The American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology (A3CR2) recently met in New Orleans, and their discussion could prove to have a significant impact on an entire generation of young radiologists.
The organization met to discuss the role of fourth-year radiology residents and how improved training could help radiologists become more valuable to the entire healthcare community. Ziga Cizman, MD, department of radiology and imaging sciences at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues summarized the organization’s findings for Academic Radiology.
“By redesigning the structure of radiology residency, we may be able to drastically alter the future of our profession,” Cizman, a A3CR2 member, and colleagues wrote. “At first glance, the role of trainees in implementing these sweeping changes appears limited; however, trainees have an important perspective and must act to spur and shape these changes to ensure the future success of our specialty.”
The group came up with several ways to improve residents’ training to make them more valuable as leaders and radiologists, and separated those ideas into three categories.
1. Increased clinical presence
The first A3CR2 idea was increasing the amount of face-to-face communication radiologists have with their colleagues in the hospital setting.
“Clinical presence is important because radiologists are best suited to answer clinical imaging questions, which is done most effectively if we are able to communicate directly and meaningfully with the clinicians,” the authors wrote. “Although this kind of direct communication was once more common, the advent of electronic image storage and distribution (i.e. picture archiving and communication system) has made it easy for clinicians to view radiology studies from clinical care areas, without any face-to-face interaction with a radiologist.”
Two strategies were suggested for improving the radiologist’s participation in providing patient care: embedded reading rooms, where radiologists could work closer to areas dedicated to specific subspecialties, and embedded residents, who could accompany clinicians throughout the day and provide their services whenever needed.
“In either model, removing barriers to clinician–radiologist communication is likely to improve patient care and clinician satisfaction,” the authors wrote. “Radiology residents can play an instrumental role in setting up clinical rounding or consultation services at their programs. Resident participation and enthusiasm are key ingredients for the success of these types of programs.”
2. Greater visibility to clinicians and patients
Numerous studies over the years have revealed patients do not have a firm understanding of who, exactly, radiologists are and what they do. One way the A3CR2 suggests this can be repaired is the use of social media, especially by residents.
“Social media and other Web-based venues have become increasingly important tools to increase the brand of institutions, companies, and causes in the 21st century,” the authors wrote. “Residents are typically more comfortable with social media and may be best equipped to help radiology departments embrace the role of social media in health care. There are multiple benefits to having a social media presence, including education, communication, and collaboration with patients and referring providers. In addition, online resources could include providing services via telecommunication to underserved areas, Web sites for preprocedural information, and Twitter to update radiology wait times, or traffic and parking alerts.”
The A3CR2 also noted residents can improve their relationship with clinicians by improving the quality of their radiology reports. When possible, radiologists could even tailor the report for the specific clinician who will be reading it.
“One idea to improve our value is to create tailored radiologic reports based on a referring provider's clinical question or specified disease process,” the authors wrote. “For example, current literature suggests primary care providers are less likely to read an entire report, which may necessitate pertinent incidental discoveries being listed in the impression. Through open communication and utilization of embedded reading rooms and consult services, we can use clinician feedback to optimize our reports and provide greater clinical relevancy.”
Participation in hospital and university committees is yet another way to increase visibility. Radiologists can help shape policy this way, and residents will find that it helps build new relationships with other professionals.
3. Increase radiologists’ role in education
Cizman et al. said radiologists have become more of a commodity in recent years, and it has had an impact on the entire profession.
“During this transition, interdisciplinary relationships have suffered,” the authors wrote. “Surgery residents are largely taught radiology by surgeons. Internal medicine residents learn how to read chest radiographs and CTs from pulmonologists. As the experts at image interpretation in the hospital, radiologists need to have a role in the education of our nonradiology colleagues.”
This, the authors explained, represents an opportunity for radiologists. By educating colleagues and developing “interdisciplinary conferences,” the rest of the healthcare community can better understand that radiologists offer valuable insight and should be viewed as much more than a commodity.
Overall, the message of the A3CR2 is clear: By training radiology residents to increase their clinical presence, become more visible to clinicians and patients, and share their wealth of knowledge, it can help the entire profession gain value, effectiveness, and respect.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.