Radiology specialization training is flexible according to the students’ life situations

The popularity of radiology has grown year by year and it is now the largest specialty at the Diagnostic Center. There are 74 positions for specializing physicians.

There are imaging units belonging to and outside the University Hospital from Ekenäs to Lappeenranta. Since they belong to the same organization, it is easy to form guidelines to ensure consistent training.

“It has been easy to develop the radiology training path to make the different life situations of the participating trainees more flexible. Moving from one place to another is effortless, and we no longer have intermittent academic work. For example, when coming from parental leave, there is always a position ready for you,” says Head Physician and Professor of Radiology Taina Autti.

With the health and social services reform, it would be possible to implement the same model throughout Finland in the wellbeing services counties. According to a survey commissioned by the University of Helsinki, 51% of specializing physicians and dentists considered it very important and 32% considered it important to create functional training paths.

“When specializing physicians need to change employers during their training, there can easily be breaks in their employment relationships and they end up losing their accumulated holidays. This makes their life harder.”

It was possible to gain more transparency in the selection process of specializing physicians by carrying out open recruitments starting from January 2021. This also guarantees legal protection for applicants.

“The open application process is beneficial to us as well. It has increased confidence that we are able to ensure equal treatment of those applying for specialization training. We can also see which units are under pressure with many applications coming in and how many are actually needing a training position.”

Individual care during training

The radiology teaching team is in contact with the specializing trainee from the very beginning of the training. Personal training plans and transfers from one unit to another are always carried out in cooperation with the trainee, taking into account their previous work history, skills, and personal wishes.

Before graduation, a final interview is conducted with each specializing physician to verify the content of the training received.

“If a specializing physician feels that they have not had time to learn a specific skill during their five years of radiology training, we have granted additional months if necessary so that they can fill the gap in their skills.”

The versatility of radiology was a positive surprise

Specializing physician Suvi Koskinen initially studied engineering physics at Aalto University, but wanted to switch to a field where there is more variety and action, but where a Master’s degree in engineering would still be a benefit.

“I was already very familiar with radiology through a close relative. I was fascinated by the fact that it is such a rapidly developing specialty. “In addition, I have always been interested in doing research and science, for which radiology offers excellent opportunities.”

Koskinen was also interested in the versatility of the specialty.

“General radiology covers everything in a person, from head to toe. This specialty is also suitable for all types of people. Everyone finds their own place, whether they are social in nature or not, because there are so many different jobs descriptions available.”

And contrary to what one may think, studying radiology is not difficult and does not require any special skills.

“I myself have a pretty good photographic memory, but three-dimensional perception is at times difficult for me. However, it does not hurt, because today there are plenty of tools available for making it easier to analyze slice images. In my opinion, this is an even easier specialty to study than others, because here you read picture books, literally.”

The specialist training in radiology has fully met Koskinen’s expectations, and in her opinion, it has been well structured. Employment in the field is guaranteed and you can constantly improve your skills, because new diagnostic methods are constantly emerging.

“I am very satisfied with my career choice. I am surprised at how much radiology has evolved in recent years, and also become more focused on emergency and on-call care. If you wish, you can be on the front line of patient care and meet a lot of patients.”