Awakening the clinician in every radiologist

Like all professions, radiologists have their favourite T-shirt slogans. Take for instance the tongue in cheek: ‘We don’t see it in black and white but in different shades of gray’. Or, ‘Radiologists see things in you, other people can’t’. This humour masks a more prosaic reality: a profession striving for dignity and recognition, outshined by star cardiologists and transplant surgeons. Over the years, radiologists have had to be content with offices in the basement, and rarely get face time with patients beyond the imaging procedure itself and thus most often stay faceless. This low profile has cost the profession in many ways, from losing talent to other more high profile specialities to a low morale among radiologists themselves. But the Indian Radiological & Imaging Association (IRIA) has been trying to change this perception. Since the last few years, their annual conference has striven to include sessions for young radiologists. For instance, among the many ‘firsts’ at IRIA 2014, each presenter was asked to spend 10 minutes of their session sharing important tips on how to efficiently report one’s diagnosis. Similarly, the following year, IRIA 2015 at Kochi focussed on younger radiologists with many sessions offering guidance to exam going post graduates and young radiologists entering practice. The January 2015 issue of In Imaging thus focused on radiologists who had decided to turn entrepreneur and profiled three profitable imaging enterprises.

Continuing the soul searching, the theme of IRIA 2016 is ‘Redefining Radiologist- A true clinician’. In a hard hitting article, Dr Bhavin Jankharia, one of the organising chairmen for this edition, reminds the fraternity that they are ‘doctors first and radiologists second.’ (In Imaging, January 2016, ‘A true clinician’; pages 11-13). His concern that radiologists are being reduced to ‘image readers’ is very valid; so is his warning that “people expect more from those who provide them services.”

While the business case for radiology as a segment will always remain strong, Dr Jankharia’s argument resonates with the situation facing most IT majors in India. Companies who relied on providing the cheapest ‘coders’ realised, some too late, that there will always be another company, or country, who can do it cheaper. Unless each radiologist upgrades to the next level of service, they run the risk of becoming obsolete. Radiologists need to demonstrate that they can go beyond the imaging report and add value to the overall diagnosis by translating information into knowledge that will enrich the diagnosis. Earning a place during the clinical consult will be tough but imaging experts can prove that their inputs can guide treatment decisions towards a more effective and efficient use of resources. If radiologists step into this new role, it will free up hospital beds as patients get cured faster; doctors will be able to treat more patients and most definitely, patients and their caregivers will be able to get back to their lives faster, hopefully without sinking more into debt.

Let’s hope IRIA 2016 takes many steps towards this win-win scenario.

Viveka Roychowdhury
Editor

viveka.r@expressindia.com