Editorial
The Job Market for Radiologists
Dear readers, As radiologists we chose our vocation for many individual reasons – a love of medicine, radiology’s key role in diagnosis, the ever-developing technology, the chance to make a difference. Qualifying as a radiologist takes many years, but what if there is not a job at the end? Planning the radiology workforce is a complex issue for any country. Factors affecting demand include not only t...
Country Focus: Egypt
InMedica Predictions for the Medical Electronics Industry
Wireless to Become Integral to X-ray TechnologyInMedica predicts that wireless flat panel detector (FPD) general radiography X-ray equipment will make up over 30 percent of unit shipments in 2013. The global general radiography X-ray equipment market has seen a shift towards wireless FPD technology, in particular in mobile X-ray. The ability to place panels directly under or around critically ill patients...
Management in Radiology Seminar in Tehran
Image credit: Dr. Mansoor Fatehi The first Iranian seminar on Management in Radiology was held in Tehran on 2-3 February 2013. The meeting was aimed at providing update training on the hot topics in radiology management. The major themes of the meeting were safety and protection, quality management, strategic management and imaging economics. The Iranian society of radiology (ISR) invited...
Association News
MIR Future Events
MIR will once again present a half day symposium at ECR. Save the Dates Please note the changed location. MIR Annual Scientific Meeting October 10-11, 2013 Barcelona, Spain Junior Course on Management October 9, 2013 Barcelona, Spain More information and registration details are on the MIR website: www.mir-online.org...
CIRSE 2013 – Registration Now Open!
Registration is now open for CIRSE 2013, the most comprehensive forum for minimally invasive image-guided therapy – Interventional Radiology. Held this year from September 14-18 in Barcelona, Spain, CIRSE 2013 showcases a field of innovation and cutting-edge medical advances, providing a truly unique and valuable educational experience. Innovative Lectures and SeminarsIn keeping with the innovative natu...
ECIO 2013, the Fourth European Conference on Interventional Oncology
Europe’s premier Interventional Oncology meeting, ECIO 2013, takes place in Budapest, Hungary, June 19-22, 2013. In recent years, Interventional Oncology has emerged as a new discipline offering effective treatment of many malignant tumours with image-guided minimally invasive techniques. In numerous cases, Interventional Oncology achieves the destruction of tumours with fewer complications and...
CARS 2013 Invites you to Heidelberg
The Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS) congress is the yearly event for scientists, engineers and physicians to present and discuss the key innovations that shape modern medicine on a worldwide basis. The 27th International Congress and Exhibition on Computer Assisted Radiology Congress Organizing Committee will be held in Heidelberg, Germany from 26 - 29 June 2013. This annual event enables...
COCIR – Regulation and Policy Updates from Brussels
The European Commission’s proposal for a new Medical Device Regulation is now going through the European Parliament and EU member states for consideration. In January, COCIR – the trade association representing the European Medical Imaging, Electromedical and Healthcare ICT Industry - published its High-Level Contribution on Medical Device Regulation as an input to the debate. The future of medical d...
IHE-Europe Connects More Nations, More Systems
The arrival of the European Connectathon in Istanbul April 15 marks a significant milestone for Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE). The critical mass powerfully demonstrates the scope and reach of the IHE movement towards interoperability in healthcare. Launched 13 years ago in Europe with the first 'connectivity marathon' in France, the drive to a standard-based exchange of patient informatio...
Cover Story: The Job Market for Radiologists
Job Prospects for Radiologists in the United States
The golden age of radiology in the United States has drawn to a close. Perhaps after a period of adjustment, a new resplendent silver age might occur but for the present and medium term the prospects are guarded. Why the gloomy assessment? In order to offer an incisive analysis we need to understand the peculiarities of radiology in the United States including its predominant current means of reimbursement...
The Job Market for Radiologists in Canada
There are 2100 radiologists in Canada. Approximately 90 residents graduate each year in Canada. The number of Canadian Resident Matching Service (CarMS) spots in the country is around 55. This does not include additional routes to training such as re-entry funding or externally funded residents. So the number graduating to jobs each year is between 50 and 60. Public radiology in Canada is stronger than the...
The Job Market in Argentina
In Argentina there are approximately 4000 radiologists. However, not all of them are board-certified. To work as a radiologist it is not compulsory to be board-certified. In certain medical colleges and in the ministry of health you may be employed as a radiologist if you can prove practice in a radiology department during 5 consecutive years (even half day work). In this way, radiologists obtain their spec...
Radiology Down Under
Australia and New Zealand are facing similar demographic challenges to many other countries, with an ageing population placing more strain on health resources. The health workforce in Australia is growing fast. Hospitals are struggling to find internships for what has been coined a ‘tsunami’ of medical graduates. Training programmes in all specialties are producing more doctors than ever before as natio...
The Job Market for Radiologists in the UK
How many new radiologists graduate each year in the UK?The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) will recommend around 190 clinical radiologists per annum for their Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), although there are natural fluctuations in this figure. The numbers of clinical radiologists receiving their CCT is rarely the same year on year. This is due to factors such as trainees taking extra tim...
Prospects in Spain
Is there a shortage of radiologists in Spain?There used to be a shortage of radiologists for the last few years. However, lately, and due to the economic crisis, many radiologists are unemployed, even though there are enough vacancies. The situation is not even in Spain. Health competencies are transferred to the regional governments, and the impact of the crisis is uneven too. Do enough radiologists enter...
Radiologists in Russia
How many new radiologists graduate each year in Russia and what is the total number of radiologists already working there?There are no official statistics for the number of new radiologists graduating each year. However, according to the number of teaching sites we can estimate that there are around 400-500 new radiologists annually. Officially we have 14,000 radiologists (Ministry of Health, 2012) and abou...
Congress Review
IMAGING Management’s Guide to the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) Highlights
IMAGING Management asked European Society of Radiology President, Professor Gabriel Krestin and Congress President Professor José Ignacio Bilbao for their perspectives as the society prepares for this major event. What has been your involvement with ECR? I have been a regular attendee of ECR since its development in the 1990s under Prof. Dr. Josef Lissner into the major radiological event in...
Risk Management
Exposure to Ionising Radiation And Pregnancy
The exposure of pregnant women to ionising radiation is often a source of concern and provokes many questions. This anxiety is often unjustified and the questions are asked too late. Ignorance of the subject is likely to harm the woman who requires investigative imaging (chest CT scan or lung scan should be performed even in early pregnancy with suspected pulmonary embolism) or lead to inappropriate attitu...
Risk Management in MRI
Risk management in MRI is, like the imaging technique itself, a multilayered problem. If we take into account an MRI superconducting magnet (the majority of installed equipment), four components of the device may cause a risk to the patient, staff, or both: the magnet (main magnetic field), the cryostat (liquid helium), the magnetic field gradients (low-frequency electromagnetic field, acoustic noise) and...
Radiology Qualifications
European Diploma in Radiology
Images credit: European Board of Radiology An initiative of the European Society of Radiology (ESR), the European Diploma in Radiology (EDiR) examines candidates on the knowledge outlined in the ESR’s training curriculum. The EDiR is now administered and issued by the European Board of Radiology (EBR) and consists of a written and an oral examination. The first candidates took the exam at the Europ...
The Interventional Radiology Curriculum
Interventional radiology (IR) is steadily on the rise as the discipline of choice to treat a vast array of medical conditions – be they vascular, non-vascular, oncological or neurological. When compared with open surgery, the shorter hospital stays, quicker recovery periods and the minimally invasive nature of these image-guided interventions speak for themselves. Widespread availability and accepta...
Radiology Residents
French Radiology Residents’ Expectations
A demographic survey was conducted amongst French radiology residents in order to investigate their expectations regarding their training, fields of interest, future career, and exercising their profession. This survey was aimed at anticipating reforms in radiology and at foreseeing future demographic changes, so as to adapt medical residents' training and the global medical system to these new realities....
Tech Horizons
Mobile Medical Imaging
Mobile medical imaging technologies are consistently changing the healthcare landscape. With ageing societies and increasing disease incidence on the one hand, and efforts towards cutting down healthcare expenditure and shortage of practitioners on the other, mobile medical imaging solutions are gaining momentum. This is especially because a large proportion of the installed base is already digital, and p...
Country Focus: Italy
Radiology and Management Issues in Italy
The Italian Radiological Society (SIRM) was founded in 1913, and the first meeting was held in Milan on October 12–14 the same year. SIRM is the largest medical society in Italy today, and in 2013 will commemorate its centenary with the slogan ‘The future comes from a solid past’. Approximately 9,600 radiologists are registered with SIRM, including 1900 members under the age of 35 and 359 radiologist...