Eric Postal, MD

Studying for my maintenance of certification exam sends me down memory lane, as I rediscovered the purer aspects of radiology

Two radiologists take vastly different paths reviewing a case - one far more thorough than the other. But what’s the payoff for the extra work? Is it enough?

Despite flawed recommendations, patients will still demand screening mammograms. Let it become an optional – and unregulated – service, then, and see what happens.

Think it’s fair to play Robin Hood between the primary care and specialist physicians? Good luck finding someone who deserves to be looted some more.

I'm back in study mode for the MOC exam.

I'd like a gift from the voice recognition software industry. It'd be called the "anti-macro" for those phrases that should not be transcribed.

Here’s my referring clinician bestiary, representing some common categories of referrers you likely run into.

Radiologists are trained to be fearful, on alert for disease, and our fears are multilayered. Perhaps we’d be less fearful if our profession was secure, nonthreatening, yet still rewarding.

Morale is strongest when employees never need to consult a massive employee manual, and don’t fear what’s in it. Rather, they are told upfront what they need to know.

There’s a recent epidemic in imaging causing many studies to turn up as blurry messes. Could it be that patients aren’t being given the proper prep?

Huddled in his reading room, Ebenezer Scrooge, DABR, encounters the ghosts of Radiology Past, Present and Future.

The powers that be often already know the ticking time bombs around us, but have decided they'd rather gamble and clean up the mess later.

Here’s what those terms “mild,” “moderate” and “severe” really mean. Plus a few more less-utilized variants.

vRad’s patient care data promises massive scale objectivity. Is it of any use?

It's not just professional organizations costing us in dues and fees. There's a growing roster of entities eager to take pieces of us.

Saying "I just work here" isn't such a bad thing.

Sometimes good medicine means doing nothing at all. It can also be the most difficult thing to do.

Sometimes Halloween strangeness spills over into the reading room.

The MCAT writing sample can help prepare radiologists to successfully navigate -- and avoid -- medical malpractice pitfalls.

With so many entities involved in healthcare, just who do radiologists work for?

The congressional stalemate and federal government shutdown could -- and would -- never be tolerated in healthcare.

Whether hospitals take external advice about improving their radiology departments could depend upon the type of outside source.

Discussions of self-referral rarely present new information, but they can lead to self-interest accusations and more.

Referring patients and letting radiologists decide on needed imaging studies could improve quality -- if it's feasible.

Today's healthcare system seems to push providers further toward multi-tasking, preventing them from focusing solely on their patients.

Rather than maintain my list of bad eggs, I've decided to focus on the good ones - the trustworthy, capable colleagues that go above and beyond.

From using the term "suboptimal" to working for the TSA to comparing experiences with other rads, here's a few random radiology musings for you.

Clinical history listed as "pain," no comparison studies provided, patient motion and suboptimal positioning limit diagnostic detail. Sound familiar?

Here's a cautionary tale about burning bridges in the small diagnostic imaging community.