This post is definitely premature, but I am hoping some replies will offer me some reassurance. I am beginning premed this fall and I am pretty certain I want to go into radiology (I know this could change).
I’m reading a lot on studentdoc.com about radiology residency and how to make yourself a competitive candidate for a program…HOLY CRAP!
I thought GETTING IN to med school would be the hard part! Ok, then I thought geez, those boards are going to kick my butt, but now, getting into a radiology residency looks nearly impossible!! I never assumed that radiology was easy by any means, but its definitely one of the more competitive specialties. I spoke with a radiologist yesterday at my job, and he confirmed this too.
High board scores 
ok that’s understandable. Research articles 
ooookaaay that’s going to add more to my plate during med school. AOA, what’s that? 
Oh! It’s prestigious medical society that I hope will like me.
Needless to say, I’m a little intimidated. But then again, maybe that’s how I am supposed to feel…like this… 
Can anyone ease my fear a bit? Or shed some light on what the demands for getting into a competitive program are really like? Or maybe I just need someone to say “You can do it!!”
Someday:
It looks like we will both start our pre-med journey in the fall!
I completely understand where you are coming from (trying to plan out your future and such). However, you alluded to something in your post when you said “my plans may change.” I know this may be hard to here right now, but there are hoops and hurdles to get through BEFORE you make it to medical school. I don’t want you to burn your brain out worrying about the future.
As anything in life, if it is intended for you to do it, you will become a Radiologist. With that being said, “You CAN do it!” 
Sounds like you’ve caught the PreMed bug. Happened to me too. I never used to be so anal retentive about so many things, but something happened when I decided to pursue med school.
I think radiology may be pretty competitive because it has pretty good pay for a pretty good lifestyle. Now that everything’s digitized I’ve heard of diagnostic radiologists who work from home.
I agree with TJJ though that you should focus on your undergrad stuff for now.
Looking to the future though it would be worth your while to do a good bit of shadowing with radiologists. If you have opportunities to get in on some radiology related research then you may want to consider that, but don’t do it at the determent to your grads.
Realize though that you’re going to be paying a med school in the ballpark of $30,000+ to educate you and help you get into the residency you want. They should do everything in their power to make that happen. If, when you get there, you’re still interested in radiology, seek out the radiology department and they should be able to help guide you.
Thanks guys!
Currently I work for a radiology group and on the weekends I work in radiology dept at a hospital, so I literally have unlimited access to radiologists and they have all been very encouraging. As soon as I tell them I want to be a radiologist, they literally perk up and turn away from their computer monitors to make eye contact with me and have nothing but encouragement to offer.
When I discovered the average salary and cushy lifetstyle that radiology offered, I actually took a step back to reconsider because quite frankly I was intimidated. The money and lifestyle almost discouraged me. So at least I can safely say that that’s not why I chose this field.
I decided on radiology because I’m drawn to the intellectual nature of the field, as well as the fascinating technology. Honestly, I’m not really a people person…ok, let me rephrase, I’m not really a patient people person (I realize I’m also going to have to convince adcoms otherwise.)
I like the fact that radiologists actually can spend 90% of their time DOING their job, unlike GPs, FPs and IMs that probably spend closer to 65% of their time actually doing their jobs and the other 35% spent taking histories, counseling patients, arranging home care, making progress notes, etc.
So personality and character-wise, radiology is definitely the perfect fit. I guess I view the salary and lifestyle as a secondary benefit.
I feel like I’m rambling now. I guess, the jist is, I have all the resources available to me, I know the field is definitely a good fit, I want to do it for the right reasons, I’m willing to work hard to get there, but I just hope that I have the mental stamina to handle all of the demands that its going to take to get there.
It seems like as soon as I feel I have a grasp on what its going to take, I discover something else that I’m going to need to accomplish.
You guys are a great help!
A couple of things:
- In reply to:
30k+ PER YEAR x 4 years, possibly more if you go to a private school or are out of state. A good medical school will provide excellent career counseling, board prep help, residency application help, etc, however there are some schools that aren't nearly as helpful. That's something to ask students at med school interviews - does their school have a good rep helping students apply for residency and otherwise prepare?
- In reply to:
I guess that depends on what you consider "doing their job". For FP/IM, taking histories and counseling patients is in fact part of their job. In order to bill for a patient visit, they have to document that they took a history. And, how are you going to diagnose and treat a patient without taking a history. Likewise, they can bill for counseling patients, and most would consider that a core part of their job. As tedious as progress notes may be, that is also part of their job and they know that going in.
I think this is where some more knowledge about the medical profession is handy . . . a lot of FPs/IMs indeed spend less time than you would think "doing their job", but the things you list are part of the job. The things that AREN't part of the job that take away from patient care are things like fighting with insurance companies for payment of services, pre-authorizations for tests, filling out paperwork for insurance or disability certifications, etc.
Radiology is still competitive due to life-style, pay, etc. However, demand for traditional radiology is declining somewhat as a lot of radiology work is being outsourced overseas. Because of that, there is a lot more interest in specialized radiology fields like Interventional radiology and neuroradiology.
All of that being said, don't get too stressed out about it yet. It's normal to think about it (I certainly did), but you can worry about all that once you get into medical school.
