Radiology Is So Boring!

So I am on a two week radiology stint right now. Let me educate a few of you about radiology: It has to be the most boring job in all of medicine. Every morning I show up and sit in a dark, dark room and look at a computer until it's time to go home. Honestly, I have no idea how anyone can do it for more than two hours in a row.

Film after film. Slide after slide. Mumbling into a dictaphone. It is amazing how long one is able to teeter on the edge of falling asleep without actually falling asleep. One of these days I might get whiplash from the head-bobbing thing I do as I try to stave off snoozing. Even my old standby--tickling the roof of my mouth with the tip of my tongue--has failed to adequately keep me awake. It's really tough in there!

Sean wants to be a radiologist. Fernie wants to be a radiologist too. They claim it is because they think the job is interesting, fun, and exciting. Exciting?! I think they are both taking crazy pills. I am also fairly convinced that after a career of reading films in a dark radiology reading room, most radiologists will end up looking like this. I am glad somebody has the gumption to do it, because I sure couldn't.

I don't mean to give radiologists a bad rap. They do a very valuable service to their patients and other physicians as well. I just happen to think that all the fun stuff happens after the pathologies are identified by the radiologist. I appreciate all I've learned the past few days. I like being able to look at the axial CT above and being able to identify what is wrong. But I get a little more excited about actually fixing the problem, rather than just figuring out what it is.

Maybe that's a sign I've picked the right specialty to pursue.