More than 92% of radiologists believe having a subspecialty is an important part of their professional identity, according to new survey results released this month.
Less than 10% of physicians in imaging, on the flipside, think general practice is the most in-demand part of the specialty. The findings are part of a wide-ranging survey of 1,344 radiologists across 49 countries, published in Insights into Imaging, and underline an ongoing tug of war over the issue.
“There were 306 individual written comments concerning this topic, with many reflecting the tension between the need to cover the general clinical service against the need to offer a subspecialist expert opinion, to contribute to excellence in patient care in highly complex imaging scenarios,” the European Society of Radiology wrote Dec. 3.
ESR administered the 124-question (19 optional) online survey back in October 2019. Its aim was to “understand our sense of professional identity,” exploring where radiologists fit in current clinical practice, and how to ensure their visibility on the care team.
Subspecialization emerged as a key theme, with about 87% believing such accreditation improves their radiologists’ reputation in the eyes of other clinical colleagues. Another 84% felt the same about how they perceive themselves, while 70% believe it improved their identity as perceived by patients.
Many have acted on these feelings, too, the authors noted. About 47% of respondents had undertaken some subspecialty training. One to two years was the biggest segment (at 32%), followed by, 3-6 months (28%), and more than 24 months (18%). Roughly two-thirds took on subspecialty training in a different department from their base training, “suggesting that this experience also provided a wider exposure to different ways of working.”
“Most radiologists consider it important to have experience in nonradiological clinical care and to have a subspecialty expertise within radiology, despite recognizing the importance of the general workload,” the authors reported.
Communication also bubbled to the surface as a crucial piece of radiologists’ identities. Nearly 80% said relaying errors to referring physicians and patients was an important part of their job. And 83% felt that rads should undergo training to communicate bad news and imaging results, yet only about 25% had actually undergone such education.
Clinician interaction is also valued, ESR reported, with 91% labeling face-to-face or telephone discussions with other providers as vital to their jobs.
“We communicate regularly with both clinicians and patients and these communications are very important to us, in addition to giving us enjoyment in our work,” the authors concluded.
You can read much more about the survey in Insights into Imaging here. And for more on subspecialization in radiology, check out this feature from our print edition.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.