RADIOLOGY ESSAY

What is a radiologist?
A radiologist is a specialist medical doctor who has had specific postgraduate training in performing and
interpreting diagnostic imaging tests and interventional procedures or treatments that involve the use
of X-ray, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging equipment. Radiologists are trained to assist
other doctors and specialists to treat their patients by making a diagnosis and providing treatment using
medical imaging. Radiologists have the medical knowledge to understand and explain your medical
problem or symptom through the images or pictures that are taken of various parts of the inside of your
body.

Radiologists can choose to work in various sub-specialties of radiology such as breast imaging,
interventional radiology, musculoskeletal imaging, cardiac imaging, or paediatric (children’s) imaging.

What is radiology? Radiology, is the process of working and viewing inside the human body without
breaking the skin. By using radiant energy, which may take the form of x rays or other types of radiation,
we are able to diagnose and treat many diseases and injuries. But how does this work? The photons are
then tracked by a tomographic scintillation counter, and the information is processed by a computer to
provide both image and data on blood flow and metabolic processes within bodily tissues. PET scans are
particularly useful for diagnosing brain tumor and the effects of strokes on the brain, along with various
mental illnesses. They are also used in brain research and in mapping of brain functions.

Another form of imaging is ultrasound. Ultrasound, which uses very high frequency sound, is directed
into the body. And because the tissue interference's reflect sound, doctors are able to produce, by use
of a computer, a photograph or moving image on a television.

Ultrasound has many application uses on the body, but is more commonly used in examinations of the
fetus during pregnancy, because use of radiation may affect the outcome of the baby. Some other
practices for ultrasound include examination of the arteries, heart, pancreas, urinary system, ovaries,
brain, and spinal cord. And because sound travels well through fluids it is a very useful technique for
diagnosing cysts( which are filled with fluid), and fluid filled structures such as the bladder. And since
sound is absorbed by air and bone it is impossible to use a ultrasound on bones or lungs.

Where does a radiologist study?

Radiologists have completed undergraduate medical training at a university and then undertake their
post graduate specialist radiology training in a hospital setting. This is often in the public sector but
increasingly the private sector is becoming involved in post graduate training of radiologists.

Why become a radiologist?

Radiology is at the forefront of technological advances in clinical medicine. The ability to produce
pictures of the human body using many different techniques has revolutionised the practice of medicine
over the past hundred years. Radiologists are central members of the multidisciplinary clinical care team
and play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of disease in adults and children (including
babies and foetuses). Radiology offers tremendous scope for a varied career in cutting edge technology,
clinical medicine, teaching and research and is becoming more highly sub-specialised as imaging
technology increases in its sophistication and complexity