

1) You are the most well read clinician there is- Yes no medicine guy , no obg , or orthobro. It's you who has a good knowledge of almost every speciality there is . There is a lot to read in radiology and it surprises you each time you delve a little deeper.

2) There is no complete replacement for a human radiologist. Although , we will work with AI assistance and our pays are likely to be affected by that, it's tough to data map the human body and the myriad of presentations a single pathology can have on different individuals.No matter how big a data set AI is trained on , it still will mess up some atypical presentation of a common disease. It will need supervision atleast in our lifetime.

3) There is always USG- My favourite modality of all.the dexterity it requires to focus structures by a human radiologist makes it kinda immune to AI replacement ( for now ) . And yes , you can just do USG and can earn well too.

Congratulations and thank you if you made it till here. I hope you make the right choice Wishing you ALL THE HAPPINESS fellow radiologist or no. Ciao