Radiologists are medical doctors that specialize in diagnosing and treating injuries and diseases using medical imaging procedures such as X-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), molecular radiology, positron emission tomography (PET), and ultrasound.
A radiologist is a medical doctor who has typically completed four years of medical school, a year of internship, four years of imaging residency, and two years of fellowship study in an area of radiological specialization. Because of their high level of education and expertise, radiologists are sometimes called “the doctor’s doctor.”
You may never meet your diagnostic radiologist or they may be directly involved in your exam or procedure, but they are an integral part of your healthcare team. They study your images in detail searching for any abnormalities or clues that would identify any disease or condition. After diagnosing your images, they prepare a written report that is sent to the referring doctor who in turn shares the imaging findings and develops a treatment plan with you.
Interventional radiologists are medical doctors who diagnose and treat patients using image-guided, minimally-invasive techniques along with imaging to guide instruments through tiny incisions in the body, reaching the source of a medical problem and delivering targeted treatments. Many of these procedures are performed in an outpatient setting, making it convenient for the patient.
You will have the opportunity to meet directly with your interventional radiologist as they will consult with you prior to the procedures they perform. IR doctors have pioneered significant advancements in the treatments for heart disease, stroke, cancer, enlarged prostate, peripheral arterial disease, and uterine fibroids, offering less risk, pain, and recovery time compared to traditional surgery.
Molecular radiologists are physicians who use tiny amounts of radioactive material called radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat disease. They employ such techniques as scintigraphy, which uses radiopharmaceuticals to produce images of the body’s organs or to visualize certain diseases. These materials are typically injected into a patient’s vein, but may also be swallowed by the patient.
Molecular radiologists also utilize radiopharmaceuticals to treat hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, solid tumors, hematologic malignancies, or painful bone metastases. Molecular radiologists specialize in using small amounts of nuclear radioactive material to image how your body is functioning instead of what your body looks like anatomically.
