Looking Beyond the Face of Radiology

摘要

How does a radiologist "care" for a patient? The opening chapters of radiology texts usually begin with descriptions of radiodensity or line pairs or imaging systems. Radiology residency introductions such as the ACR Resident and Fellow Section residency Handbook begin with introductions to first-year rotations. Only one chapter of the Resident and Fellow Section manual delves briefly into what role radiologists play in patient care. If one Googles "radiology care," almost every Web site that comes up on the first page of the search touts technology or informatics. None mentions the terms compassion, sympathetic, or emotional support. Yet if you ask a patient about the qualities of physicians who provide good medical care, they will almost invariably mention words such as these, along with things like "She always listens to me and never interrupts," or "He always remembers my name and what I told him the last time I visited with him."