Table 1 Summary of specialty differences
From: Physicians’ professional identities: a roadmap to understanding “value” in cardiovascular imaging
Specialty | Identity characteristics | Identity descriptions | Value of CV imaging |
|---|---|---|---|
Internal Medicine | ◊ Manager ◊ Very broad thinker ◊ Complex answers ◊ High public visibility | ◊ Patient narrative ◊ Relationship variety ◊ Connecting with patients ◊ Thinking broadly | ◊ One piece of the clinical puzzle ◊ “Maybe 10 % of information” ◊ Mainly EKG, stress imaging ◊ Prefer cardiology for further imaging and evaluation |
Cardiology | ◊ Manager ◊ Broad thinker ◊ Complex/Definitive answers ◊ High public visibility | ◊ Structure-function relationships ◊ Procedures/Imaging ◊ Prevention ◊ Managing patients | ◊ Diagnosis and management ◊ Prioritize structure-function relationship, e.g., echo, cinegraphic CMR ◊ Collaborative imaging interpretation with radiology |
Emergency Medicine | ◊ Diagnostician ◊ Broad thinker ◊ Definitive answers ◊ Moderate public visibility | ◊ Efficiency ◊ Undifferentiated patients ◊ Gatekeepers ◊ Variety of patients | ◊ Triage patients / Rule out worst case scenario ◊ Mainly EKG, CXR, echo, maybe coronary CT ◊ Refer to cardiology for further testing |
Radiology | ◊ Diagnostician ◊ Broad thinker ◊ Definitive answers ◊ Low public visibility | ◊ Technology ◊ Innovation ◊ Knowing something about everything ◊ Consultant | ◊ Provide objective answer to clinical question and make patient better ◊ Minimal “gray area” ◊ Right imaging for the right patient ◊ Collaborative imaging interpretation with cardiology |
Vascular/Cardiac Surgery | ◊ Fixer ◊ Focused thinker ◊ Definitive answers ◊ Moderate public visibility | ◊ Working with hands ◊ Technical work with immediate outcome ◊ Ability to do/fix something | ◊ To determine appropriateness of surgery, surgical planning, surgical follow up ◊ Prioritize 3D CTA or intraoperative ultrasound/fluoroscopy ◊ Radiology does official report but we also interpret imaging |