How To Become An Interventional Radiologist
If you’re interested in becoming an interventional radiologist, here are a few things you should know about the field:
- You’ll need to earn a medical degree from an accredited university. This usually takes four years of study, but can take as many as seven years if there are extenuating circumstances that require you to take longer to complete your studies.
- After you’ve earned your medical degree, you’ll need to complete residency training in radiology at an accredited hospital or university program. This lasts for three to four years and qualifies you to practice medicine independently.
- After completing residency training, you must pass the American Board of Radiology exams in order for your license to be issued by the state where you will work as an interventional radiologist. If you want to practice outside of the United States or Canada, some countries have their own requirements for licensure or certification; it’s important that these are met before traveling abroad as well as during any travel within those countries’ borders unless otherwise authorized by local laws (which may vary from country to country).
How To Become An Interventional Radiologist
Interventional radiologists are licensed doctors who conduct diagnostic and inter-operative imaging procedures. They rely on their expert knowledge of human anatomy to accurately detect, describe, and often correct abnormalities, often eliminating the need for invasive surgery. A person who wants to become an interventional radiologist usually needs to complete four years medical school and at least five years of residency and fellowship training. After completing training and passing certification exams, a doctor can work as an interventional radiologist at a hospital, surgical center, or private practice.
MRI scans must be interpreted by an experienced radiologist, and can often aid diagnosis.
MRI scans must be interpreted by an experienced radiologist, and can often aid diagnosis.
Most future doctors begin their educations at accredited four-year universities. A student who wants to become an interventional radiologist can benefit by choosing to major in a scientific field, such as chemistry, biology, or physics. He or she learns the basics of research design, human anatomy, and practical medicine by attending lectures and participating in laboratory courses. Near the end of a bachelor’s degree program, the student can start researching medical schools and take a national medical college admissions test.
Most prospective interventional radiologists begin their educations at accredited four-year universities.
Most prospective interventional radiologists begin their educations at accredited four-year universities.
Once enrolled in a respected medical school, an individual usually meets with advisers and professors to determine the best courses to take to become an interventional radiologist. A student has the opportunity to take courses in biochemistry, disease pathology, medicine, and many other subjects that are important to all doctor specialties. In addition, he or she can take a number of advanced lecture and independent research classes in radiology to gain vital interventional radiologist skills. A successful student can earn a doctor of medicine degree and begin applying to four-year residency programs in hospital radiology divisions.
After completing medical school, a radiology resident works under the supervision of experienced radiologists to perfect her skills.
After completing medical school, a radiology resident works under the supervision of experienced radiologists to perfect her skills.
Some new doctors begin their training in one-year general medicine internships to gain practical experience and see what doctors in many different specialties do. A person who knows that he or she wants to become an interventional radiologist typically has the choice whether or not to participate in an internship before entering a residency. A new resident has the opportunity to work alongside skilled radiologists, learning how to administer and interpret x-rays, ultrasounds, computerized tomography scans, and magnetic resonance imaging tests. He or she also continues to attend lectures and conduct research throughout residency training.
Interventional radiologistsrely on their expert knowledge of human anatomy to accurately detect abnormalities.
Interventional radiologistsrely on their expert knowledge of human anatomy to accurately detect abnormalities.
After completing a residency, a doctor can enter a one- to two-year fellowship program specifically dedicated to interventional radiology. He or she learns how to conduct complex diagnostic and treatment procedures, such as angiographies, angioplasties, and catheter insertions. By completing a fellowship, a person earns the chance to take a national licensing examination and begin working independently as an interventional radiologist.
The Role Of A Radiologist:
Are you a medical student or foundation doctor scanning through the plethora of possible fields you could specialise in? If you also happen to have a keen eye and a passion for high-tech gear and gadgets, clinical radiology may be your calling.
This article aims to provide you with great insight into radiology as a profession and guide you on your journey to becoming a radiologist.
A radiologist’s job is to use images to diagnose, treat, and manage diseases. Radiologists are integral in the accurate diagnosis of many medical conditions. Common imaging technologies include X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI, PET, fluoroscopy, molecular imaging – e.g. CT perfusion, dual-energy CT, optical imaging – as well as nuclear medicine techniques.
Furthermore, radiology has been at the forefront of minimally invasive techniques; this is known as interventional radiology, whereby X-Ray, ultrasound, MRI and CT are utilised for guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases in almost every organ system (1).
There is a wide range of interventional techniques performed by radiologists, including (1):
- Oesophageal stenting
- Angioplasty
- Angiography
- Biliary drainage and stenting
- Needle biopsy
- Treatment of internal bleeding by injecting a clotting substance
- Treatment of arteriovenous malformations
Contrary to popular belief, radiology involves lots of contact with people. Although radiologists spend most of their time writing imaging reports, they also play a crucial part in multidisciplinary meetings and their expertise is highly valued; they work alongside radiographers, medical physicists, and other specialist doctors.
There is a fair amount of patient contact in radiology, and some aspects offer more patient contact than others; for instance, ultrasounds, fluoroscopy, or breast imaging involve a good proportion of direct patient contact (1).
Apart from the necessary skills employed by all doctors, aspiring radiologists should demonstrate certain qualities and traits. Good observation and analytical skills, as well as attention to detail are central in this specialty. The job also requires a high aptitude for problem-solving and solid grounding in anatomy, physiology, and pathology across all specialties.
The interventional component also necessitates manual dexterity. As radiologists are always part of and managing a team, they must also demonstrate excellent teamwork and leadership.
Owing to constantly evolving technology, a number of conditions can now be diagnosed and treated more swiftly by radiologists, thus making this a highly rewarding specialty (1). Whilst still male-dominated, radiology has witnessed an increasing proportion of women.
Although, disparities remain between subspecialties; interventional radiology remains severely underrepresented with women comprising only 11% of the workforce, whereas in diagnostic radiology it is 41% (2).
A Typical Week:
A normal working week usually offers a mix of writing imaging reports, performing diagnostic and interventional procedures, reporting on cases and providing follow-ups, teaching junior staff, as well as managing at least one multidisciplinary meeting.
Some time is allocated to clinical governance. Your exact schedule depends on your chosen special interests. On-call commitment varies but is often between one in seven and one in eight weeks.
Most consultants are on-call out-of-hours at district hospitals where there are no specialty trainees. On-calls can get busy as they may require travelling between sites and involve emergency procedures, writing reports and communicating results to medical colleagues.
With the proposed 24/7 imaging a week, the demand could increase in the future. Nevertheless, the majority of radiologists believe a good work-life balance is possible. The EU Working Time Directive limits the working week to 48 hours (1).
The Route To Becoming A Radiologist:
Interested undergraduate medical students can join the medical society at their university and attend conferences for an opportunity to explore the specialty and network with potential future colleagues. You may also want to consider joining associated societies, institutes or professional bodies such as the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) and the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) (1).
During your foundation years, contact the radiology department at your hospital and ask to sit in on reporting and multidisciplinary meetings. Try to get involved in radiology audits/research and attend courses offered by the RCR (1).
After completion of your foundation programme, you do not have to complete core medical training (CMT) or equivalent, but instead can commence specialty training beginning at ST1 and running through to ST5; this means there is no ST3 application process (1). However, due to the high level of competition – 3.63 applications per ST1 post (3) – you may want to consider gaining experience in radiology clinical practice and/or research first rather than applying directly from foundation training.
Some applicants have even completed training in other medical specialties before applying to radiology (1). Since selection panels look for evidence of commitment to the specialty, awards, prizes, research, publications and presentations will strengthen your application.
Be ready to move to a different location as certain hospitals – such as Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London – are renowned for their excellence in this specialty and would prove beneficial to your career prospects (4).
The curriculum comprises three years of general radiology, including training in each radiology subspecialty, followed by two years of special interest training. During specialty training, you must also sit and pass the examination leading to the Fellowship of the RCR (FRCR).
Since radiology is a rather academic medical specialty, you may want to consider completing an Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) rather than normal foundation. Many radiologists pursue a research degree, usually an MD (2-3 years) or a PhD (3-4 years), before or during specialty training.
Should you choose to follow the academic training pathway, you will normally be appointed as an academic clinical fellow during ST1-2 and as a lecturer at ST3 onwards. At the end of training, you will be awarded the certificate of completion of training (CCT) to go on to work as a consultant radiologist (1).
Subspecialties:
The only subspecialty within radiology recognised by the GMC is interventional radiology, for which you should express interest during specialty training as you will have to complete an additional year (ST6).
Nonetheless, consultant radiologists often develop special interests in areas such as (1): Breast, cardiac, emergency, gastrointestinal, head and neck, musculoskeletal, neuroradiology, oncology, paediatric, radionuclide, thoracic, uro-gynaecological, vascular
Earnings:
NHS consultant salaries are the same for all specialties but vary between Scotland (highest), England, Northern Ireland, and Wales (lowest) and increase with service (up to 19 years). In 2020 the salary bands range from £77,779 to £109,849. Salaries can be further enhanced with NHS excellence awards.
Consultant radiologists may also wish to run private practices to supplement their salary; a “purely” private consultant is rare in the UK. On average, private radiologists can make a profit of an additional 44% of their NHS salary by working in the private sector (5). In 2018, private radiologists made a profit of £117,000; this is higher than most specialties, only second to orthopaedics (£128,000) (6).
For more information on salaries within the NHS, please feel free to review The Complete Guide to NHS Pay.
