Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Multimodality vendor GE Healthcare has issued a voluntary recall of nuclear medicine (NM) systems in the wake of a fatal accident involving one of its gamma cameras at a New York City hospital.
GE is advising its customers to stop using the nuclear medicine systems until they have been inspected by a field service engineer. The recall comes after a patient was crushed when bolts securing the gamma camera to the system's gantry failed, and the camera fell on the patient.
GE is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the recall, and the company has issued a list of product models affected by the action. For more details, including the full list of affected systems, click here.
Saving NM residencies
Nuclear medicine residents are having a hard time finding jobs, and they are hoping that combining their residency programs with those of radiology could help improve their prospects, according to a new article in our Residents Digital Community.
A survey of nuclear medicine residency program directors found that close to one-third of their graduates were not yet working in the field during the first few months after completing their programs. The situation is particularly grim for international medical graduates who didn't also train in radiology.
Many survey respondents believe the solution is to have their residents cross-trained in radiology, where job prospects are thought to be brighter. Read more by clicking here, or visit the community at residents.auntminnie.com.
Radiologists as gatekeepers
Should radiologists act as gatekeepers in controlling unnecessary imaging utilization? That's the provocative question posed by Dr. Saurabh Jha of the University of Pennsylvania in a perspective article published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Radiologists in the U.S. have assumed the role of service providers, meeting the requests of referring physicians in a role that reminds Dr. Jha more of a concierge at the Four Seasons than a true consulting physician. This position devalues the radiologist in the diagnostic process, he said in an interview with associate editor Kate Madden Yee.
Instead, radiologists should assume the role of gatekeeper, creating a dialogue with clinicians and advising them about the best test to use -- or whether they should use any test at all. Read the article by clicking here, and let us know if you agree or disagree by visiting the thread in our Forums.
