The Radiology Profession Faces Challenges, Possibilities

Sooner rather than later, radiologists from abroad, not just American expatriates, will be reading and receiving compensation for studies we thought were exclusively ours.

The boundaries of responsibility for institutions in American medicine are now under siege. Barriers to entry from contending groups are coming down as once impregnable domains have now been infiltrated.

The pressure for change comes from below by occupations within medicine seeking to become professions at the expense of the hegemony of medical doctors, from astride, by fellow physicians seeking to expand their realm of activity through turf wars, and from afar as tele-medicine and medical tourism make the commerce of sick care instantaneous, ubiquitous, and transnational. Radiology is not immune to such initiatives.

Some of the work we now perform is being done by non-physicians, more or less with our consent; other tasks we thought were ours exclusively are being completed or pursued by other specialists competing against us in turf wars. Sooner rather than later, radiologists from abroad, not just American expatriates, will be reading and receiving compensation for studies we thought were exclusively ours.

At the same time, an international array of possibilities awaits us as restrictions on licensure by nationality, but not by competence may melt away.

Reviewer’s Comments
Thus, the stability enjoyed by us in the 20th century with respect to the ordering and organizing of responsibilities will be supplanted by uncertainty, insecurity and, most probably, by opportunities, which at this juncture, are difficult to discern, not because they are limited, but rather because foresight is not always as clear as what we perceive now right in front of our eyes.

Reference:
Stephen Baker, MD. Challenges to Radiology From Below, Astride and Afar. Guest Presentation; 2008;191 (Dec): 1631-9. Practical Reviews in Radiology