This past Tuesday, January 17, my Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences (II) Class was visited by Dr. Gupta, a Radiologist from the University of South Alabama. She came to discuss with us the field of Radiology, and what to expect on the day to day with this job.
She began by showing us a series of very interesting medical images. These included
swallowed coins, knife, and utensils, conjoined twins, and a severe hip dislocation and femur fracture. These images certainly had us all going WHAT! This was a fun exercise to see how certain organs and foreign objects show up on a x-ray.
Radiologists are medical doctors that specialize in diagnosing injuries and diseases using medical imaging (radiology) procedures (exams/tests) such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging MRI, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) and ultrasound. They complete at least 13 years of training, including medical school, a five year residency, and most often an additional one or two year fellowship of very specialized training such as pediatric radiology, musculoskeletal imaging, nuclear medicine, interventional radiology, e.t.c. They are certified by the American Board of Radiology.
She used a Captain vs. Deck Hand Analogy to discuss the differences between radiology technician and radiologists. The “Captain”, or radiologist, has the least amount of dirty work, but in the event that a ship goes down, it's the Captain’s fault. Captains need more training and have much greater responsibility. Deck Hands, or radiology technicians, have less liability in their work, with the difficulty of the work they are doing kept fairly minimal. Deck Hands don’t need as much training as Captains either. It is important to note that Captains are compensated significantly more than deckhands, though.
There are various different specialities in Radiology. These specialties relate to the type of imaging used. These include plain radiography, fluoroscopy, computed tomography (CT), ultrasounds, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear medicine. Different machines are used for different instances. Ultrasounds, for example, are used on pregnant women to view the baby because ultrasounds do not deliver radiation. Another example would be the use of an MRI vs a CT. An MRI delivers much more detailed images than a CT, but a CT is faster than an MRI. Therefore, in trauma cases, a CT would be used to scan patients because every moment matters in the survival of some of these patients!
I found Dr. Gupta’s presentation to be incredibly interesting, and I would love for her to come back and talk more in depth about her field!
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