Employment Market for Radiologists
In 2007, The job market remains very much intermediate between the highs and lows that have occurred since 1990, but finding highly desirable jobs is likely to be somewhat more difficult, and filling vacancies somewhat easier than in the past few years.
Interventional radiology and breast imaging are the subspecialties in which academic positions are most difficult to fill; neuroradiology and nuclear radiology seem to be at the opposite end of the spectrum. The same differences across subspecialties are probably found in community practice, given the strong correlation of the two data series. Job listings per job seeker at the placement service, which serves both community and academic positions, were 0.72 for 2007 compared with approximately 1.1 to 1.2 for 2003 to 2006 and variation from 0.25 to 3.8 in the preceding decade.
Particularly high ratios of academic vacancies to academic radiologists were found for interventional radiology and breast imaging; particularly low ratios were found for neuroradiology and nuclear radiology. Data are relative and do not indicate the employment market is weak in absolute.
For more details, please see:
Sunshine, JH. Maynard, CD. Update on the Diagnostic Radiology Employment Market: Findings Through 2006-2007. J Am Coll Radiol. 2007 Oct;4(10):686-90.
These findings are consistent with a mid-2003 radiologist workload survey reported by Meghea and Sunshine [Who's Overworked and Who's Underworked among Radiologists? An Update on the Radiologist Shortage, Radiology, 2005], which concluded that an overall balance existed between workload and radiologist supply in 2003, after an earlier survey in 2000 had shown that over half of all radiologists felt overworked.
Merritt-Hawkins, a major private recruitment firm reports radiology is the second-most sought after specialty in the recruitments they are commissioned to undertake, indicating that radiology positions are harder to fill than those in almost any other physician specialty. For more details, please see: 2007 Review of Physician Incentives including average recruitment salaries and signing bonuses.