Often times it’s interesting to see what groups are
represented in medicine. Every specialty has a little of everything in terms of
representation, men, women, minorities and so on. In diagnostic imaging it’s amazing to
see that there is not a huge representation such as women or men. It was stated
in a recent article in auntminnie.com
that “Among
the 20 largest medical specialties, diagnostic radiology ranks 17th in female
and 20th in minority participation, even though radiology is the ninth largest
medical specialty.”
In part there is a concern over minority groups not having
much parity with other groups in terms of graduation or transition. Issues such
as financial status and ability to get aid can often times be a problem. When
dealing with the education part it was stated that “Efforts have been made to change the numbers
on a variety of fronts -- for example, trying to speed up the pipeline of
minority medical student graduations -- but the data have shown that these
minority groups decline in representation when transitioning from medical
school to diagnostic radiology residency.” What is it about radiology in
particular?
Maybe a lot of students feel that radiologists are more like consultants
than specialists. The feel that radiology is not a specialty is absolutely
absurd since radiology deals with creating a diagnosis and helping clinicians
establish a proper treatment program which will help a patient’s prognosis,
especially if the condition is a complex one. Radiology, like any other
specialty takes a great deal of concentration and focus.
Often times radiologists have to deal with the possibility of having to
deal with a wrong diagnosis. Radiology takes a great deal of dedication and a
special person willing to go through a lot of different ups and downs. Like any
other specialty it can be misunderstood in some respects. The fact is that
right now a lot of people may see radiology as a way to make money and not
necessarily deal with patients as much.
The future will tell if women and minorities start moving toward
radiology. In the end it’s not your ethnicity, gender or religious preference
that will make you a good radiologist. It’s commitment, dedication, and
sacrifice for a patients well being that makes a radiologist great.
If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please
feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to
answering any questions you may have.
Charla
Hurst
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