Special Considerations in Pediatric Imaging

Pediatric Radiology as a Potential Career

A powerful and fulfilling aspect of becoming a pediatric healthcare provider is the satisfaction that comes from working with and for children. Few activities are more rewarding than helping children and their families. The sense of mission when working in a children's hospital is palpable and very different than what is often experienced in adult healthcare systems. In addition, there are many other attractive aspects of pediatric care. First, most kids recover from their illnesses, as compared with elderly adults. Most pediatric illnesses are not self-induced. Pediatric diseases are highly varied and interesting. In addition, pediatric conditions are being increasingly recognized as important precursors to adult illnesses that cause significant morbidity and mortality—for example obesity, osteoporosis, and glucose intolerance. Finally, children and their families are highly appreciative of pediatricians' help.

My impression has always been that most pediatric radiologists seem very happy with both their jobs and career choice. There are a number of attractive aspects about pediatric radiology. First, one of the most important elements of job satisfaction is the quality of the interactions with coworkers. In general, the physicians who choose to go into pediatric subspecialties, as well as other healthcare workers who choose to work at pediatric institutions, tend to be nice people. Aggressive, power-hungry people tend not to want to work with children. This makes a huge difference in the quality of daily work life. In addition, pediatric subspecialists seem to rely on the opinions of pediatric radiologists more than many of their adult subspecialist counterparts. Similarly, pediatric radiology does not seem to have the same number of turf battles that many adult-oriented departments have.

Another unique feature of pediatric radiology is that one gets to be a “general specialist.” Pediatric radiology is a small part of medical imaging overall, and in this sense, the pediatric radiologist is very much a subspecialist. Compared with general radiologists who must have a working knowledge of a daunting amount of information, most pediatric radiologists feel comfortable that they have an adequate command of the knowledge they need to provide outstanding care. That being said, I am continuously surprised of how often my colleagues and I encounter cases that are unlike any we have previously experienced. Things certainly never get boring. At the same time, pediatric radiologists are generalists in the sense that many pediatric radiologists deal with most modalities and organ systems. We get the best of both worlds. It is also possible in pediatric radiology to become a subsubspecialist, such as a pediatric neuroradiologist, pediatric interventional radiologist, pediatric cardiac imager, or pediatric fetal imager.

Introduction: Special Considerations in Pediatric Imaging

Many issues are unique to the imaging of children as compared with that of adults. Imaging examinations that are easily carried out in adults require special adjustments to be successfully achieved in children. The rotating resident on a pediatric imaging rotation and the general radiologist who occasionally images children must be prepared to deal with these issues and to adjust imaging techniques to safely and successfully obtain imaging examinations. In this introductory chapter, several of the general issues that can arise when imaging children are briefly addressed.