Q & A with Dr. Wojack

Q: Radiology can be a stressful job because your work determines the quality of life for other people. Diagnosing diseases is challenging and there is a lot of responsibility in making sure you’ve diagnosed your patients correctly. Do you find this to be true in your position? 

A. Not all examinations are challenging and/or stressful.  Most are “routine” studies such as screening examinations, oncology surveillance studies, orthopedic follow-up studies, etc.  The key is not to become complacent when reading these examinations, especially when faced with a high volume of studies to interpret.  The truly complex, challenging cases naturally demand attention  and can provide learning opportunities.

 
Q: Radiology residency is known for being especially challenging due to its high volume of reading materials. In fact, many radiology residents have reported experiencing burnout throughout their program. Although all residencies are physically and mentally challenging, radiology is often considered especially draining. How did you handle the workload?

A: Everything is relative.  I entered my radiology residency after completing a surgical internship and most of a neurosurgery residency at a high-level academic program with a tertiary referral center and level 1 trauma center, so I was used to long hours and stress and had less difficulty adjusting than several other residents.

 

Q: The biggest problem facing radiology is the supply and demand mismatch. Quite simply, there is a huge demand for scanning but not enough scanners, radiographers (technicians who take the scans) or radiologists (doctors who interpret the scans). Sounds like we need more Radiologists. What would help this problem?

A: There is increasing demand for all imaging modalities (CT, MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, mammography, etc.).  With the exception of small community/rural hospitals, the problem is not equipment.  There is a shortage of well-trained, experienced technologists and an even more acute shortage of radiologists.  The pandemic accelerated the retirement of technologists and physicians. The ongoing separation of diagnostic and interventional radiology (and neuroradiology) will exacerbate this since interventional radiologists will no longer complete the formal  diagnostic residency. Attempts need to be stepped up to engage medical students in diagnostic radiology. 

 

Q: As a radiologist, you see a lot of different patient cases. Most cases are unique, and you get many opportunities to learn something new. You also get to use different equipment depending on the patients’ diagnostic imaging needs. What has been one of the most important pieces of equipment recently implemented for daily treatment? 

A: The most important piece of equipment is the PACS – the digital imaging archival and display system. It is much easier to compare studies, images can be manipulated at the workstation, and studies obtained elsewhere can be loaded for comparison, for example. The combination of PACS and voice recognition dictation software makes it easier for the radiologist to handle the ever-increasing workload. In a practice such as ours, with multiple sub specialty trained radiologists, it is easy to obtain consultation or assign a complex examination to the appropriate radiologist for interpretation.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being a radiologist?

A: There is always something new to learn.  Technology is constantly evolving and new techniques are constantly being introduced. There are many opportunities to participate in disruptive evolution, both in diagnostic radiology (advanced MRI techniques, for example) and in interventional radiology (aneurysm coils, stroke therapy, interventional oncology, etc.).