iRADiX

What is that Clinicians want or rather expect from radiology reports?

In good old days Radiology Practice means nothing but interpreting the x-rays ordered by the clinicians.

All that clinician wanted to know was whether there is TB in the x ray chest, whether any duodenal/gastric ulcer in the barium meal studies, or any fracture of bones etc.The life of the Radiologists was very simple and care free ( without much responsibility )  in those days and no surprise…. no takers for Radiology Postgraduate seats. Anybody, did radiology PG in those days is not out of Love of the specialty but due to helplessness, and I remember People with MD in radiology settled happily in General Practice, since they just wanted MD tag

From 70’s onwards,   things have changed and Radiology advanced rapidly and radiologist started playing a role along with the clinicians in patient management and even earned respect as “clinician’s clinician”

Dilletante

One who takes an interest, an aesthetic, a dispassionate and detached interest in all things. His interest is intellectual, something abstract and necessarily superficial. It is not a vital interest, not a question of his soul, not an urgent problem of his living.

Is it your signature?

Dr.X, the senior radiologist came looking very hassled and worried. The ENT professor has rung him up and was telling him that this could not be the signature of a Radiologist on the report.

It must be the signature of a technician. Why? The descriptive report had been written with no relevance to the case and the senior surgeon was upset.

He would have been hardly three years old - but, I used to (and still do) call him "Professor" - so to maintain anonymity - let's call him just that - "Professor"

One day, my son who was also three then and one other friend of his - also three - spent an intense half an hour making complicated contraptions out of "Leggo". Expectedly, at the end of the exercise, a fight broke out between them as to whose contraption was better.All this while, "Professor" was sitting by my side admiring a "model train" catalog.

Our great musician Naushad (now late Naushad) fell sick and was admitted to King Fahad University Hospital in Saudi Arabia where he had gone to perform Umrah. I along with a skin specialist went to see him. There an Indian doctor asked the skin specialist, "How many Indian doctors are there in your center?" And the reply was we are four consultants, one Radiologist and a Pathologist. He did not show the courtesy of introducing me to him that he is our Radiologist. I felt more sick than Naushad.

I do have a feeling that since we are not writing prescriptions the clinicians do not consider us any where near them as far as profession is considered and so when I read Dr. Bhavin Jankharia's editorial in IJRI August 2008 issue where he says "we must subspecialize and be able to speak the same language as our clinical colleagues". I was elated. I feel like beating the clinicians on their own turf.

Little they realise that a trainee paratrooper is often to be pushed from the air craft and rest of the journey to the ground is effortless. Perhaps in US if you dont write articles in medical journals you wont get promotions. We, here, have discovered lots of excuses. When we read some known person's good article we say oh! he is in a medical college with all facilities; there are residents to write for him etc. Yes ,the residents are those paratroopers who in some / most of the cases do most of the work of collecting, investigating the cases, and the literature search but they are all the time guided (pushed) by the boss, who often gives 'the first sentence'?

During the literature search you will come across many well written articles and you will be tempted to copy their sentences in your writings. Appreciating a good writing is a good beginning, collect those good sentences, good words in a diary read them ones in a while to inculcate the habit of good writing. But for God's sake do not use those sentences or paragraphs verbatim, in your article without quoting the original author other wise you may be held guilty of plagiarism.