Radiology in Thai

Archive for the ‘Interventional Radiology’ Category

Specializing in cardiac and vascular-interventional radiography is a challenging career choice for a medical doctor, but it is also a rewarding and lucrative choice due to the specialized nature of this work. Cardiac and vascular-interventional radiography is a subspecialty in the field of radiography that is dedicated to cardiovascular imaging and image guided surgery. It will take many years of schooling and training, but you will be able to enjoy a high paying career involving the diagnoses and treatment of various illnesses once it’s all through.

The great thing about cardiac and vascular-interventional radiography is the minimally invasive nature of these imaging exams and treatments. As a radiographer you will be trained to use images to direct interventional procedures with needles and catheters in order to diagnose and treat diseases. These specialized procedures reduce infections and shorten recovery time compared to other intervention techniques. There has been a myriad of advancements in this field since the 1970s, after the Seldinger technique and other improved methods were introduced.

As a medical doctor specializing in cardiac and vascular-interventional-radiography you will be trained to perform imaging modalities including computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US). The fastest and most accurate techniques are computed tomography and fluoroscopy, but these are also the most potentially harmful to the doctor and patient. Magnetic resonance imaging offers excellent images with high tissue contrast, but it is expensive and requires some of the most specialized instruments in this field. Ultrasound imaging is fast and inexpensive, but it often produces images with lower quality and tissue contrast problems. You will have to decide when one method is preferable over another depending on the situation.

The training you will need to complete to become a cardiac and vascular-interventional radiologist will include the completion of a four-year bachelor’s degree, four years of medical school, a preliminary year of training (internship), a four year diagnostic radiology residency program, and a one or two year fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but many people find that the rewards of this important career are worth the initial hardships.

Dad: The World isn’t fair

Calvin: I know, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?

Calvin and Hobbes

Doctors look at the world differently, an under-appreciated fact that is key to understanding health care reform. For most people, the world is a pretty unfair place, with success being only tangentially related to talent or intelligence. Although such things matter in the business world, less quantifiable attributes such as the ability to please others, personality, grooming, and luck, are at least as important.

Medicine is different. Although not perfect, the ascent up the ladder of success for doctors may be the most fair of all professions. Aptitude, hard work and dedication pretty much guarantee advancement, no matter what your personal qualities. Superior grades and board scores in college results in admission to medical school, where commitment and endless hours of study guarantee admission to good residencies and eventually jobs.

Manners, wardrobe choices, the ability to motivate others, and golf skills, are not particularly important. For the most part, medical school and residency admissions are based on clearly defined, quantifiable measurements often lacking in other professions. Personality quirks and deficiencies are often overlooked (or not noticed). One can achieve substantial success in medical school and residency with limited social skills. Frequently the training is so time-consuming that other aspects of personality and life experiences are poorly developed.

Needless to say, the fur starts to fly when these physicians interact with the outside world. Hospital administrators, insurance company executives, politicians and patients could care less whether you did your residency at Harvard or University of Toledo. The malpractice attorney does not care whether you can quote two or three papers from the latest journal.

Previously ignored concepts like personality, grooming, and self-promotion start to matter far more than hard work and intelligence, and some doctors are caught short.

Many doctors can appreciate the issues and adjust. Others never make the transitions, and become alienated, disillusioned and resentful. They expected the world to remain a fair place, as it has been in their training. It is not surprising that some become to feel entitled and greedy, as the referenced article addresses.

A main reason doctors are losing the health care reform battle is that they don’t understand the rules. Doctors were trained to value integrity, sincerity, evidence and truth. Such totems are considered na?ve and laughable by the cynical politicians and businessmen who view the medical industry as a cash cow to be led to slaughter.

Like it or not, these same politicians and businessmen control the purse-strings, and doctors will have to learn how to deal with them, something they don’t teach in medical school.

The following top 10 industry associations in radiology come from a list of countless professional organizations for radiologists. There are associations, boards, colleges, institutes, registries, societies and other professional organizations across the country, throughout North America and all over the world. The following top 10 are among the most relevant and popular in the United States.

1. American Board of Radiology: The ABR has a mission of serving patients, the public and the medical profession by certifying that its members in the U.S. “have acquired, demonstrated and maintained a requisite standard of knowledge, skill and understanding essential to the practice of diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology and radiologic physics.”

2. American College of Radiology: The ACR has 34,000 members including interventional radiologists, medical physicists, nuclear medicine physicians, radiation oncologists and radiologists.

3. American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine: The AIUM is a source for ultrasound accreditation, affiliation, continuing education, job searches, networking and more.

4. American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers: The ARDMS has been promoting quality patient care and safety through certification and continuing competency of ultrasound professionals since 1975.

5. American Society of Radiologic Technologists: The ASRT represents the medical personnel who perform diagnostic imaging examinations and radiation therapy treatments with a mission of advancing the profession and enhancing patient care.

6. International Society of Radiographers & Radiological Technologists: The RSRRT has national societies and individual associate members dedicated to their mission of “representing the practice of medical imaging and radiation therapy technology by promoting the highest achievable standards of patient care and professional practice.”

7. Radiological Society of North America: The RSNA has been committed to excellence in patient care through education and research since 1915, with more than 40,000 members.

8. Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers: The SDMS has been advancing, educating and promoting members and the diagnostic medical sonography community since 1970.

9. Society of Nuclear Medicine: The SNM, an international scientific and professional organization, has been promoting the practical application, science and technology of nuclear medicine since 1954, with 16,000 current members.

10. Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound: This society was founded to advance the field of ultrasound with physician membership, journal publishing, scientific research and patient resources.