Radiology

One in a series from people sharing their experiences as vRad teleradiologists. In this entry, Jonathon Lee, MD, explains what he discovered after stepping away from a partnership position to set sail toward a better work/life balance.

Everything changes when you start a family.

OK – not everything – not all at once – but it certainly does bring change.

Let’s explore the story of a radiologist who faced – and embraced – that change with vRad.

Like you, I assumed from the start that a career in radiology would be a perfect fit. I thought I would always be happy with my choice of specialty and enjoy the anticipated rewards of being a physician. I didn’t consider how over time, the field would change, my personal life would change, or what I wanted would change.

Picture this: someone on your team has gone the “extra mile” only to have those solid efforts backfire so far and so hard that now not just your team will suffer, but your company may miss earnings goals and lose gains made in the marketplace for at least a year.^[1]

It’s Wednesday afternoon at 2:59 p.m.: time for vRad radiologist Siva Bodagala to go to work.

He ascends a flight of stairs in his suburban Houston home and arrives in his home-office promptly at 3 p.m.

The 60-second commute is about 60 minutes shorter than the one required to get him to his previous job as an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)—Galveston Campus.

And it’s immensely less stressful.

Remember fidgeting in bed, waiting to open the greatest present you ever asked for the night before your birthday? Or how about sitting in high school, nervously anticipating whether or not “studying” paid off, as the teacher passed out a chapter exam? Now combine the two, sprinkle in a touch of indecisiveness, increase the stakes indefinitely and what do you get?

At the foundation of everything we do at vRad is the goal of helping our clients provide the highest level of patient care regardless of the time and location.

When it comes to breast imaging, we’ve used telemammography for years to open doors for patients without previous access to mammography fellows and specialists. It’s not hyperbole to call it a life-saving development in patient care.

Since 2010, vRad has provided high-quality, free continuing medical education – but I’ve always thought that there was an opportunity to share more with the radiology community.

My background has allowed me to collect thousands of interesting cases, including many rare cases some radiologists may never have the chance to see in practice. This year we set out to share more cases than ever before by presenting this library of cases in a new interactive way, and on a new platform.

As part of our website refresh, I wanted to build upon the educational materials we already provide--such as CMEs and Industry webinars--by improving the way we present interesting cases.

Building upon the educational format I have developed for presentations, we hope to have built a tool that is educational and interactive.