Is Teleradiology the Right Path for You?

A rad on social media recently posed the question: How do teleradiologists not feel like prisoners in their own homes?

It took less than a week for a hundred replies to turn up, largely rejecting the proposition: Most teleradiologists didn’t feel imprisoned at all. Some had a hard time conceiving of why anybody would.

I am not that far gone. I can imagine being a social butterfly or liking hands-on procedures. In these cases, avoiding hospitals and imaging centers would mean excising the best parts of the job. I would also do myself a disservice in working from home if I weren’t a “self-starter,” able to focus on a worklist for big stretches of time without succumbing to various distractions.

Fortunately for my work from home (WFH) career, I have no such issues. I knew it when I embarked on this path back in 2011, and I would suggest that anybody contemplating a similar move do similar introspection. If you can predict that working remotely will be bad for your particular soul, don’t do it.

I think most of us tele-types self-select for that. It might be a blind spot for folks fresh out of training, which is one of the reasons I advise caution to members of that crowd. Until you have been operating at the attending level for a while, you might not really know your groove.

It could even be a blind spot for more seasoned individuals. Crunching numbers to make sure your prospective new WFH per-click gig beats your old on-site job, you might never even weigh the “lifestyle” changes. You could take it for granted that of course working from home will be easier and even fun until you are actually doing it and realize that it’s not for you.

One of the ways some telerads who would otherwise enjoy their lot might wind up feeling like prisoners in their own home is, well, not having a particularly enjoyable home. If you live somewhere you don’t like being, chances are that suddenly spending a lot more time there won’t make you happier.

That might be on account of the home itself, for instance if you’re early in your career and still living in whatever crummy little apartment you had for residency/fellowship. That doesn’t mean you should rush out and overextend yourself to buy a McMansion, but you might want to upgrade a bit. At least make your digs comfortable and somewhere you don’t mind being.

Part of that depends on who else is living there with you. A spouse, kids, etc., might result in your sequestering yourself in an attic or basement “office” where it’s less than wonderful to spend 8-10 hours at a time. At the very least, make sure you have good climate control and worthwhile furniture. You can of course go all out and transform the workspace into a “man cave;” making it somewhere you enjoy going to.

I lucked out in a few ways when I moved into my current home. The previous owner had maintained a home office and done all the setup I could possibly want. It has its own half-bath and is a few paces from the kitchen so breaks for biological necessities are about as quick as can be. The office also has its own door to the outside, which is handy for occasional doses of fresh air.

If I didn’t have such a ready-made office, it might have been an exercise in imagination to figure out what I would want to have in it. I would probably ask around to see what other rads had in their home offices (or wished they had) to get some ideas. One idea I have heard is a bit of exercise gear. This wouldn’t be for full-fledged workouts, but occasionally getting out of your chair and moving around is a healthy thing. It is also another way to reenergize beyond yet another dosage of caffeine or sugar.

I have found it priceless to have non-human company in the place. My first house really only had room for a couple of cats but now I have got canines as well as felines. They each do their own thing while I work. Some pretty much never come around unless they want something, but a couple like to keep me company in my office. They provide brief breaks in their own way. A cat will settle into my lap, or a pooch will come over for some scratching behind the ears.

One rad’s response summed it up nicely: “I never felt like a prisoner. More of a king in his castle situation.” Another pointed out that he felt more like a prisoner when going in to work in a building he didn’t own and had to share with other inmates. (Okay, he called them colleagues, but we are using the prison metaphor.)

Here is another suggestion I would make to anybody with concerns of feeling prisoner-ish. When you are not working or doing work-related things, get out of your home office. You spend enough time there as it is. Enjoy other parts of your home or, better yet, get the heck out of it. Be outdoorsy, socialize, and generally optimize the portion of your life that is not spent as a telerad. You might absolutely love your work but it’s not all that defines you.