Notes of a Radiology Watcher

282 Pages·2014·1.562 MB·English

by  Stephen R. Baker (auth.)

Stephen R. Baker
Notes of a
Radiology Watcher
123
Notes of a Radiology Watcher

Stephen R. Baker

Notes of a Radiology
Watcher
Stephen R. Baker, MD
Department of Radiology
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Newark , NJ
USA
ISBN 978-3-319-01676-4 ISBN 978-3-319-01677-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01677-1
Springer Cham Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013955904
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To the many medical students I have mentored, who by their
enthusiasm and energy, make my work a pleasure.

Pref ace
This book, a compendium of many subjects all related to diagnostic imaging,
is not the result of an organized, predetermined plan. Instead, it emerged in an
organic fashion. The editorial style of each chapter grew out of an obligation
to provide a monthly audio discussion in my capacity as coordinating editor
of Practical Reviews in Radiology, a digest of contemporary radiology arti-
cles for CME content. I have edited and expanded on each of the topics I
initially presented, and added many new ones, each similar in length to the
other. Over the past decade, this exercise became a delightful habit for me. As
I became aware of a potential or actual issue related to radiology, I researched
it and consolidated my thoughts by putting them on paper.
The model for these remunerations was the column, “Notes of a Biology
Watcher” by the late Lewis Thomas which appeared regularly in “The New
England Journal of Medicine.” I was impressed by the eclectic mix of his
musings, his wide and deep erudition, and the trenchant comments that stick
in one’s mind years later.
I tried to bring the same characteristics to these collections of essays. They
refl ect my long experiences as an image interpreter, teacher of medical stu-
dents and residents, program director, dean of Graduate Medical Education,
member of the Radiology RRC, chairman, demographer, and geographer as
well as my obsessive commitment to jargon-free reports and regular personal
consultations between radiologists and referrers.
This format gives me a splendid opportunity to make known my opin-
ions—some of which you may approve of and some of which you may not
have thought about. If I pique your interest, I regard that as being a success,
even though I may not necessarily persuade you by the force and content of
my arguments.
I could not have organized this material alone. The coordination of various
sections of the book and careful revision of the text required the dedicated
efforts of six medical students—Shyam Patel, David Hansberry, Tekchand
Ramchand, Hamid Bagce, Shivam Shah, and Jin Jung, all of whom I believe
will become outstanding radiologists. They are all in my debt.
Newark , NJ , USA Stephen R. Baker , MD
vii

Contents
Part I Early Residency: Preparation and Participation
1 Centralized Interviews for Prospective
Radiology Residents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 A Critique of the Transitional Internship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Looking Back at the Value of the Internship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4 Radiology Residents: Internship Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5 The Debt Crisis and Radiology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6 Radiology Residency Positions: Growth, Distribution
and California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
7 Radiology Resident Recruitment: Robustness
in an Uncertain Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
8 Radiology Residencies: Disasters and Preparedness . . . . . . . . 31
Part II Late Residency, Fellowship and Just Beyond
9 Reorganizing the Fourth Year: Curricular
Organization—How Will the Fourth Year
Be Redesigned?—Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
10 Reorganizing the Fourth Year: The Fourth Year
After the Boards Change—How Should
It Be Constructed?—Part II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
ix