JACR Study Shows Business Ed. Increasingly Important to Future Radiologists

In the March Journal of the American College of Radiology, University of Washington radiologist Jonathan Medverd, M.D., reports that radiology residents and fellows feel less prepared to handle practice management issues than best practices in the ever-evolving professional landscape. Medverd, et al., cite a greater need for practical training in issues like reimbursement rates, basic accounting principles, and practice governance among the next generation of radiologists. The report abstract concludes: “Despite the perceived importance of radiology business practice and health care policy education, and residency training requirements in competencies related to these subjects that have been in place for more than a decade, curricula addressing these items still seem to be in a stage of acceptance and development. Further commitment to and innovation within these curricula are requisite in educating our future radiologists.” One possible criticism of the survey would be to consider its “opt-in” bias from respondents; another would be the reasonably limited population sampling upon which it rests. The 560 respondents who participated in the study were members of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology, members of the ACR Resident and Fellow Section (RFS), and RFS delegates to the college’s 2010 annual leadership conference. Participation among those groups ranged from 12 to 25%.