William D. Kerridge MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Biren Ashok Shah MD, Abstract Co-Author: Research grant, U-Systems, Inc Research grant, C. R. Bard, Inc Clinical Advisory Board, Delphinus Medical Technologies, Inc

The competitiveness of radiology residency has been cyclical, and this paper investigates how recent changes in health care policy and issues facing radiology may have changed the perception of medical students towards the field of radiology.

A multiple-choice survey was developed using surveymonkey.com. The survey had 11-13 questions depending on the respondent’s year in medical school. The radiology interest groups of 33 allopathic medical schools in the United States were contacted through email. The student government was contacted if there was no interest group in place. Of the 33 schools, 12 responded and the survey was sent out to 4907 medical students. 377 students responded to the survey and 292 of those completed the entire survey.  

39.4% of students would reconsider choosing radiology as a specialty if the average work week for a radiologist were to increase from 50 to 60 hrs/week and 33.6% would reconsider choosing radiology as a specialty if the average work week is 70 hrs/week. 76% of medical students answered they would reconsider radiology as a specialty if salary decreased below $300,000/year. 52% had the cutoff point of $250,000. 47% of medical students view the role of a radiologist in the hospital expanding over the next 15 years. 46.6% of respondents answered they would no longer consider radiology as a career if training to become a board certified radiologist increased to seven years.  57.9% of medical students believe the recent health care reform bill will mildly impact radiologists in a negative way. 18.5% of medical students believe it will significantly impact radiology in a negative way. Although a vast majority of medical students (76.5%) believe health care reform will negatively impact radiology, 55.1% think health care reform has no impact on their choice of specialty. 36.6% of medical students are willing to still apply for a radiology residency, but with reluctance due to recent changes in health care.

Although there are many potential changes to the field of radiology due to health care reform and other influences, the decision to choose radiology as a specialty is unchanged in a majority of medical students interested in radiology.

The results from this survey may serve as a tool when implementing changes in radiology regarding the amount of training, work-load and salary.

Kerridge, W, Shah, B, A Prospective Radiologist Survey: How Current Issues in Radiology and Health Care Reform Influence a Medical Student's Decision to Choose Radiology.  Radiological Society of North America 2011 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 26 - December 2, 2011 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2011/11001599.html