The impact of per diem senior pediatric radiologists in an academic setting

Excerpt

Traditionally, academic radiology departments are staffed by full-time faculty who provide clinical service and resident/student teaching while pursuing academic and research goals necessary for advancement and promotion. As the clinical workload, number of complicated cases, and demands for 24/7 coverage have increased, there is often less time available for teaching and research. At the same time, senior faculty members no longer want to participate in expanded hours such as weekend, late day and overnight clinical coverage [1]. In some departments, options are available for reducing these less desirable duties, usually with a corresponding reduction in salary. There might even be options for overall reduction of duties by 10% to 50%. But the policies at different academic institutions are highly variable and sometimes prohibitive of innovative solutions. For many senior academic radiologists, the choice is full-time or no-time, thus forcing premature retirement and therefore a great loss of experience, expertise and mentoring to the less senior members of the department. These trends are especially relevant in pediatric radiology, given declining interest in pediatric radiology as a career choice [2] and subsequent shortage of trained specialists who want an academic career. …