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How Far Should I Take That Procedure?

procedure

The Procedure Situation

Round 1

Your radiology attending tells you to interview a patient and then complete an ultrasound-guided breast biopsy, knowing that it was a large mass and a relatively simple case. You have done this procedure numerous times with this same faculty. So, you go ahead and do it again. No complications. No issues. After you complete the biopsy, you feel immense pride in your capabilities. You show the attending the pictures from the biopsy. The attending congratulates you on a job well done.

Round 2 later that same day…

A different radiology attending wants you to work up another patient and start the subsequent breast biopsy. So, you begin to interview the patient, set up the table and the sterile field, position the patient for the procedure, and place the ultrasound probe on the biopsy site. You begin to numb the overlying skin lidocaine and make a small incision for the biopsy gun. Since the attending still has not shown up, you decide to place the needle right near the lesion, hit the targeted breast nodule, and then subsequently collect multiple samples, placing each one into a little sterile cup on the side to send to pathology. You complete the rest of the procedure without complication. All seems to be well.

You clean up everything and let the patient know that everything went just fine. And, you tell her you are going to consult with the attending before you have her leave. So, you merrily step out of the room and walk down the hallway toward the radiologist’s office to let her know about the patient’s biopsy you completed. You enter the office and state, “I completed the biopsy successfully on patient “XYZ.” The attending stares at you with a stern, angry face and says, “How dare you complete the procedure without consulting with me!!!” You are the talk of the department for the next month!

How To Assess How Much You Can Do

Unfortunately, during radiology residency, you may encounter similar situations such as this one. Different attendings have entirely varying expectations for each radiology resident. Some may expect you to start and finish all procedures. Others may be less likely to allow the resident to have independence, even though he/she may be competent. So what to do? I will go through several guidelines in assessing whether you, as a radiology resident, should complete a given procedure on your own.

Are You Competent In The Procedure? 

Competency should be the first issue that you need to address as a radiology resident. Suppose you do not think you have done enough of a technique independently from start to finish. In that case, you certainly have no business doing any procedure or a portion of a procedure alone. The comfort level is also just as important. Even if you have the numbers of biopsies to back you up, if you do not feel comfortable with a procedure, you should also continue to make sure that you have your attending’s guidance at all times until you have that comfort level that you need.

Are We Doing the Procedure For The Right Reasons?

Before performing any procedure, you need to make sure that it has some clinical benefit. Nurses regularly come up to me and ask should we give intravenous contrast. The first thing I ask them is why are we doing the study/CT scan? It may not need contrast in the first place. Likewise, no matter how “minor” a procedure is, you always need to think about it if necessary first!!!

Level of Difficulty of Procedure/ Potential For Complications

Some procedures, such as an upper GI series, have a much lower complication rate than a complex liver embolization. So, it is essential to assess any given procedure’s difficulty and potential complications before deciding whether you should tackle it on your own. Most liver embolizations, stent placements, and angioplasties should probably be under the faculty’s direct supervision unless perhaps you are about to graduate from an IR fellowship in a few days. On the other hand, a paracentesis can undoubtedly be performed from start to finish by a resident.

Attending Expectations

Some attendings expect the resident to do almost everything and others feel the need to hold the resident’s hand at every step. Much of that decision may be related to the trust between the attending and resident. However, it is imperative to listen to the guidance of your attending before beginning or ending any procedure. Because you are not the physician who signs off on everything, you need to abide by the person’s rules in charge. Always make sure to get the OK from the supervising physician before performing any procedure!

Patient Expectations

Many patients expect an attending to complete a procedure. Always abide by the wishes of the patient. You never want to be caught in a situation where the patient does not want you to be performing a procedure, and you do so anyway. Not listening to the patient’s request is the realm of lawsuits and legal issues!!!

It’s All About Self-Awareness!

The difficulty of residency can be more about self-assessment/awareness and working with colleagues than about the actual day-to-day mechanics of performing cases. You, as a resident, need always to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses as well as your expectations. My advice: make sure to always know in advance that you are performing a procedure for the right reasons, have the abilities to conduct it, and your attending expects you to complete it. Only then should you consider performing a procedure independently!

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Taking Oral Radiology Cases- A Lost Art?

oral

The lights go down as the radiologist in front of the classroom prepares the computer for a case presentation. A switch is flicked on. Suddenly, a black and white PowerPoint case begins to shine brightly on the screen in front of you. The radiologist glances about the room looking to see who would be the best fit for this next case. You begin to sweat and fidget with your hands, praying your faculty will not call on you next. The attending’s glance remains fixed upon you. He says, “Tell me about this patient with a 2-year history of a cough!”. You become flustered and unsure what to say.

The scenario above occurs commonly in radiology residencies across the country. However, since the oral exam has disappeared, I have noticed an overall decrease in proficiency in how residents present each radiological case. The art has been lost. You can blame some of it on poor teaching. Decreased time allotted to education may cause some of it. Some of it can relate to the emphasis on the new board examination system. And, perhaps the new radiology residency culture may be responsible for some of the changes.

In whatever case, it is a shame. Taking oral cases is a crucial step to becoming a well-rounded radiologist. You need to relate to your colleagues’ images in a timely, logical manner, no matter what you are looking at. If you want to look like a star, you need to have this process down cold. To enable you to have the tools to get through a radiological case, I will go through the basics, including determining the kind of study, presenting descriptive findings, coming up with a differential diagnosis, and ultimately determining proper management.

What The Bleep Am I Looking At?

Whenever your attending introduces you to a new oral case, the first thing you need to do is determine what you are looking at. Take your time and think about what kind of images you see. You often lose the case discussion even before you have begun because you never identify the correct study. Is it an ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, x-ray, or nuclear medicine study? Is the examination performed with or without contrast? During what phase?

For nuclear medicine studies in particular, if you can identify the study before going through the case, you have already completed 80 percent of the heavy lifting. You have already isolated the differential diagnosis if you can identify the radiopharmaceutical. If you are not sure, you should start describing the physiological distribution of activity to determine the type of study. Often the act of defining the distribution helps the resident to understand the kind of study.

Also, scan the images for any identifying information. If it is an ultrasound, it will often tell you which organ you are looking at. I have found it can become difficult to tell the testes, ovaries, and kidneys apart on a single image. Usually, the ultrasound technologist labels these studies so you can differentiate among the options.

Finally, make sure to look at the top of the film to see if you can find the patient’s age and sex. This information can also further help you to hone in upon the correct differential diagnosis.

Describing The Findings

This part of the oral case is when the newer residents fall short compared to residents studying to take the oral boards. Residents tend to stop very quickly at the description part of the puzzle and then enter rapidly into a differential diagnosis. Often, a poor quick description leads to a poor differential diagnosis. Again, you need to take your time to describe all the salient points.

So, what should you include in this part of the case? Always describe the location, the size, the intensity (if nuclear medicine), the shape, the density, and borders. Describe its effect upon adjacent structures. Make sure to use buzzwords if available. If you see an angry-looking mass on a CT scan that looks like a star, you may want to use the words spiculated or stellate. If a lesion enhances with rim nodularity and fills in from the edge to the center, use peripheral nodular enhancement with centripetal filling. These buzzwords connote certain types of differentials in the minds of the radiologist listeners. They provide information on the kind of disease entity even before going through a differential diagnosis.

Finally, don’t get happy eye syndrome. Look for other findings that may support or refute your differential diagnosis. I can’t tell you how many times a resident will stare at one section of the film to forget to look at the rest of the images or film. He loses the forest for the trees.

Concise Relevant Differential Diagnoses

A novice and more seasoned resident starkly differ when they give a concise and relevant differential diagnosis. The beginner will have no idea what to say. Or, she will continue to drone on about multiple different possibilities for the final diagnosis. She does not even differentiate between the zebra and the most common diagnosis.

Again, take your time before speaking. Before even starting this process, you should go through broad categories of differential diagnosis in your mind. Is it neoplasm, infection, inflammation, iatrogenic, congenital, etc.? When you have come up mentally with some reasonable possibilities, make sure to talk about no more than three etiologies of the most likely diagnoses. And start with the most feasible and then go down to the least likely. This process will allow you to speak logically. Also, it will enable you to show that you have thought about the differential analytically.

What Next For The Patient?

Three options exist for the further management of the case after you have completed the basics of determining the findings and differential diagnosis. The first possibility: the patient needs no further workup, and you have made a final diagnosis. One example would be an adrenal nodule with a Hounsfield unit of 2. This finding is consistent with an adrenal adenoma—end of story. No further workup is needed.

Alternatively, it may be imperative that you need another step to work up the case. For instance, if you need to determine the matrix of an aggressive osseous lesion on a musculoskeletal MRI without a final diagnosis, make sure to recommend a plain film. Otherwise, you may never determine the final disposition of the patient.

And lastly, you may find a lesion with low clinical significance but needs to be followed over time. This category includes the small lung nodule or the nonaggressive indeterminate liver lesion.

You can almost always categorize your case into one of these three groups. And, it will show that you thought about the ramifications of the imaging upon the clinical picture of the patient.

Final Thoughts: Taking Oral Cases Should Be Fun!!

Taking oral imaging cases should not be a difficult or embarrassing process. It should become something that you should look forward to, building your confidence and becoming a better radiologist. It sums up the essential ingredients needed to make an excellent radiologist: the ability to make the findings, synthesize the data, develop an outcome, and communicate the clinician’s results.

Unfortunately, in many programs, the radiologist just expects you to know how to take an oral case despite not having been taught the process. If so, now you have a framework of the fundamentals of how to take a case outlined above. Like anything else, being adept at taking oral cases is simply a matter of practice and knowing the process. Once you have the process down and the base knowledge, you can more easily build upon your abilities and become better and better over time. You, too, can become a star at taking cases!!!

 

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I’m a sick radiologist- Should I come to work?

I am confident that most of you, whether a radiology resident or an attending, have felt sick at one time or another. And, most likely, you were unsure about coming to work. Moreover, this decision can become incredibly complex.

Here are some of the issues you probably thought about. Is there adequate coverage? How sick are you? Are you going to be seeing patients for that day? Are you going to be sitting down in isolation for most of the day? Are your reads or your procedures going to be compromised by your illness? What is the group’s culture about taking a sick day? How will it affect your colleagues if you do not show up? Will it prevent you from being promoted? Unfortunately, these difficult questions compound when you cannot think clearly due to illness.

Even more confusing, most of the articles that I have read regarding physicians and sickness are not written directly for the radiologist. Radiologists are a bit different than other hospital or outpatient physicians. Depending upon the day, the rotation, or job description we may or may not have direct patient contact. So, we have to have to think about the question of missing a day of work differently from other physicians.

What about the literature regarding sickness for the general physician? Many articles say not to come to work if you are a sick physician. (1,2) And others are more indeterminate. (3,4) However, the body of research is sparse about whether the ill physician, let alone a radiologist, should come to work. In this post,  I will try to address the most common issues that may sway your decision one way or the other.

Continue reading I’m a sick radiologist- Should I come to work?

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The Other Struggling Radiology Residents

struggling radiology residents

A radiology residency program is like a family. When one person is afflicted academically or professionally, all of its members suffer down the road. Just as important as it is to be aware of and help the struggling radiology resident, it is also important to remember that one struggling resident can have severe repercussions for the remainder of the radiology residency program. It is not just the program director and chairman that reap the consequences of the struggling resident. Often unfairly, the class members take up much of the additional burden. The result be extra call shifts, less time spent on educational rotations, uncomfortable personality conflicts, or spare time spent educating the failing resident. So, I am dedicating this post to the other radiology residents affected by the struggling radiology resident. First, we will explore how other residents can appropriately identify and help the struggling resident and possibly get this person to the program director’s attention. Then we will go through what a resident should and should not do when a resident is academically or professionally struggling. And finally, we will examine how the residency program should commit its resources toward the struggling resident vs. the other radiology residents.

 

Identification of Struggling Residents by Colleagues

Often, the first residency program members to notice that a resident is struggling are not the program director, chairman, or attendings. Instead, it may be the struggling resident’s colleagues. Fellow residents are more likely to interact with struggling residents socially in a more comfortable setting. Here, the struggling resident is more likely to discuss his/her issues. This interaction is an opportunity to learn more about your classmates’ feelings about residency. They may even ask for your help. My advice is to give your classmate whatever assistance is reasonable so they can perform well. Residency is not a competition; it is a team environment. In addition, the help you give your fellow struggling resident will return to you many times. Whether you decide to teach your colleague or help them out with other residency issues, you will find that you will learn more about your material and yourself. Even better, you may be able to stem a progressive downward spiral to probation. Or, even better, prevent your classmates from suffering more dire consequences.

How To Identify The Resident

Sometimes the identification of the struggling resident is a bit more subtle than a simple comment about their struggles. Unlike an attending that sees a resident on a noon conference or a single day, you, as a fellow resident, may notice a pattern of taking cases and missing all the findings each time or multiple absences not recorded by the program. Or you may see bad habits such as drinking too much, something a little bit off, or a strange affect. These signs can be essential sentinel events. And you may want to address the issue with your program faculty to ensure the struggling resident gets the help they need.

In the end, it pays to identify the struggling resident. Remember, it often affects not just that resident but the entire program.

How Can The Residents Help With The Academically Struggling Resident?

The program directors, attendings, and chairman are primarily responsible for handling the academically struggling radiology residents. But, for the struggling resident’s rehabilitation to succeed, the program often needs to have the participation of all. The role of the other residents can be the key to the stability of the program through this trying time as well as increasing the likelihood that the struggling resident will eventually succeed.

Before any remediation, it is critical to determine if the struggling resident is willing to accept the help of the other program members. So, the role of the other residents can only begin when the struggling resident asks for help from their colleagues. You certainly cannot force a struggling resident to participate in remediation efforts if the struggling resident is unwilling or able.

Interventions To Help Academically

If you remember the previous article- The Struggling Radiology Resident, we discussed how the academically struggling radiology resident might have difficulty coping with the quantity or quality of their work. So, I will briefly review how the other residents should attend to these issues.

What should their colleagues do for a struggling resident who cannot schedule an appropriate time for studying? This dilemma becomes a time management issue. It would be fair to help the struggling resident to create a schedule for themselves. Sometimes it helps to sit down with the struggling resident and show them how you schedule your study time and what you have been reading on each rotation.

For a struggling resident with difficulty with the quality of study time, it would make sense to have group study time and present cases to one another to improve their presentation when reviewing studies. Or, it may be a good idea to go over questions with all the residents to practice testing skills. These processes help the struggling resident and may be good practice for the team.

How Can The Residents Help With The Professionally Struggling Resident?

Regarding a professionally struggling resident, fellow residents must be more careful with assisting in interventions. The intervention will depend on the primary cause of professionalism problems.

The Absent Resident

For the resident that is often absent, it may be possible to address this issue by asking the resident where they have been or why they have not been around in a non-confrontational manner. Sometimes the struggling resident may not be aware of the burden they are placing on the other residents. This interaction may make this resident aware of the issues he is causing and take responsibility for his actions. Again, if this does not work, bringing the matter to the program’s attention may just be as essential.

The Personality Dilemma

You must be more careful with the resident with personality issues, whether an abusive or unengaged resident. If you are friendly with this resident, it may pay to find out the cause of the behavior. But be careful not to be overly intrusive, as getting involved much further may be inappropriate. Indeed, if the struggling resident is amenable to helpful suggestions for conflict resolution within the residency, talk to this person about some of these issues in an appropriate setting. Or, it may be relevant to suggest this resident seek professional help if the resident is amenable.

In many programs, some struggling residents will experience psychiatric issues just like the general population. Or, they may get involved with alcohol or illicit drug use. These situations can be extremely touchy. Many of these residents may not have insight into their problems. And, they are likelier to refuse help from colleagues or attendings. Of course, a few may have an understanding. But, if you notice a struggling resident with one of these issues, it is usually best to bring the issue to the attention of the program director or chairperson of the department so that they can get the resident into the appropriate channels for treatment. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. And occasionally, the struggling resident’s colleagues may have intimate knowledge of the resident. Therefore, they may be more likely to be able to get the resident appropriate help. But, be careful in this situation because there can occasionally be unforeseen legal and professional ramifications to the caring colleague. A resident without insight into their problems may see this helpful resident as antagonistic and can theoretically pursue these channels.

How to Commit the Program’s Resources

Over my tenure as associate residency director, I have learned that dealing with struggling radiology residents’ issues can drain a program’s administration and resources. The time you usually spend toward improving the residency program instead needs to be placed on the problems of the one resident. Especially in smaller programs with less faculty and monetary resources, the extra time can overwhelm the program directors, chairperson, and heads of Graduate Medical Education. While the struggling resident must get the necessary help and remediation, we have to remember that other residents also need to have a functional residency program. It is easy to forget about the other residents in this process. So, it is the residency director and chairman’s role to place additional efforts to concentrate on not just the struggling resident but the other residents at these times and to ensure the residency program continues running smoothly.

Back To The Other Residents

Every program, at one time or another, will have struggling radiology residents. And fellow resident colleagues need to help out, if possible, with identifying and remedying the struggling resident. But, the other residents often suffer the most from the consequences of a struggling resident’s actions. And the residents can be hurt by the administration’s choices to help the struggling resident. So, everyone involved needs to make a concerted effort not to forget about the struggling resident’s colleagues. Or else, these residents can truly become the “other struggling residents.”

 

 

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The Difficult Radiology Attending

difficult attending

Fortunately, most individuals in the radiology profession have stable, friendly personalities. But, in any room of 100 people, you will have psychopaths(1 out of 100), narcissists, borderline personalities (6 out of 100), in addition to other difficult personality types. And radiology is likely no different. During your radiology residency, you magnify these issues because you have to sit for a concentrated amount of time with this person. It could be for hours at a time. (Although that can be different now with the Covid pandemic!) So, you need to learn coping mechanisms to deal with these difficult people.

Why Difficult Radiology Attendings Are Not All Bad

Ironically, I found that some of these most difficult attending personalities gave me my best and most intense learning experiences. It’s where I learned to develop a thick skin, become more of an independent radiologist, tighten my dictation style, and listen. These were the formative years for me. If you think of this tough individual as another link in the chain of learning experiences, most of these days, weeks, or months you sit with this problematic attending will seem to have more relevance to your overall education. Your time spent will indeed not be perfect but will be much improved.

Personality Types

This segment will go through 12 different difficult personality types that you may encounter during your residency program. We will also teach you how you can use each problematic personality type to add to your body of experience and build you into a thriving radiologist.

The Narcissist

Everyone knows this individual. I personally always think of that main character from Dragon’s Lair(Dirk the Daring), with the perfect hair, the expensive clothes, and showing off their skills (or lack thereof!!!) to the world. As they say, “God’s Gift to Humanity.” These problematic individuals will often appear overconfident, and some will make fools of themselves. It’s going to be the attending that never uses liver windows because he says he can always easily detect all liver lesions in soft tissue windows. He’s just too good to make that extra effort.

What’s great about working with these sorts during your residency training? When you complete a rotation with this individual, you will learn how to avoid being overconfident and look more carefully in places that the narcissist will miss. Most important, it is a great time to learn how to be humble, an essential feature of a good radiologist. Radiologists cannot always be right!!!

The Know It All

If you were in school, this would be the talkative kid that is always raising his hand. Or think of Hermione from the Harry Potter series. This person can be incredibly annoying but smart and well versed. The know-it-all gives the resident a distinct learning experience but usually takes the thunder away from something that another attending or you may have discovered. As a resident, you have a lot to learn from this person. He or she will teach you all sorts of radiology information that others will not and give you a sense of humility.

The Absent Attending

You know this type of individual, always leaving the department at the drop of a hat. He/she expects you to do all the work for them during the day. And, the person is rarely available when you have pressing questions. I have found that this experience is probably one of the best learning experiences you can have as a resident. It allows you to take charge of a rotation that you usually would be merely following. You will need to look up lots of information on google and ask other residents/attendings what to do. When you finish with the rotation with this sort of difficult attending, you will be able to run the department because you will handle most of the day-to-day issues on your own, related to your experience of having the unavailable attending!

The Smitten Attending (With Someone Else!)

So, you are working in your interventional rotation, and your co-resident or a medical student is very handsome or pretty. Your attending does not seem to want to listen to anything you have to say. The “boss” always goes to the other resident to teach them and ask them questions and forgets about you. What do you do? Well, the answer is simple. You work twice as hard to get their attention. Working hard on this rotation may not pay off concerning getting a recommendation from this individual. Still, it will allow you to put your heart and soul into your work and make the rotation an intense work experience. You will live and breathe the subspecialty rotation. When you go into practice, you will be thankful for the extra time and expertise you may not have otherwise!!!

The Obsessively Detail Oriented Attending

When you come back from dictating a case, this is the sort of difficult attending that will mince every word and tell you why each word and phrase should have been different. Don’t take offense at this sort of mentor. Most of the time, they mean well. But, the experience of having to write the same dictation over and over; overcorrecting every statement until you make it the way he/she wants, can be painful. But, dictation is one of the more difficult elements in radiology to master. So, this experience can be invaluable for honing your reports and making them much more robust and exacting. Believe it or not, consider this person a resource to make them that much better!

The Sociopath

Watch your back! He/she will typically seem to be the friendliest radiologist in the whole department. This problematic attending often will tell you precisely what you want to hear. Until wham! At the end of the month, you find out that your evaluation from the program director is not what it initially seemed. The sociopath will not tell you about what he/she thought of you at the time of your rotation and takes pride in stealthily making the lives of the radiology resident miserable.

The good news is the rotation will seem to be just fine when you are there. It is only the afterglow that causes misery. But your experience with this attending will teach you something invaluable, never assume that everything is ok. Always ask and find out what you can improve and how you can do things better. This experience is a wake-up call for the naive resident!

Bizarro

Out of all the radiology personality types, believe it or not, you will find this one to be one of the most interesting. I can remember one of my former attendings telling me about a mentor who was continually drooling when he spoke and whose eyes were incessantly tearing. He stood at the short height of 4 foot 3. But, when you talked to this person, the passion for teaching and his profession shone through everything. These attendings tend to have some of the most diverse backgrounds and interests.

When you treat these folks as mentors/teachers, you find that they have unique ideas and behaviors that you would not learn from the more typical personality/appearance. I have incorporated their lessons into my daily practice. Also, I have found that their teachings tend to stick because of the unusual delivery and presentation. Typically, you will remember the days fondly that you work with these people and have good stories to tell as well!

The Dictator

You will find this problematic attending demanding and harsh. The dictator treats all his staff with an iron fist. This radiologist will appear unreasonable at times and expects everyone- nurses, technologists, residents- to bow toward every whim. Unfortunately, you will need to do the same or wait for his wrath. The environment may, at times, be unpleasant, and you will need thick skin. Still, I have found that these attendings make the residents more rigorous in their approach to running a department, adopting search patterns, and learning radiology. Use this opportunity to incorporate the dictator’s demands into your routine, and I can assure you, you will become a much better radiologist!

The Gossiper/Talker

You will have some of the best conversations with this attending and will learn about every character in the department. This person talks a lot and can prevent staff from getting their work done, And some of the information you may or may not have wanted to know. However, listen to this person very carefully because they can be an excellent source of information about what is going on in the department, a precious commodity. My advice is to reveal only what you want to expose to this attending, or else your story may become publicized as well!

The Inappropriate Attending

Most people know about this type of personality. He/she may yell at the patients, make off-color jokes with the wrong sorts of people, or maybe a little too touchy/feely. To this day, I use these uncomfortable situations to be instructive of what not to do as an attending radiologist. I use these experiences to remember to model good behaviors to my residents by the allegories/stories that have occurred!!!

The Loner

Many residents feel the need to get instantaneous feedback from their attendings. This problematic attending will not only give you refrain from any feedback, but he/she also may not even talk to you during your shared time. You may be “pulling teeth” to get this attending to teach and speak to you. You may feel like you are always being observed and assessed, but with no response. Remember that the world of radiology is not a specialty of instantaneous feedback. You may find out what you have done right or wrong months or maybe years afterward. This attending personality type truly prepares you for the real world!

The Unintelligible Radiologist

Most residents know this type. It’s the attending with tons of typos in their reports. And, clinicians are continually calling this attending to figure out what he reported in his radiology impressions. So what is the significant advantage of having an attending like this? You will need to learn how to field the clinician’s questions about his cases in a thoughtful, intelligent manner without incriminating its author. It’s a great way to solidify your radiology impressions and learn to communicate with the clinicians!!!

Bottom Line About The Difficult Attending

There are all sorts of personalities that radiology residents will encounter during their four years of training. I have probably just scratched the surface. Problematic characters can lead to trying times on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. However, the experiences that you will have can be invaluable in your development as a radiology resident. Use these personalities to enhance your reputation and skills as a radiologist. Don’t let these difficult attendings get the best of you!!!