Radiology Subspecialty Demand Updates

Since we are in a new academic year at the height of job time, I thought I’d post an update on the “demand for radiology subspecialties” from Independent Radiology, which currently features 152 private practices (an interesting nationwide slice of the radiology job market).

Here is the breakdown of subspecialty openings today:

• Body: 76% (115), previously 78%
• Mammo: 74% (113), previously 79%
• General: 68% (103), previously 71%
• Neuro: 63% (95), previously 66%
• MSK: 55% (84), previously 54%
• VIR: 43% (66), previously 43%
• Chest/Cardiovascular: 35% (53), previously 37%
• NM/PET: 29% (45), previously 34%
• Peds: 21% (33), previously 26%
• Neuro IR: 5% (8), previously 6%

The raw numbers have gone up but the percentages are slightly down: this reflects that more groups joining this year have specific needs and are more discriminating in what their openings are.

Body has overtaken Mammo. This is a small change, probably noise. Part of this is also that Body is often a stand-in for “we have too much general radiology but want everyone to be fellowship trained.” I’d venture most general radiologists are comfortable in one or more subspecialities, but somewhat fewer subspecialists are comfortable with general radiology (e.g. people fleeing academic practices).

Overall, some fellowships are more in demand in a we-want-people-with-fellowships-and-don’t-care-which way, and some are more in demand with a greater available degree of subspecialization. Body and neuro are more commonly subspecialized than MSK and NM/PET, but of course, the full spectrum is available to every degree somewhere.

I would also point out that certain subspecialties, like peds and neuro IR, are just less common in private practice. The plethora of those jobs isn’t well captured here.

Off-hours positions remain similar and plentiful: 39% are hiring for swing shifts, and 34% are hiring overnight radiologists. I suspect that those swing shifts in particular reflect not just specific group needs but also an attempt to tap into the available remote workforce and meet market conditions. (Speaking of, my group has a remote partnership-eligible swing shift opening in our general/community division in addition to regular on-site/hybrid partnership positions across the board and remote body/general employee positions.)

Overall, a similar 65% of groups have remote positions of some variety, and 34% (previously 30%) are willing to hire contractors in some fashion. The latter could be noise or a small sign of the growing teleradiology gig economy.