What is a radiologist?
A radiologist is a medical doctor (M.D.) who specializes in diagnosing and treating disease and injury by using medical imaging techniques.
What do radiologists actually do?
Radiologists play an important role in your health care in several different ways.
First, they act as an expert consultant to your referring physician (the doctor who sent you to the radiology department or clinic for testing). They will aid him or her in choosing the examination that fits your needs. Then the radiologist will assist by interpreting the resulting medical images and recommending further scans or treatments when necessary.
When referring doctors say they have reviewed the radiology scans and reports, they usually mean they have gone over the study with the attending radiologist.
It isn’t just diagnostic testing, either. Radiologists also treat diseases by means of radiation (radiation oncology) or minimally invasive, image-guided surgery (interventional radiology). Physicians also rely on radiologists to correlate medical image findings with other examinations and tests.
What kind of training and education has a radiologist completed?
Radiologists graduate from accredited medical schools, pass a licensing examination, and then go on to complete a residency of at least four years. A residency focuses on specific medical education in such fields as quality interpretation of medical imaging examinations and radiation safety. Radiologists also often complete a fellowship — one to two additional years of specialized training — in a particular subspecialty of radiology, such as breast imaging, cardiovascular radiology, or nuclear medicine. If you take into account four years of undergraduate education, the average radiologist has more than 13 years of training.
Do radiologists receive any type of certification?
Radiologists are usually board-certified by the American Board of Radiology or the American Osteopathic Board of Radiology.
Radiology facilities can also be accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR). ACR accreditation ensures that the physicians supervising and interpreting your medical imaging meet stringent education and training standards. ACR accreditation also signifies that the imaging equipment is surveyed regularly by qualified medical physicists to ensure that it is functioning properly, and that the technologists administering your tests are certified.
Can I ask to speak with my radiologist?
Absolutely! Your radiologist is available to you and your referring physician in choosing the proper examination, interpreting the resulting medical images, and in using test results to recommend further examinations or treatments.
Why should I choose to have a radiologist conduct my imaging procedures?
Radiological procedures are just like any other prescribed medical technique. That means they should only be conducted by appropriately trained physicians who have access to the best technology. Radiologists have four to six years of unique, specific, post-medical school training in radiation safety to ensure the optimal performance of radiological procedures and interpretation of medical images. Other medical specialties mandate far less imaging education, ranging from a few days to a maximum of 10 months.
Radiologists are doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating disease and injury by using medical imaging techniques. They have completed at least 13 years of training, including medical school, licensing, a four-year residency, and often a one- to two-year fellowship of specialized training, and are at the forefront of imaging technology. At the end of the day, your radiologist is THE expert in medical imaging.
What questions should I ask regarding medical imaging?
On July24, 2008 NBC's Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman and Today Show co-host Meredith Vieira discussed medical imaging exams and radiation exposure on NBC's The Today Show.
In this interview, Dr. Snyderman highlighted five points that patients should consider when their physician is ordering an imaging exam.
Please note that Northwest Community Hospital is fully accredited by the American College of Radiology and the physicians of Northwest Radiology Associates do not own the equipment used on the campus of Northwest Community Hospital.
Additional information can be found at the following websites:
- www.acr.org - The American College of Radiology (ACR)
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www.myradiologist.com - Sponsored by The American College of Radiology (ACR)
- www.radiologyinfo.org - Joint site sponsored by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)