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Radiology PA Questions


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Hi everyone!

 

I'm interested in entering a PA program in my area but have a few questions for ya'll before entering into finishing the coursework for the program.

 

I am a recently graduated Diagnostic Medical Sonographer. I was lucky enough to get a few job offers after I finished school and have begun working and gaining experience in the field. I love radiology... whether it be ultrasound, CT, MRI, interventional, whatever. It's so intriguing to me. And even though most of my knowledge is only in one modality (ultrasound), I have decided to spend some time learning as much as I can about all the other modalities in terms of recognizing anatomy, pathology, etc, after I finish all of my boards for ultrasound.

 

That being said, I would also like to further my education. I was looking into an accredited PA program in my area, but here is where I have a few questions. I would love to be able to incorporate ultrasound (or some aspect of radiology) into my PA career (if I finally choose to go through with it) and was wondering what possibilities are out there for PAs in radiology? Are the jobs hard to come by? As I was browsing through the school's program website, I didn't see any clinical rotations in a radiology department and was wondering how all of you active PAs in radiology entered the field in the first place? And is there some sort of residency or something of that nature that one has to fulfill in in order to enter into this speciality?

 

Lastly, what is a radiology PA's scope of practice and daily work schedule look like? I've been reading it's mainly doing IR procedures?

 

I'd just like to educate myself a little more before entering into such a big commitment. Hope some of you can help!

 

Thanks!

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I was in an interventional radiology position for about 6 months  Very large scope of practice, we were taught LP, u/s guided thyroid and liver biopsies, paracentesis, CT guided biopsies, PICC lines.  It was super impressive what some of the senior PAs were doing.  Very high paying specialty and you would have a leg up when interviewing with your experience.  Just in the last 6 months I have seen two radiology groups looking for PAs in my area.  Definitely a PA dominated field, I am sure NPs could do this with training but I think they hire PAs because we get more procedural training in school.

It would be a perfect fit for someone that enjoys doing procedures all day and it was a very reasonable work load.  Not a good fit for me, I did not enjoy doing procedures and did not realize that until I was there for a few months, we ended up moving anyway, but overall it was a very good group to work for, salary and benefits are the best I have had.

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Thanks so much for the replies! Definitely provides an outlook on what to expect in the field.

 

Electric130, if you don't mind me asking, how did you initially get into your IR position? Did you rotate through IR in school or did you cross train into it after graduating? Were you in another speciality first? I'm curious.

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I was in GI and had some UC experience. I did not do an IR rotation. I had three years experience at the time, this was eleven years ago. I interviewed well and they liked I was changing practices due to a physician retiring. I was later told they had 200 applicants, felt bad about that when I left but I did leave on good terms.

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Playing devil's advocate here, if one gets tired of people complaining, which I would argue all will with enough time regardless of the degree of compassion in one's heart, this might be an ideal specialty field for those who like the science and enjoy procedures.  I wish that this had been an option 25 years ago or so after I had gotten about 5-10 years under my belt.

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IR PAs are paid very well and have nice schedules. we had one working per diem for us. she wanted to come on full time and told her IR group about this. they offered her a 25% raise to stay. needless to say she did. she did say she was bored to tears at work however, but couldn't consider leaving her IR position as she was making more than many primary care physicians to work m-f 9-5 no nights/weekends/holidays/call.. she is an older PA and is looking forward to maxing out available retirement funds...

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  • 2 months later...

There are many PAs which are performing clinical sonography, or POCUS.  US will soon be incorporated into the curriculum of PAs schools to augment anatomy, physiology, physical exam, and the practicum.  

In the ER, clinical sonography is a skill which has been declared integral to the practice of emergency medicine, and therefore a skill to be learned by every provider, as it is taught in residency.

http://spacus.org

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  • 3 years later...

Thank you all for this info! 

I am a first year PA student interested in IR as a specialty after graduation. I don’t have radiology experience, but I was a paramedic for 15 years and a Navy Corpsman for 8. My question is this. If I was lucky enough to land an IR job after I graduate would I get OJT through the employer? Or is there a residency I would need to do? 
 

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You would get OJT for an IR position if you had no prior experience. Likely from the other PA's if there are any. I have not heard of an established IR residency as of yet, but there absolutely should be. Definitely try to set up an elective IR rotation for yourself during your second year.

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4 hours ago, RadAssPA said:

You would get OJT for an IR position if you had no prior experience. Likely from the other PA's if there are any. I have not heard of an established IR residency as of yet, but there absolutely should be. Definitely try to set up an elective IR rotation for yourself during your second year.

Thanks very much this info is a big help

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  • 9 months later...

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