Training in clinical radiology
David Lindsell, Warden, Faculty of Clinical Radiology, Royal College of Radiologists
Introduction
Radiology training has changed dramatically over the last 20 years to reflect the enormous improvements that have taken place in imaging tests and our ability to use imaging to guide therapeutic interventions, all of which have now placed the radiologist at the heart of many multidisciplinary teams. 20 years ago as Ultrasound, CT, MRI and Radionuclide Radiology were being developed many radiologists trained and practised as technique based radiologists. This is now much less common with many radiologists being system based (eg GI radiologists), age based (eg paediatric radiologists), disease based (eg cancer radiologists), interventional radiologists or a combination of these. The ability of the sophisticated imaging tests available to us is now so great that our clinical colleagues have become highly dependent on us. In addition the range of interventional procedures which use image guidance, such as abscess drainage, biopsy, drainage of obstructed urinary & biliary systems, tumour ablation, embolisation to stem haemorrhage and many others, is so varied that for many patients the primary treatment is now radiological. Exciting new developments such as functional and molecular imaging are on the horizon but to compete in areas such as these radiologists will need to ensure that they have a competitive grounding in research as well. Patient Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) allow us to examine and report on images remotely and thereby practice in a very different way to the past.
