Radiology

Why MRI classification systems improve spinal stenosis care

Conditions

March 27, 2026

The saying, “treat the patient, not the X-ray,” captures a core challenge we face in spine practice: Clinical symptoms and imaging findings often do not align, making it crucial to approach imaging with a structured framework. This lesson was evident when we treated two patients with strikingly different presentations. The first was a 35-year-old woman whose MRI report identified severe scoliosis and spinal stenosis. Yet, she was totally asymptomatic, with …

Whole-body MRI screening: a radiologist’s guide to preventive scans

Amit Newatia, MD

Physician

March 23, 2026

Last year, a 45-year-old woman walked into my screening center in Laurel, MD. She was fit, healthy, and had no symptoms whatsoever. She just wanted peace of mind, the kind of baseline health data that her annual physical could not provide. Ninety minutes later, her whole-body MRI revealed a kidney tumor she did not know existed. No pain. No blood in her urine. Nothing to suggest she was harboring a …

The hidden curriculum: What medical school does not teach you

Vance Lehman, MD

Education

March 16, 2026

In medical school, we only learn a fraction of what we need to know to succeed as doctors. The rest, we learn serendipitously through role modeling, trial and error, and other venues. Without luck, however, we may not learn these factors at all. It turns out that unspoken forces, the so-called “hidden curriculum,” may have a greater impact on our personal and professional outcomes than most people realize. As educators …

Navigating the patchwork of CME requirements by state

Vladislav Tchatalbachev, MD

Physician

March 11, 2026

I hold medical licenses in multiple states. As a teleradiologist, I have to; it is the nature of the work. What I did not fully anticipate was how much time I would spend navigating the patchwork of continuing medical education (CME) requirements that vary significantly from state to state.

The variation in numbers

In Montana, the state requires exactly zero hours of CME for license renewal. Drive across the border to Washington, …

Whole-body MRI screening: political privilege or future of care?

Michael Brant-Zawadzki, MD

Physician

January 6, 2026

The use of MRI body scanning as a preventative tool was highlighted by the president’s recent rope-a-dope with the media. Community practice whole-body MRI businesses now exist, local entrepreneurs directly marketing these services to the public. These scans are not reimbursable by traditional health payers.

The attraction of MRI is its lack of ionizing radiation, as well as its proven sensitivity to a variety of pathologies. Example: Detection of breast cancer …

AI in medical imaging: When algorithms block the view

Gerald Kuo

Tech

November 18, 2025

He spent his youth memorizing lungs. That was how he learned chest X-rays, not by chasing abnormalities, but by studying thousands of perfectly normal films until his eyes could sense when something was ever so slightly wrong. “If you don’t know normal,” he would tell residents, “you’ll never understand abnormal.”

He was a chest physician, not a radiologist, yet his skill with chest imaging became legendary. At Taipei Veterans General Hospital, …

When a good radiologist is accused of fraud

Daniel Cousin, MD

Physician

October 29, 2025

In December 2017, a fellowship-trained neuroradiologist in good standing was pulled off his teleradiology shift mid-interpretation by the police, put in handcuffs, and taken to jail. He was accused of reading ultrasound studies too quickly, approximately three to five minutes per interpretation, inconceivable to the district attorney and their hired plaintiff radiologist expert. Because there were Medicaid patients involved, he was said to be defrauding the government. The allegation was …

The timeless art of diagnostic reasoning

Sandip Pandey

Physician

October 11, 2025

The patient was in her forties. She experienced chest pain, but it did not appear to be “classic.” Her ECG was normal. Her labs did not raise alarms. The team leaned toward anxiety. Hours later, she went into cardiac arrest from a heart attack. That silence after the code still stays with me. We anchored on the first test. We closed the case too early. We stopped listening to her …

Limiting beliefs are holding your career back

Sanj Katyal, MD

Physician

August 15, 2025

As physicians, we are highly motivated, educated, hardworking and compassionate individuals. We deserve the best that life can offer. I do not mean the nicest houses or fanciest cars (although there is nothing wrong with luxuries). What I am referring to is having the type of career that brings out the best in us. A work environment that allows us to share our gifts easily and effortlessly ultimately contributing to …

Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

July 9, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Emergency physicians Resa E. Lewiss and Courtney M. Smalley discuss their article, “Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in emergency department triage.” Amid the crisis of overcrowded waiting rooms and long wait times, they …

The unseen cost of detachment in radiology

Dr. Yesu Raju

Physician

July 7, 2025

That was one of my uneventful night duties—until early morning. As usual, I had a hectic on-call day, where I barely got half an hour for dinner—which we consider routine. Around 3 a.m., I received a request for an abdominal CT scan for a middle-aged male patient with abdominal pain. The surgeons were suspecting mesenteric ischemia—blockage in abdominal vessels, which can be life-threatening.

I glanced through the scan, trying to open …

AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

Fardad Behzadi, MD

Tech

June 23, 2025

As a radiologist, I’ve heard the same question too many times, usually from anxious medical students struggling to decide if they should pursue radiology:
“Is AI going to replace radiologists?”

I understand the concern. I had similar fears during training. But after years of practicing medicine and watching AI promises play out in the real world, I can confidently say this: AI is not replacing radiologists. It’s not even close. And those …

How art and science fueled one woman’s path to medicine

Amy Avakian, MD

Physician

June 13, 2025

Dreaming of medicine

Everyone has an origin story. Mine doesn’t include any radioactive spiders or vats of glowing fluid, but I did get a few extra volts of electricity being defibrillated back to life at seventeen, and that’s close enough to a tragic backstory for me. It was a short-lived event, but long enough to change everything. I remember the blur of motion as a team of doctors worked around me. …

Why many hospitals refuse to pay market value for radiology until it’s too late

Anonymous

Physician

February 27, 2025

Nationwide, radiology groups are approaching hospitals and asking for massive subsidies to maintain their radiology coverage. Much of the time, hospital administrators and CEOs balk and would prefer to drag their feet or try to replace the group rather than pay market rates for radiological services. These hospitals end up paying double or even triple for worse coverage with some of the same radiologists—while those radiologists end up making much …

Geographic disparities in advanced cancer care: a call for innovation

Shamar Young, MD

Conditions

January 12, 2025

Imagine two patients are diagnosed with liver cancer on the same day. Both have similar tumors and overall health. The only difference? Their zip codes. While we’d like to believe that all patients in the United States receive standardized care regardless of location, the reality is far more complex. Where a patient lives—and more specifically, which health care system they can access—may fundamentally alter their treatment options and outcomes.

This disparity …

How expert witness work can transform your career and life [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

December 18, 2024

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

We speak with Gretchen E. Green, a radiologist and expert witness, about her journey from full-time clinical practice to building a fulfilling career that balances work, life, and family. She shares insights on …

How AI is transforming breast cancer detection: a game-changing tool for early diagnosis and personalized care

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Conditions

October 20, 2024

If you had an assistant who helped you do your work faster, more efficiently, and more precisely, would you fear it?

With artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront of virtually everything today, two of the most common questions I hear in my daily practice are, “Do you use AI?” and “What does AI do for you?” For some, these questions stem from a desire to access cutting-edge tools, while others express …

Radiologists need to be realistic about the job market

Anonymous

Physician

October 5, 2024

It is undeniable that the radiologist shortage is here. While reimbursement is declining, free agents are few and far between, and compensation is exploding. Compensation per wRVU in the western region of the U.S. jumped nearly 16 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to MGMA. Job postings show salaries almost double what they were even five years ago, with signing bonuses, accelerated partnership tracks, and 12, 26, 34, or even …

The power of togetherness: Finding connection and friendship in giving circles to increase your impact

Recha Bergstrom, MD

Physician

September 24, 2024

Doctors in most medical specialties spend a significant amount of their time interacting with people, yet medicine is considered one of the loneliest professions. I’ve heard this at several surprising points in the past few years from physicians I would not have suspected felt isolated. Over these last years, there have been increasing opportunities to find meaningful connections with other physicians through online communities, some of which have in-person gatherings …

Why doctors are afraid to take on insurance giants—and how it hurts patients

Steve Cohen, JD

Conditions

August 30, 2024

Half of my family and many of my friends are doctors. I admire them enormously: they are smarter, work harder, and are more compassionate than any group I know. Yet sadly, they are all wimps. Despite non-stop carping about the dangers and cost of health insurers’ prior authorization machinations, not a single one is willing to step up and take on an insurance company.

Of course, I understand why: doctors’ incomes …

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