Because this had never been done in his hospital system, they had to get approval from the state medical board and the hospital’s legal staff. Dr. Padha even consulted with other SIR members who had employed NPs/PAs in their practices. Eventually they were able to hire both a PA and an NP.
“I trained them to do several procedures, and so now they will do procedures during the day, while also helping with a fair amount of my consults and follow- ups,” Dr. Padha said.
According to Dr. Padha, these additional roles were instrumental in helping the service line survive. If a practice is unsuccessful at recruiting physicians, and if state regulatory rules allow, hiring an NP or PA can help sustain provision of services.
“When I tell people about my practice, I get goosebumps. I realize how blessed I am with a wonderful team and staff,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them.”
Since then, Dr. Padha has been able to recruit two more on-site diagnostic radiologists. However, they still leverage teleradiology to keep up with the demand created by the emergency department (ED).
“Our emergency room is the busiest in the state, even though we’re not the largest hospital. So, it’s a busy diagnostic service,” he said.
By leveraging teleradiology to help with the ED, Dr. Padha and his DR partners are now able to cover more elective procedures and have begun rebuilding their medical education mission.
The face of clinical radiology Dr. Padha is still the only IR in his hospital system, managing a service line that sees up to 30 cases a day. And despite the immense challenges, Dr. Padha said that the experience has reinforced his belief in the role of IRs as clinical leaders.
“I think IR training inherently gives us an edge, because we are a patient- facing specialty that is comfortable communicating with patients, staff and
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referring physicians. It’s a natural fit for us to be the face of clinical radiology.”
While his experience has been unique, he doesn’t think it’s unusual. The IR workforce shortage, as well as the push and pull between IR clinic and DR call, is a common issue across radiology practices, Dr. Padha said, no matter the group’s size.
“When any larger practice loses IRs, they get stressed out as well. Mine is at a different scale, true, but it doesn’t mean that a practice with five IRs can lose two of them and be fine.”
The advice he would give other IRs— as well as his younger self—is to remain flexible and seek every education opportunity.
“Even if you are training to be an IR, do not dismiss your diagnostic training, because you never know when you’ll need it,” he said. “You have to be a good DR to be a great IR.”
He also encourages younger IRs to broaden their skill sets, especially if they plan to work in a more rural area. That means learning specialized skills like interventional oncology, understanding how to provide pain injections and kyphoplasty, familiarity with neuro IR, and more.
“A broad foundation will help you adapt to pretty much any environment—or any challenge that it brings.”
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