Radiology Research

[rad86]

When it comes to doing research in radiology, does it matter whether it's with a clinician (i.e. radiologist) or a pure researcher (i.e. PhD) in medical imaging? are there any additional advantages with the former?

[monkey799]

When it comes to doing research in radiology, does it matter whether it's with a clinician (i.e. radiologist) or a pure researcher (i.e. PhD) in medical imaging? are there any additional advantages with the former?

 

the answer depends on whether or not you are going to ask the guy for a reference.

 

otherwise, in terms of impressiveness of research, in general, basic science > clinical research > case reports

[Kirsteen]

the answer depends on whether or not you are going to ask the guy for a reference.

 

otherwise, in terms of impressiveness of research, in general, basic science > clinical research > case reports

monkey799, I think you're a bit confused. Basic science and clinical science are two general domains of research--the former is generally synonymous with "bench" research and the latter is any type of study involving human patients (of which there are many types). A case report is one research study type often found in clinical research that outlines an interesting clinical vignette.

 

To respond to the original post, advantages to pursuing either type of research, i.e., basic science or clinical science, within radiology depends on your motives. I know some radiologists who do both and there are many non-radiologists who tackle projects that are rooted in radiology in either domain. Why are you considering research in radiology?

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[rad86]

Thanks for the replies!

 

To Kirsteen: I'm interested in rad research because I'm hoping to eventually go into radiology. While a non-clinican scientist's research maybe highly relevant to imaging, I wasn't sure if there're additional things to learn from working with a clinician, i.e. shadowing around in the department and learning more clinical knowledge. I guess this will depend on the individual PI as well.

 

I have another question for you, if you don't mind, about grades and CaRMs. How important would you say are grades, especially pre-clerkship marks, in matching to radiology? While UofT's website says it requires an above-average academic record, many people have said that marks don't matter much...I'm wondering if you could help to clarify this from your personal experience. How do programs assess academic records, by numeric grades, class rankings, or scholarships? It'd be great to get a rough idea of the relative weighting for the various areas (e.g. references, interview, research, grades, any others). Thanks so much!

[Kirsteen]

Thanks for the replies!

 

To Kirsteen: I'm interested in rad research because I'm hoping to eventually go into radiology. While a non-clinican scientist's research maybe highly relevant to imaging, I wasn't sure if there're additional things to learn from working with a clinician, i.e. shadowing around in the department and learning more clinical knowledge. I guess this will depend on the individual PI as well.

 

I have another question for you, if you don't mind, about grades and CaRMs. How important would you say are grades, especially pre-clerkship marks, in matching to radiology? While UofT's website says it requires an above-average academic record, many people have said that marks don't matter much...I'm wondering if you could help to clarify this from your personal experience. How do programs assess academic records, by numeric grades, class rankings, or scholarships? It'd be great to get a rough idea of the relative weighting for the various areas (e.g. references, interview, research, grades, any others). Thanks so much!

Hi there,

 

In terms of clinical research in rads, if you're interested in gaining entry to a radiology program and interested in research then clinical research may be one way to kill two proverbial birds with one stone, i.e., gain some exposure to the clinical side of things, including valuable contacts and insider information inre: the program and field in general, while also gaining some research experience.

 

As for the importance of marks, it really depends on the program and also on your school. Many schools now show P/F marks on the transcripts, so how can they count for much unless you have one or more failures? In my opinion, references and having the program know you are two of the bigger factors in the selection process. That being said, I didn't apply to every radiology program in the country, nor did I interview at all of them.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[rad86]

Thanks Kirsteen!

[mickiedaniels]

Thank you very much for that information, Kirsteen! That helps a lot!