Always when you look back you will realise the true importance of things . As i have blogged earlier radiology is quite different from the typical doctor . So many differences starting with the cumpulsory airconditioned environment (its for our costly machines not for us :) ) , the distance from the disease , etc etc . But frankly compared to a "typical " doctor the experiences are less . The average radiologist who is more technically inclined and interested in more fixed hours is less bothered by it but it remains a truth .
But still though daily used to be a tailor measuring fetuses and checking their growth in antenatal ultrasound and checking whether the follicles are growing in women treated for infertility i still remember the day when i scanned the patient ten years back . She came for "infertility " .. No children . The social implications , the cost of treatment and the varying results of infertility is known but it was one of my most satisfying scans .
Inside the uterus there was a white structure . Easy to diagnose but the implications were terrific . It was an intrauterine contraceptive device . Put many years back all had forgotten about it including the patient and many years back she had come for infertility . Probably she would have conceived and her children would be running around now ...
Head injuries are common and CT scans especially of the head is the bread and butter of the radiologist . From the "coconut falling on head " to head on head collisions CT is a highly accurate modality for diagnosing head injury . And even for a fresh tutor who has joined in a busy teaching hospital head injury is easy to diagnose . But my first case was a kick in the abdomen . Though for an experienced radiologist abdominal injury is easy for a fresher especially when i found one kidney missing things were not easy ...
(this was before the kidney scam era when any missing kidney was attributed to surgical removal ) ..
I still cant figure out how the person managed to kick the only kidney the patient had albeit whose only kidney was having a fusion abnormality from birth . Anyway "my first patient " though his abnormally fused kidney had an injury recovered completely though the grading of injury as well as the fused kidney status revealed by CT scan significantly altered the treatment ..
Doing carotid doppler on one of my favourite singers as well as seeing the maskara artifact in MRI of popular film actress i would say the bonus of the profession . And yes both studies were normal (but cant reveal their identities :))