Community-based academic radiologists—hybrid practitioners who focus on both academia and community health—could be key in improving access to specialized care, two University of Texas researchers report in the current edition of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Megan Kalambo, MD, and Jay R. Parikh, MD, both of UT’s Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said in JACR the lines that have delineated academic from private practice radiologists “are becoming increasingly blurred.”
While you’re likely to find a private practitioner at a community hospital, diligently working a high volume of run-of-the-mill cases, they wrote, academic radiologists are typically based at teaching hospitals, where they balance fewer, more complex cases with their duties as educators.
“Academic radiology, like academic medicine, has traditionally been practiced in academic hospitals, where radiologists focus on education and research in addition to patient care,” Kalambo and Parikh wrote. “This pathway has served as the primary source of scientific and technologic progress in radiology, because academic radiologists are tasked with educating the next generation.”
Academic radiologists are critical to the growth of the specialty across the country, the authors wrote. Whether it’s improving access to underserved communities, ensuring global access to subspecialty care or helping detect diseases at earlier stages, the goals of academic radiologists align squarely with those of the U.S. health system.
That’s why they’re suited for the hybrid role of a community-based academic radiologist, or CBAR, the authors said—but if such a role is going to be successful, hospital administrators need to manage their expectations and should be ready to motivate a group of employees who aren’t used to such hefty caseloads or traditional productivity measurements.
“The academic employer may need to be flexible in setting performance expectations for CBARs,” Kalambo and Parikh said. “Because of higher clinical demands, higher caseloads and longer working hours, CBARs may not be able or may not feel motivated to produce scholarly work at the frequency and volume of their academic hospital-based counterparts.”
Academic radiologists transitioning to a CBAR role might find it difficult to perform their research or educate residents without the infrastructure of a typical academic hospital, the authors wrote. Their roles have changed, and an increased workload could contribute to burnout.
Kalambo and Parikh said it could be helpful to establish performance metrics and promotional tracks tailored to CBARs—standards that are separate from their academic radiology counterparts. That motivation could make clinical obligations, like rounds, research and even teaching other hospital staff, more appealing.
The community-based academic radiologist is an emerging role that could add great value to our current healthcare system by increasing access to specialized medicine, the authors said. As long as administrators are able to manage their expectations for the new position, CBARs could play a crucial role in the space between books and bedside.
“The paradigm shift in healthcare has challenged the traditional academic medicine model and forced it to adapt in ways that align with ongoing healthcare reform,” the authors wrote. “The role of the CBAR is multidimensional and evolving but provides a unique opportunity to bridge academic and community-based practice priorities in a way that ultimately improves access to subspecialized care.”
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.