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The Complete Series Of Everyone Needs A Little Radiologist In Them:

• Mental Checklist.
• Part I.
• Part II.
• Part III.
• Part IV.
• Part V.
• Part VI.

 

So here are more of the concepts I have gleamed from being a radiologist/physician and how I apply them in my everyday/financial world:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radiology Concept #13

See one, do one, teach one

 

 

This is a common medical adage famous among medical residents.

Essentially it deals with the passage of procedural skills from an experienced doctor to an inexperienced one.

By the act of observing, then performing, and then teaching a certain skill set, individuals are able to reinforce the required knowledge, allowing them to add it to their medical repertoire.

For me, it was the teaching component that was the most vital one.

If I was successfully able to explain a concept to the next generation, I knew that it meant I had it mastered.

 

Financial Take:

As readers of personal finance blogs like this one you have already fulfilled the first directive of seeing one.

Hopefully you have read enough on the subject of Financial Independence that you have actually taken steps to implement it into your own lives, completing step two of the process.

I truly hope your financial journey does not stop there, however.

It is important to progress to the third step and actually pass this new found knowledge to others.

 

 

This is of vital importance if you have a spouse in order to get him or her on the same page.

If you have children, the passing of this financial wisdom to the next generation can give them a financial headstart and perhaps put an end to the phenomenon of generational wealth being completely lost by the 2nd and 3rd generations.

I have taken it a step further and have created this blog which has been a complete boon for me.

Trying to continue providing (hopefully) useful content has forced me to do more research to expand my financial knowledge base, ultimately benefiting me in the long run.

 

 

Radiology Concept #14

Learn from your mistakes

 

 

No physician is perfect, no matter how much training we have endured.

During one’s medical career, a physician can be expected to make multitudes of mistakes of varying severity.

Although no one feels great about having “a miss” in radiology the key is to learn what circumstances caused that mistake to happen and learn from it.

The only unforgivable mistake in my mind is the one that you keep repeating and refuse to make changes to prevent it from happening again.

 

Financial Take:

For those readers that have stuck around since the very beginning (I sincerely thank you), you are quite familiar with my inaugural multi-post series on this blog titled, “I Made Every Mistake In The Book.”

The biggest teaching point I hope to pass along is that these mistakes did not define me nor did I let them hold me down for long.

I picked myself up, analyzed where I went wrong, and made every effort possible so that I would not repeat them.

 

 

Radiology Concept #15:

Take your time.

 

 

It is an invariable fact of life, when you try to rush things it ends up backfiring on you and you spend more time than if you had proceeded at a normal speed.

I have a love hate relationship with technology at work, specifically my voice recognition set up.

 

 

The Love:

I absolutely love voice recognition software because it allows me to bypass what was once a very tedious process that I had to endure early on in my career.

When I first started working at my current job we actually had micro tape recorders.

It was the most inefficient process imaginable and fraught with potential pitfalls:

• I would hang the film (yes we had not gone digital when I first arrived) on the viewer
• I would analyze the study
• I would then have to record on the micro tape the name of the patient, medical record number, study type and study date all before I could even begin the true findings report.
• If the patient was being seen by the ordering provider right after the exam I would have to manually write the pertinent findings on the patient jacket.
• I would take down the film and put it into the patient jacket
• The tape would then have to be sent overnight to an outside transcriptionist.
• I then had to read the report and check for errors the following day (all without the actual study in front of me) and officially sign off on it.

 

With our transition to PACS and voice recognition software this workflow is reduced to:

• Open the study digitally on screen.
• Engage the voice recognition software/dictaphone (single button press)
• Dictate only the findings and impression (patient and study information would auto-populate the report).
• Electronically sign off the report making it official (with images still on screen) with a single button press.

 

As the images and patient were all linked together, the chance for errors significantly decreased.

To make things even more efficient, I had the ability to create templates (or macros) for pretty much every study that I could then individualize for a particular study.

The Hate:

Sometimes I feel that the voice recognition tech can perceive the state of mind I am in and plays tricks on me.

When things get really hectic at work and stat studies are piling up, I have a tendency to talk a little bit faster and with more urgency.

It is at this inopportune time that I have noticed that my voice recognition software suddenly decides to take a page out of that 80s movie classic, War Games:

“Greetings Xrayvsn.  Shall we play a game?“

The voice recognition software almost taunts me as what was once a “fairly accurate” system seems to now relish in substituting any word imaginable into my report that it sees fit.

In the end by attempting to speed up my dictation I end up having the opposite effect as my workflow efficiency takes a major dive when I have to manually address each and every mistake.

 

Financial Take:

It is ill-advised to brashly rush into things, financial or not.

Taking time on the front end with steps like due diligence can save you a lot more time in the long run when you don’t have to waste time and money correcting mistakes that would have been initially caught.

 

 

Radiology Concept #16

 

Minimize exposure.

 

 

Being in the field of radiology does carry some risk to it.

Besides concerns for malpractice which is prevalent among all the medical specialties, there is actual physical risk by means of radiation exposure.

In the past, radiologist were put at extreme risk for radiation with modalities such as direct fluoroscopy in which the radiologist sat in front of a screen in the direct beam of the x-rays getting high exposure to radiation.

Many of the older radiologists died from cancer such as multiple myeloma as a direct result of this.

Currently radiation regulations such as ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) guidelines try to minimize the amount of radiation an individual is exposed to.

When I do a fluoroscopy study, I wear a lead gown and thyroid shield as well as a radiation monitoring badge to conform to ALARA standards.

 

 

Financial Take:

There is no such thing as risk-free in the financial world.

However through due diligence and careful analysis, risks can be minimized to match your risk profile.

Minimizing risk to your financial empire by being properly insured is another way to minimize exposure to a financially devastating incident.

 

 

Please stay tuned for subsequent installments in this multi-part series.

 

 

Note:

If you are in search of financial help, please consider enlisting the service of any of the sponsors of this blog who I feel are part of the “good guys and gals of finance.”

Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.

 

As always please consider subscribing to this blog.  

It is loyal subscribers like you that really want me to continue to pour my heart into this passion project and create worthy content.

You will be kept up to date with the latest post along with bonus material like the net worth spreadsheet template I created (and satisfaction knowing you make Xrayvsn really happy as he is a number/stats guy at heart).

Thank you

 

-Xrayvsn