Why it pays to know about management in radiology

You've read past the headline; congratulations! Management is really not as boring as many radiologists may think, and there are also many interesting projects to consider for radiology trainees, which really can be done in every clinical setting, as Dr. Peter Mildenberger from Mainz, Germany, explains below. He is the current chairman of the Management Subcommittee of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and chairman of the Management in Radiology (MIR) Annual Meeting held every autumn, so he is the best person to give further insights.

ECR Today: I am a radiologist; do I really need to know anything about management? Which different aspects does management cover? How could I make a difference?

Dr. Peter Mildenberger.

Mildenberger: The term "management" might be misleading, if someone is thinking about financial issues as the only or main aspect. Management covers a lot of different professional issues, including leadership, education, mentoring, communication, radiation dose monitoring, quality, and safety in radiology.

Are there any suitable conferences, courses or qualifications for trainees or junior radiologists, which would look good on their curriculum vitaes (CVs)?

The ESR usually offers a half-day session at the ECR. This year, there were updates on several relevant issues and also a dedicated session on quality and safety. The ESR is also organizing the MIR Annual Conference, which is linked with a postgraduate course. High-level speakers from Europe and abroad will present there and will be available for individual discussions. Regarding the curriculum vitae, there is the European Diploma in Radiology (EDiR), which certifies a high-level of professionalism in radiology.

Do you have any advice on possible audit or research project topics that may be suitable for a poster, presentation, or even publication (locally, nationally, or internationally)?

There are many potential topics for research projects, which are suitable in many different places, such as outpatient practice and small or large hospitals. Examples would be:

• Optimizing the justification process for imaging requests
• Dose optimization and radiation dose registers for improving imaging protocols (see also the ESR EuroSafe Imaging campaign)
• Introducing a CIRS (critical incident reporting system)
• Communicating unexpected or urgent findings
• Peer-review system (quality of reports, checking for errors, double reading parts of reports, etc.)
• Level of recommendations for further and follow-up imaging according to guidelines
• Follow-up of recommendations

Where can we learn more about management in radiology? Are there any journals or websites you could recommend?

Besides the MIR website, which offers access to different information and presentations from past meetings, there are different journals, which cover professional issues. The most important journal in Europe is Insights into Imaging, which offers free access to papers from the ESR; for example, those about standards for reporting or renewal of equipment. The journal of the American College of Radiology (ACR) is another interesting source, as well as websites from other national societies, such as the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) in the U.K. or the French Society of Radiology (SFR).

Any other advice?

In my understanding, it is very important for young radiologists to have broad expertise in many different clinical areas, followed by some subspecialization to keep up with our referring colleagues and offer an excellent clinical radiology service. But there are also a lot of professional issues worth thinking about, because these are relevant to improving the quality in imaging, reporting, communication, etc., and to providing better service to our patients (see also the ESR Training Curriculum for Radiology).

Dr. Peter Mildenberger is professor of radiology and leader of the IT group at University Clinic Mainz, Germany. He serves as chair of the ESR Management in Radiology Subcommittee.

Dr. Christiane Nyhsen is consultant radiologist at Sunderland Royal Hospital, U.K. She is a member of the editorial advisory board of AuntMinnieEurope.com, and former chairperson of the ESR Radiology Trainees Forum.

Originally published in ECR Today on 6 March 2015.

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