Doing What You Love: Why Residents and Fellows Are Considering Careers in Teleradiology

The truth about teleradiology

Garcia recalls that he almost never heard anyone discuss teleradiology during either his residency or his fellowship.

“I had almost no exposure to teleradiology at all before I was actively looking for a job,” he says. “I never heard from anyone who had done it, and the little information I did pick up along the way was almost always inaccurate.”

This experience is certainly nothing new. People often make inaccurate assumptions about teleradiology, and trainees with no other context may be tempted to accept these statements as the truth.

For starters, consider the common myth that radiologists need years of experience at a hospital or private practice before they can work in teleradiology. This is 100% false, Garcia explains; if anything, teleradiology makes more sense for an early-career radiologist than any other position.

One thing that makes teleradiology such a strong fit for new radiologists is the feedback provided on a regular basis. At vRad, for instance, specialists often have their cases reviewed the very next day. This leads to continuous improvement, the kind that helps a good physician become a great one.

“Compare that with starting out at a private practice, where you’re likely going to start flying completely solo and doing emergency reads overnight,” Garcia says. “You’re on the trapeze with no net at that point.”

People also worry that teleradiology may be too isolating—that you aren’t getting the “real-world experience” you need when you read cases from home. But as Garcia is quick to point out, radiologists are going to be fairly isolated no matter what. Even at the busiest hospital in the country, you’re spending most of your day manning a workstation in a quiet reading room.

Teleradiology gives clinicians more freedom to do the things they love when they aren’t reading cases. There’s no driving to work, no getting caught in traffic, no stopping for gas or coffee … those things add up, Garcia says, and a teleradiologist ends up with several bonus hours of “me time” each and every week.

Teleradiology, the burnout buster

The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety recently determined that radiology is one of the most mentally demanding specialties in all of healthcare, and several studies over the years have confirmed that radiologists experience consistently high levels of burnout.

These findings highlight why it is so incredibly important to consider your mental health when beginning your career. Especially now, at a time when everyone seems a bit more stressed than normal, it’s worth considering how your decisions will affect the way you feel on a daily basis. For Garcia, that was one of the primary reasons he landed on teleradiology; he knew outside distractions and day-to-day annoyances would be kept to a minimum, helping preserve his mental health so that he can enjoy his personal time when work is done for the day.

“It’s amazing how much better you feel when the daily frustrations you grow used to as a trainee are gone,” Garcia says. “Things such as dealing with internal bureaucracy and interacting with personalities you happen to clash with—even little things like driving around a parking garage for 15 minutes every morning—you don’t have to deal with any of those things as a teleradiologist. You can just do your job.”

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