<p>my aunt was telling me it was a pretty easy job and requires no surgery or anything...can anyone tell me more about it? and what's the average salary?</p>
<p>Radiologists are the physicians (they've graduated medical school) who read and interpret x-rays, ultrasound, CT and MRI scans, and other imaging modalities to help treat patients. Diagnostic radiologists look at these images and help other physicians arrive at the correct diagnosis. There is a growing field in interventional radiology in which these doctors utilize real-time images to guide treatment or other diagnostic testing procedures - ie, using images to do precisely guided biopsies of tumors that are difficult to reach. They can also do things like clot off bleeding vessels by using the images to track the progress of their catheters with in vessels. </p>
<p>While they do have a pretty good lifestyle, it does take a particular type of person to be a radiologist. Staring at x-rays all day is not for everyone (the radiology reading rooms are typically dark and most people poke fun at radiologists for being afraid of daylight). Diagnostic rads have very little patient contact and don't really "treat" anyone. They function much more to help other physicians do their jobs - which not everyone is comfortable with. Interventional radiology, as mentioned before is a growing field, which is heavily procedures based. There is a lot more patient contact, and the ability to provide treatment exists. Again this is a rapidly expanding field so the number of things that they're capable of doing is increasing every day.</p>
<p>As more and more hospitals and clinics move to digital x-rays, there is a significant amount of outsourcing of diagnostic radiology work occurring. There are issues with this, but I believe that it's driving a lot of the growth interventional radiology is seeing. Because of this state of flux, salaries are changing a lot.</p>
<p>So someone who likes to use the computer for hours(I’m talking 8+hours a day) and like not talking with patients would somewhat seem like a good fit for radiology?</p>
<p>To that extent, yes. It is almost all done on computers, and there are people who cannot deal with the level of tech involved. However, you really cannot have an opinion about it until you know enough about medicine to understand the trade offs. Most docs highly prize their interactions with patients. The feeling of importance when they have help, the feelings of empathy when all they can do is not enough, and the engagement all the time. Radiologists often do not even know whether the patients they diagnose are male or female. Residents in other fields often do brief rotations in the area of radiology that interacts with their specialty. They typically enjoy these for a day or so, then find that the isolation drives them crazy.</p>
<p>Although interventional radiologists have more patient contact, it is brief and episodic. You might talk with a patient, once, for a few minutes before doing a procedure. If it is something big, maybe you would see them for a follow up visit. It is nothing like being “their doctor”.</p>
<p>The outsourcing ability is certainly an issue, more likely to push down compensation for work done here in the US than outsourced to other countries. Also, there is a strong move for specialities of all types to take over the imaging that comes their way.</p>
<p>For radiology a stronger than average technical background is helpful, although not necessary. Many math, physics, and engineering majors end up in the field because they get to use their undergrad educations.</p>
<p>You will be in a better position to decide once you have done 2-3 years of medical school.</p>
<p>I will say that the knowledge base most radiologists possess is impressive. Beyond their extremely broad-based medical knowledge they are required to have an extensive knowledge of physics as well. </p>
<p>I definitely do not think that simply being comfortable (or enjoying) significant time in front of a computer screen makes radiology a good choice…mainly because if that’s what you really enjoy doing, there are a great many professions that fit better than medicine.</p>
<p>There are certainly more computer oriented fields than radiology. Like computer science. </p>
<p>It is just that radiology is about the most computer oriented field of medicine. If you do research, it might be indistinguishable from work done in a department of computer science. For clinical work the tech level is not nearly that high, but it still requires comfort with, and rewards enthusiasm for, computers.</p>