Radiology - An Overview

Most of us understand the meaning of acronyms such as BMI, BP, etc, (body mass index, blood pressure), but do these acronyms ring a bell CT,PET,US? If these sound unfamiliar then perhaps you have heard of X-rays right? Well, all of these are diagnostic procedures and stand for computed tomography, Positron emission tomography and ultrasonsography/ultra sound imaging. Each of these are diagnostic procedures and fall under a branch of medicine known as Radiology.

Radiology as a medical field has grown immensely, from the days when radiology meant nothing more than a simple black and white x-ray, the field has grown by leaps and bounds to what it is today. It has narrowed the line where technology ends and medicine begins with new scale imaging devices, from a 3 Tesla MRI to a PET. One can safely say it has played a major factor in improving the healthcare system to where it stands today. It is the deciding factor that helps in early intervention of someone ill, be it a new born with club foot or a aged person following a hemiplegics attack, the science of radiology helps in quick diagnosis and the quicker the diagnosis the quicker the treatment starts.

The field of radiology can be broadly classified into diagnostic and therapeutic divisions, with the former dealing with body imaging, MRI's, US, etc, and the latter dealing with radiotherapy in cases of cancer. To become a specialist in diagnostic radiology one needs to pass through 4years of med school followed by 5 years of PG training. And that's not all. After you are well versed in the field, you will need to clear a national proficiency exam. But in the end it's all worth it because radiologists are amongst the best paid out there, and it's one of the most risk free branches of medicine there is. And, it is also one of the most essential. No orthopedic or ER doctor can imagine a working day without radiology.

The field caters not only to doctors in various specialties, but also to physical-therapists and chiropractors alike. The scope of this particular branch of medicine is very big, be it setting a private clinic or finding a job in a hospital. And the scope of higher studies is also open if anyone wants to study. The best thing about radiology as a field is that there is still a lot that remains unexplored. With newer technologies by its side who knows what bright future it has.