You’ve found a position at another practice that you’re interested in, and they’ve reached out for an interview. Now what? Maybe it’s been years or even decades since your last interview, or maybe you’re just coming out of a residency or fellowship and this will be your first interview. I can share a bit about what to expect.

Ask yourself: what is your current practice doing to alleviate burnout? Are they investing in programs to support your professional and personal life? Or does the burden fall on you to figure it all out?

I’ve read more radiologist burnout articles than I can count. Each is generally the same, concluding that burnout is a major problem followed by a few ideas of what radiologists can do to help themselves. But burnout is a pervasive and multidimensional problem that demands more than surface-level fixes and broad wellness discourse. Things like exercise, meditation, and spending more time with loved ones are all great ideas, but they’re not enough to bring about meaningful change when it comes to radiologist well-being.

To truly move the needle, radiology practices must step up and implement easily accessible support for their physicians.

When you’re a radiologist, your work isn’t just what you do—it’s who you are.

The career is all-consuming; if you follow a traditional path in private practice, you simply have to come to terms with the fact that you’ll devote your life to it—and for nine years, I did.

But when I found myself approaching 40 and already feeling burned out—and Googling around to see whether maybe I could become a history teacher instead of a radiologist—I began to wonder why there weren’t options where I could put my hard-earned skills as a radiologist to use without being exhausted all the time or counting down the days to retirement.

In the face of increasingly sophisticated and more frequent cyberattacks that threaten the sensitive data of all healthcare providers, vRad is continuously advancing our systems to predict, prevent, and respond to these threats. The latest milestone in our commitment to safeguard patient information and other sensitive data is our achievement of SOC 2 Type II compliance.

Radiologists reading on home workstations have become a permanent feature of the post-COVID modern medical landscape. Whether every day or just one or two days a week, the flexibility of working at home is irresistible to many top physicians – and leading radiology groups and imaging facilities should be thinking about the best ways to accommodate and support them.  

I can say from experience, having managed the reading environment for vRad’s 500 radiologists over the past 12 years, that supporting work-from-home options can be time consuming for both the radiologists and the IT team. One area where this comes into play is the workstation displays used by the radiologist to view images. It is up to the facility to ensure that radiologists are reading from displays that are appropriately calibrated, lit, cleaned, and maintained. Without the right tools, managing this can be labor intensive, chewing into the radiologists’ productivity, as well as that of the IT support team. 

We’re in the middle of rolling out Barco internet-enabled diagnostic displays to all 500 of our radiologists. If you’re a practice employing remote readers or a radiologist considering remote work, I’ll share with you the significant challenges we’re solving with these new monitors.  

My journey to teleradiology started with an invitation during residency to join several vRad radiologists for dinner in San Diego. Having trained in a busy academic setting that came with nearly 2 hours per day spent commuting and a never-ending queue of studies to read, I was curious about my options.

As I learned more about the day-to-day work of teleradiology over dinner and in subsequent conversations, I came to realize a lot of what I had thought about teleradiology was outdated and wrong. As I approached my graduation from residency in June 2020–in the midst of the 1^st peak of the COVID pandemic–I decided it was an opportune time to give teleradiology a try and so I signed on with vRad in lieu of continuing on as a Fellow in the hospital setting. When I did, I saw firsthand how much reading remotely has to offer in comparison with traditional onsite radiology practices. It also became more and more clear to me that the taboo surrounding teleradiology is often based on myths and misperceptions. Here are some of the biggest incorrect assumptions that I believe are worth debunking:

More than two years after the onset of the pandemic, changes in COVID-related policies and postures — as well as accompanying cultural shifts in the workplace — continue to drive trends in the job market for radiologists. In 2022, things look markedly different than during the early stages of the pandemic and it’s clear that radiologist job seekers now have many options and greater workplace flexibility.

In my role as Medical Director for vRad, I work very closely with our physician recruiters. Between us we interview hundreds of radiologists every year as they explore options for their next career move. This experience along with the other datapoints available from serving 2,100 imaging facilities and radiology groups nationwide give us unique insights into the radiologist job market nationally.

High demand for imaging combined with a finite supply of board-certified physicians means radiologists can be selective about where and how they practice. Before you choose, examine your own goals and motivations—both personal and professional. Then, find a radiology practice whose culture and processes align with your career expectations and work/life balance needs.

Following are eight questions to ask yourself, along with a few considerations for each.