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Ultimate Guide to a Career in Radiology

Career in Radiology

Radiology is an exciting and intellectually stimulating specialty that plays an important role in patient diagnosis and management. If you are willing to work hard and be adaptable, it is a very rewarding career and one that some radiologists have described as not just a job but a hobby. This blog talks about how you can pursue a career in Radiology and future prospects in this career field.

The greatest obstacle to the cure of diseases in India is the limited number of professionals practicing diagnostics. This deficit can cause delayed diagnosis or no diagnosis at all that may lead to ineffective and expensive treatment, and even death.

The disease may also spread to others in the event of inaccurate diagnosis resulting in improper treatment. Hence, there is a dire requirement of qualified professionals in this field, especially in overpopulated and developing countries like India.

What is Radiology?

Radiology is a hi-tech branch of medical science that helps in diagnosing and treating various diseases, disorders, and abnormalities. Thanks to the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen in November 1895, radiology has grown immensely, both in its dimensions and capabilities and is now one of the most sought-after postgraduate courses for medical graduates. It is both a diagnostic specialty and an interventional specialty, with direct links to almost every other department in a hospital. It has rapidly advanced in recent years. Technological innovations and the widespread availability of sophisticated imaging techniques have made the job of radiologists easier.

A Career in Radiology

Those who enjoy intellectual challenges and solving mind-boggling cases have an analytical mind and a keen eye for detail can take up radiology as a career. Radiologists are often the first ones to detect new conditions and derive great satisfaction from studying the anatomical, pathological, and clinical details as well as the results of previous imaging procedures to come up with the cause of a patient’s problems.  Radiologists can be either diagnostic or interventional.

Diagnostic radiologists use a variety of imaging techniques such as plain radiographs, ultrasound, and Computed Tomography (CT), to sophisticated techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET), coupled with CT or MRI to answer the clinical question posed by a patient’s condition. Interventional radiologists, on the other hand, have a direct role in managing patients—from performing urgent minimally-invasive procedures and stopping life-threatening hemorrhages to undertaking procedures such as oesophageal stenting or angioplasty.

Educational Requirement

An aspirant must take up a combination of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (PCB) in 10+2 and then appear for one of the national or state level medical entrance examinations or that of a private medical college to pursue MBBS. This should be followed by MD/DNB after qualifying one of the postgraduate entrance examinations (conducted by the CBSE or state boards or National Board of Examinations).

During MD (Doctor of Medicine)/DNB (Diplomate of National Board), research has to be carried out apart from regular academics, carrying outward duties and upgrading one’s knowledge. One can then go for a three-year senior residency and/or sub-specialty training, after which s/he can practice as a radiologist.

A radiologist can choose to specialize in one or more of the following: Breast, Cardiac, Gastrointestinal, Head and Neck, Musculoskeletal, Neuroradiology, Oncological, Paediatric, Radionuclide, Thoracic, Uro-gynaecological, Vascular. Other than MBBS and MD, there are diploma courses as well in Medical Radio-Diagnosis, in which candidates are not given any research thesis and such candidates are not eligible for teaching posts.

Salary Structure

Earnings are different in government hospitals and private hospitals and clinics. In an academic hospital: A senior resident (for three years) may get around Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000 per month. An assistant professor can get upwards of Rs. 70,000 per month. An associate professor (takes around eight years), gets Rs. 75,000 per month. A professor earns Rs. 1.5 lakhs per month. In addition to this, they are entitled to a host of other benefits.

In private/corporate hospitals/clinics: An assistant consultant, with an experience of one year can expect a package upwards of Rs. 1.2 lakh per month. A senior consultant with five years’ experience can make around Rs. 3 lakh per month. But if you have your own set-up, you could earn more. The Sky may be the limit, literally.

Fee Structure

Full-time fee in the top ten medical schools in the world, all of which happen to be in the USA, is in the range of $30,000-$57,000. The same in medical schools with a lower ranking is much lower.

In India, the fee is negligible in government institutions in comparison to their foreign counterparts. However, the cost of pursuing radiology from private medical colleges may be in the range of Rs. 40 lakhs to 1 crore, or even more.

Institutes

There are almost 268 medical schools across the country that run radiology courses and out of a total of 35,000 medical students, approximately 747 get to do 3-year postgraduate training in radiology every year. Out of these, 537 seats are under the Medical Council of India (MCI) and 210 seats under the National board of examinations [Diplomate of National Board (DNB)], which are two medical governing bodies in India. In addition, there are about 253 2-year diploma course seats known as Diploma in Medical Radio-Diagnosis (DMRD).

Top Indian Institutes

  • All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
  • Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi
  • Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
  • Christian Medical College, Vellore
  • Seth GS Medical College (KEM Hospital), Mumbai
  • Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, Mumbai
  • Kasturba Medical College (Mangalore&Manipal),

Top International Institutes

RankInstituteLocationURL
1Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, Massachusetts, USAhms.harvard.edu/
3John Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimore, Maryland, USAwww.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/
4Perelman School of Medicine (University of Pennsylvania)Pennsylvania, USAwww.med.upenn.edu/
5UW School of Medicine (Seattle)Washington, USAwww.uwmedicine.org/
6David Geffen School of Medicine (UCLA)Los Angeles, California, USAhttps://medschool.ucla.edu/
7Michigan Medical SchoolMichigan, USAhttps://medicine.umich.edu/medschool/
8UNC School of MedicineNorth Carolina, USAhttps://www.med.unc.edu/
9Pritzker School of MedicineChicago, USApritzker.uchicago.edu/
10UW School of Medicine (St. Louis)Missouri, USAhttps://medicine.wustl.edu/

Pros and Cons

  • Opportunity to be involved with almost all the interesting cases or clinical practices in the hospital.
  • You make a real difference by helping inpatient management, monitoring disease progression or helping to diagnose a particularly dangerous ailment to prevent it from spreading or causing further harm to a patient
  • Many interventional radiological procedures are replacing/have replaced many surgical procedures
  • Being able to work with cutting edge and rapidly advancing technology in a booming field
  • Job and career flexibility
  • Not as challenging as surgery

Conclusion

The exponential growth of a population that has already crossed one billion points towards the need for better healthcare facilities. Radiology offers immense satisfaction to practitioners for they are the first ones to communicate with patients in distress and pave the way for their treatment. Apart from this, other factors that are enough to lure students are high monetary compensation, less taxing work when compared to other branches of medicine and the absence of emergency calls at odd hours.

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