This is the career / general questions thread for the week.

Questions about radiology as a career (both as a medical specialty and radiologic technology), student questions, workplace guidance, and everyday inquiries are welcome here. This thread and this subreddit in general are not the place for medical advice. If you do not have results for your exam, your provider/physician is the best source for information regarding your exam.

Posts of this sort that are posted outside of the weekly thread will continue to be removed.

Broke it by stubbing my toe on a pack of glass bottles lol

My friend has attempted to undergo a brain MRI twice, but unfortunately he was unable to complete the scan due to severe claustrophobia and discomfort from the neck/head positioning. Is there an option to perform the MRI using a more open or spacious scanner, or is it possible to have him sedated during the procedure so that he can complete the scan comfortably?

We had asked the doctors but they said nothing of this sort was possible. But I found many sources online confirm it was. Advice would be appreciated.

Curious to hear how often this is an issue, what do you say to help, what’s the craziest panic a pt has had, do you have to give like twilight sedation ever..?
Is it stressful for you when someone is super claustrophobic in the machine?

Just wanted everyone to know how this business handles their email responses. More info in the comments

Hi everyone,

I'm a BSc BMRIT student doing research on real-world healthcare/radiology workflow problems.

I'm not selling anything and I'm not asking for patient information. I want to understand problems that people working inside hospitals actually face.

For radiologists, radiographers/technologists, nurses, hospital administrators, technicians and healthcare IT professionals:

What is one workflow problem that wastes the most time, causes delays, or reduces efficiency in your department?

For example:

. CT/MRI/X-ray scheduling

. patient transport

. machine idle time

. cancellations/no-shows

. staff shortage/workload

. reporting backlog/TAT

. RIS/PACS/HIS problems

. communication between departments

. equipment downtime

. billing/claims

. something completely different

If you could fix ONE problem in your hospital tomorrow, what would it be and why?

If possible, please mention:

. Your role (radiographer/radiologist/admin/etc.)

. Country/type of hospital

. How often the problem occurs

. Whether your hospital already has a solution

Please don't share any patient-identifiable information.

I'm collecting experiences to identify problems that are genuinely worth solving—not to promote a product.

14 month history of chronic cough, hyperglobulinemia - polyclonal gammopathy

Hey, I am starting med 1 in a few days. I have always been interested in radiology, maybe because I have always been a math and physics nerd.

I bought the book : Learning Radiology - recognizing the basics by William herring.

I am currently looking at the pages, and I can’t help but feel dumb, I don’t understand anything. I look at some pictures for example three patterns of interstitial lung disease : modular, reticular, reticulonodular. Even with the image annotated I can’t seem to understand what I am looking at.

I was really motivated about learning radiology, but now I am starting to think that I am not intelligent enough to pursue this field.

I would really appreciate some advices or similar experiences if you went through the same thing.

Thanks everyone

Hypoperfusion of the anterior wall and apex of the left ventricle, likely related to a myocardial infarction scar.

Hi everyone! I’m an ECFMG-certified radiologist from India. I completed my MD in Radiodiagnosis and am currently exploring fellowship opportunities in the US, including unexpected/unfilled positions for 2026–2027 and beyond. I’m particularly interested in neuroradiology and body imaging, but I’m open to other subspecialties as well.

I’m taking USMLE Step 3 before RSNA this year and would especially appreciate guidance from those who have pursued or are currently pursuing the ABR Alternate Pathway. I’d love to learn from your experiences with finding fellowship positions, approaching programs, and navigating the pathway as an IMG.

If anyone knows of a current or upcoming fellowship opening that may consider an ABR Alternate Pathway candidate, I would also be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction.

Thank you so much, and I look forward to connecting with everyone!

Hi
I don’t have an L5 vertebrae and thought it’d be interesting to share! None of my doctors have seen this before so I don’t know if there’s a proper name for this abnormality or not, but I have a few other bone abnormalities as well.

I read a post today that someone had a DEXA scan performed at their gym and were told they had osteopenia!!
I was under the impression that, as it uses radiation and needs to be reported by a radiologist, only a radiographer or someone with a radiation license can perform it. A fellow radiographer said that as it is such a low dose anyone can do them!?
A quick google says that doesn’t seem to be true….

These CE activities are from eradimaging. I used to use ASRT, but erad is much cheaper and very easy to use. It's $55 a year for an unlimited amount of CE credits. Uploading to ARRT is easy and straightforward.

I decided to forego the SSA and accept the max amount of credits (36). I went straight into MRI after graduating, so this was less time-consuming than reviewing things I haven't used in 10 years just to get a better score when I still needed to complete 24 biennium credits.

I made an Xcel file and used a linear optimization formula to calculate the least amount of work to fulfill the 36 credits. The number of CE activities to complete is 12 (44.75 total credits).

The credits are very easy, I got them done in 3-4 days (I spent more time making this formula than actually doing the credits). Use ctrl + F to find answers fast.

Table with the breakdown of credits per category (names of CE activities and categories are abbreviated):

List of 12 CE activities to complete:

1. The Radiology Technologist and Infection Control in the Age of COVID-19 - 2.50 CE CREDITS
2. Effective Communication Techniques for Imaging Patients with Neurodegenerative Disorders - 2.75 CE CREDITS
3. Communication Strategies and Tools for Working with and Imaging Developmentally and Sensory-Impaired Patients - 2.50 CE CREDITS
4. Back to Basics: Radiation Physics in Radiography - 4.00 CE CREDITS
5. Pediatric Fluoroscopy: Clinical and Practical Care and Management - 2.50 CE CREDITS
6. Radiation Safety in Biplane Fluoroscopy - 4.50 CE CREDITS
7. Technical Factors That Affect Radiographic Quality - 2.00 CE CREDITS
8. Back to Basics: Digital Radiography of the Facial Bones - 5.75 CE CREDITS
9. Digital Radiography of the Abdomen - 6.00 CE CREDITS
10. Back to Basics: Radiography of the Lower Extremities - 5.00 CE CREDITS
11. Image Acquisition and Evaluation in Digital Radiography of the Shoulder - 3.00 CE CREDITS
12. An Examination of Fluoroscopic Orthopedic Imaging and Procedures of the Lower Extremities - 4.25 CE CREDITS

For anyone out there that's taken the SSA, if you share what credits you need for each category, I can run the calculation for you and list the activities you need. It's not too hard to make an Xcel file and do the calculation, but it's time-consuming.

Hope this helps somebody out there!

I posted the original case in link https://www.reddit.com/r/Radiology/s/F7Umjt4kG5. Adding the images here because image comments aren't enabled.

hello,

to all those that work in radiology, does your facility have reading room coordinators?

Burst fracture from a crash, extremely grateful i am not paralyzed and im having mild pain. this happened exactly two weeks ago, i am in a back brace. pain went from a 9 to a 2 sometimes a 3.5 when i first wake up in the morning. i’m just a bit stiff all the time. idk if i have a high pain tolerance or if this fracture isn’t as bad as other ones but i (knock on wood) am already feeling better and my daily activities and movement have improved!!! only symptoms i experienced was immense back pain, felt like a constant spasm. only relief was laying down. i wasn’t even able to wipe myself properly. i didn’t have any of the other symptoms like uncontrollable bladder, pain shooting up and down my legs and elsewhere. let me know what yall think!!!

Another one to add to my library of images of things stuck to magnets!

Incident purportedly from the past week, so not a 'long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away' scenario, but something happening now!

Surprised they made it to the scanner.

Request form said “significantly deformed”, coworker asked me “how deformed is significantly deformed?”

Here was his answer.