ISM- INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Student Name:
Printed Name of
Person Interviewed:
Role of Individual:

Aaron Lassmann

Period:

7th

Kimberly Kirschner, MD

Place of Business:

_X_Mentor ___Other Professional #1

UTMB Galveston

Business Address:

301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX 77555

___Other Professional #2

Phone Number:
Date of Interview:

April 7th, 2016

Type of Interview: _X_ In Person ___ Telephone* ___Email*

*Documentation Required (Attach E-mail to Interview Verification Page)

1. For someone working in your field, please describe the fantasies versus realities of the job.
(fantasy vs. reality)
The fantasy of radiology is that it has a good lifestyle with easy 8 to 5 hours.
The reality is that this just not the case. Radiologists work just as long or longer than doctors
in other fields that are perceived as harder.
2. What is your current educational level? What continuing education and training are
required?
(educational level and requirements)
I have completed 4 years of medical school, 5 years of residency, and 1 year of fellowship.
For continuing education, I have to earn 25 Continuing Medical Education credits each year and
retake board examinations every 10 years.
3. Please describe the typical day to day activities of someone working in your field.
(day-to-day activities)
Daily activities depend upon what area of radiology I am assigned to. Most of my time is in
front of a computer screen reading scans. Occasionally, I have some procedures to do like an
ultrasound or fluoroscopy. I also have occasional teaching responsibilities to fulfill.
4. How secure are you in your current position? What do you think is the future of your field?
(job security)
Revised Fall 2013

I feel very secure in my current position, as radiology will always be a necessary medical
field. There is a strong future for radiology as healthcare is changing and advancing and new
technologies are being developed. However, salaries are going down, which requires one to work
harder and longer each month to make the same amount.
5. What is a typical (average or lowest to highest) salary of someone working in your field?
(salary)
Salaries can be highly variable in radiology. The low end is around $250,000, and average is
around $300,000 to $400,000. The high end can be from $500,000 up to $700,000 especially in
private practice.

6. What potential for growth is there in your field?

(growth potential)
There is high potential for growth in radiology due to new technology. There are new
techniques continually being developed with MRI and CT scans. Interventional radiology is
growing. They are able to now do procedures usually done by surgeons, and they can perform new
cancer treatments.

7. What is the best part of your job?

I like the challenge associated with my job the best and how every day and case is different. I
also like all the people I work with in my department and working with the residents.

8. What is one part of your job you wish you could change?
I wish that there was more help and radiology staff to help get everything done, since it is
challenge to keep up with the large amount of cases and all of the administrative and clinical stuff
required.

9. What motivated you to choose your current career?

For a long time in medical school, I didnt know what I wanted to do, since I like a lot of
different things. I chose radiology because its broad, challenging, and fun
10. If you could go back, would you choose the same career again?
Yes, I would definitely choose the same career again.

Revised Fall 2013

Interview Summary-Mentor
What information from this interview will you select for your page typed,
bulleted list of research informationto be used in your presentation?
Educational Requirements
o MD, Residency-Radiology, Fellowship-Body Imaging
o Continuing education credits are required along with recertification every decade
Workloads can be very high and can even require some working from home to finish
Days are varied, but usually consist of a lot of time reading on the computer
Changing healthcare and technology allow for growth and interesting dynamic to the work
Changes in healthcare have also resulted in decreasing salaries
New technology impacts radiology greatly, because every scan is based on it so heavily
Radiology always has many new and fun challenges with the variety and breadth of cases
Limited staff can make the workload much harder to complete
MRI and CT are two primary scans and are always developing new techniques
Radiology is not the 9 to 5 work fantasy that many have for it
Long hours are normal to complete the heavy workload
Cases can be quite varied and exciting to work with, ranging into all sorts of areas
Radiology is attractive due to the wide range of area it covers in the medical field

Revised Fall 2013

ISM- INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Student Name:
Printed Name of Person
Interviewed:
Role of Individual:

Place of Business:
Business Address:

Aaron Lassmann

Period:

7th

Gabriel E. Calles
___Mentor ___Other Professional #1
UTMB Galveston

___Other Professional #2

UTMB Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section

301 University Blvd. Galveston, TX 77550

Phone Number:
Date of Interview:

4/21/16

Type of Interview: ___ In Person ___ Telephone* ___Email*

*Documentation Required (Attach E-mail to Interview Verification Page)
1. For someone working in your field, please describe the fantasies versus realities of the job.
(fantasy vs. reality)
The fantasy is the believed of many colleges from other specialties that the radiologist always know the
reason of their patients aches The reality is that as radiologist we are very well trained to see inside the human
body but not always we are able to determine the exact cause of a patients medical condition.

2. What is your current educational level? What continuing education and training are required?
(educational level and requirements)
I am a trainee at a medical subspecialty level (Neuroradiology Fellow/PGY 6). To be qualified for this
position, a person has to go through Medical School, an Intership and Diagnostic Radiology postgraduate
residency training.

3. Please describe the typical day to day activities of someone working in your field.
(day-to-day activities)
The day typically starts at 7:30 am, when I turn on the computer and log in into our system (PACS/Power scribe)
from my work station, I usually open my email and simultaneously I check the working list for unread
Neuroimaging studies, immediately I begin to dictated the available studies on the working queue; sometimes at
mid morning we are called to perform special procedures, such a Lumbar puncture. I continue to read
neuroimaging until noon, when I stop to attend to a 1-hour radiology conference and I generally have lunch. I
come back to my working station I continue to dictate throughout the afternoon until around 5:30 pm or until
there are no more head, neck and spine studies in the working queue.
Revised Fall 2013

4. How secure are you in your current position? What do you think is the future of your field?
(job security)
Its a one-year contract; I would say its secure. I think Radiology/Neuroradiology in general are specialties on
high demand. Furthermore, the new advances in imaging technology will bring more work to our field and the
need of more radiologist/neuroradiologist.
5. What is a typical (average or lowest to highest) salary of someone working in your field?
(salary)
At the level of Fellowship training, the average salary is around $55,000.

6. What potential for growth is there in your field?

(growth potential)
There is a huge potential to grow because of the new advances in imaging technology.
7. What is the best part of your job?
The possibility to use the proper investigative imaging tools to diagnose suspected and unsuspected medical
conditions.
8. What is one part of your job you wish you could change?
Nothing.

9. What motivated you to choose your current career?

As I grew, the influence of my parents career, which both are physicians, naturally and inevitably tailored my
interest. However, I decided to study medicine, not only because of my childhood memories, but because it has
been my own personal desire, my early natural curiosity and persistent search for explanations of events that
surrounded me, which has compelled me to pursue such an altruistic career.
10. If you could go back, would you choose the same career again?

Yes, I definitely would.

ISM- INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

Revised Fall 2013

Student Name:
Printed Name of
Person Interviewed:
Role of Individual:

Aaron Lassmann

Period:

7th

Matthew Ditzler

Place of Business:

___Mentor ___Other Professional #1

UTMB Galveston

_x_Other Professional #2

Business Address:

301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX 77555

Phone Number:
Date of Interview:

4/21/2016

Type of Interview: ___ In Person ___ Telephone* _x__Email*

*Documentation Required (Attach E-mail to Interview Verification Page)

1. For someone working in your field, please describe the fantasies versus realities of the job.
(fantasy vs. reality) The fantasy aspect, primarily from television, is probably that doctors live a
luxurious life which is not necessarily true. While physicians tend to live very comfortably the days
can be very long and oftentimes work continues after you arrive home for the evening.
2. What is your current educational level? What continuing education and training are
required?
(educational level and requirements) I am currently a third year radiology resident in my fourth
post-graduate year (PGY-4 per our vernacular). Prior to residency I completed a bachelors degree
and obtained my medical degree. Prior to completing my specialty specific (residency) training I
have to certify my skills with an accreditation board and must reverify/recertify my skills every 10
years.
3. Please describe the typical day to day activities of someone working in your field.
(day-to-day activities) A usual day in the life of a diagnostic radiologist involves coming to work in
the morning and discussing any pending cases with the overnight radiologist. After receiving this
checkout, we will read studies pertinent to the service we are covering for the day (i.e. brain scans if
were covering neuroradiology; body scans if were covering body radiology; skeletal scans if were
covering musculoskeletal radiology etc.). During the day we will consult with other physicians
regarding the results of scans that we read and help to advise them in regards further diagnostic or
therapeutic avenues. At the end of the day, we will give a checkout regarding pending cases to a
radiologist coming in to cover radiology overnight and then go home for the day.
Some fields of radiology do more procedures than others and if thats the case small procedures will
be mixed in between reading cases (common procedures include spinal taps, steroid injections, and
fluid drainages).
Revised Fall 2013

4. How secure are you in your current position? What do you think is the future of your field?
(job security) My position as a physician in training (resident) is contractually secure for the length
of my training (radiology is a total of 4 years + 1 preliminary intern year done prior to entering
radiology) so I feel confident I will finish my training. In recent years the radiology field has been
saturated and as such jobs were hard to find but in the last 1-2 years we have seen a reversal of that
trend. The future of my field will be dictated by emerging imaging technologies; MRI has only
become popular in the last decade and before that CT only had widespread use for 20-30 years so
we will see what comes next.
5. What is a typical (average or lowest to highest) salary of someone working in your field?
(salary) Average salaries are probably 250-275,000 USD per year, with outliers below this mark
typically working part time and outliers well above this mark working in lucrative private practice
positions.
6. What potential for growth is there in your field?
(growth potential) The potential for growth in radiology is enormous as any new technology that
lends itself to imaging will lead to a boom in jobs and a necessity for our field as a clinical
consultant.
7. What is the best part of your job?
My favorite part of coming to work is having the ability to affect patient care through the use of
technology. My father was an engineer so Ive always had a proclivity towards computers and the
like. Having the ability to say yes this patient definitely needs surgery or no this finding means
nothing (and in turn preventing an unnecessary, risky surgery or procedure!) is definitely fulfilling.
8. What is one part of your job you wish you could change?
I love everything about my job! I wouldnt want to change anything.
9. What motivated you to choose your current career?
I chose my current career as it successfully merged my passion for medicine and patient care with
my love for technology.
10. If you could go back, would you choose the same career again?
Definitely! I love what I get to come and do every day.

Revised Fall 2013

Interview Summary-Two Professionals

What information from this interview will you select for your page typed,
bulleted list of research informationto be used in your presentation?
Educational Requirements
o Medical Doctorate, Residency and Fellowship programs
Radiology has a secure future due to new technological developments
o New scan equals many new positions to specialize in it
Radiology was oversaturated, but that trend has seen a reversal recently
You must regularly attend seminars and keep up-to-date with new developments in the
medical field and radiology
Board examinations are required every ten years after completion of residency
Radiology is very rewarding in its challenges and the opportunity to help patients so much
People will always get sick, and medical care will always be necessary
As a fellow or resident, jobs are only fully secure for the short term of the contract
Radiology is growing tremendously as a field
The life of a doctor is not as luxurious as it is portrayed to be
Radiology can be very challenging, because sometimes its very hard to figure out what is
wrong with that patient
Family careers and choices are what most often push and influence one towards a career.
Family determines like and interest in science and in the medical field.

Revised Fall 2013