About Radiology

There are two main career pathways for radiologists: diagnostic radiology (DR) and interventional radiology (IR). A diagnostic radiologist uses various imaging techniques like X-rays, electromagnetic radiation, and ultrasound to identify and treat an ailment. CT, MRI, mammography, and sonography, among others, are common procedures performed in DR.

An interventional radiologist employs both imaging and minimally-invasive image-guided procedures to treat and diagnose conditions throughout the body. Common procedures performed in IR include ablation, angiography/angioplasty, biliary drainage, gastrostomy, nephrostomy, and thrombolysis.

Both diagnostic and interventional radiologists can subspecialize in the following areas:

• neuroradiology
• nuclear radiology
• pediatric radiology
• pain medicine
• hospice and palliative medicine

For more information, please consult the American Board of Radiology.

There are 4 overall pathways of IR training, illustrated below.

There are two main IR residency formats: integrated and independent (the latter starting from July 2020). ESIR (Early Specialization in IR) is offered by many programs and shaves a year off of the IR Independent route.

The "traditional pathway" with a one-year IR fellowship will be phased out by June 2020.

Various professional organizations exist for radiologists, like the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). Membership in SIR bestows connections to thousands of radiologists and radiologists-in-training, discounts on various products, and information about research training and grants, among other benefits.

There are 3 tiers of membership:

1. members (physicians and PhDs with formal training and interest in IR)
2. members-in-training (medical students, residents, fellows, and PhD-in-training)
3. associates (international physicians, NPs, PAs, etc. - anyone not falling in the aforementioned categories).

Medical students can become members of SIR for free, while others that fall into the members-in-training category pay a small annual nominal fee. The fees are higher for associate members and highest for active members in the first category. For more details, please consult the SIR membership page.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) also provides many benefits to its members, including networking opportunities across the nation, discounts and online resources, and representation in state and national legislatures.

There are multiple categories of membership, including physicians, medical physicists, allied health members, international members, medical students interested in radiology, and residents and fellows training in radiology, with the latter two options allowing for free membership.

For more details, please consult the ACR membership page.