Radiologists in the United States: demographic, professional, and practice characteristics

The purpose of this report is to present a statistical portrait of radiologists in the United States based on the 1990 American College of Radiology Manpower Survey. Unlike previous surveys, this survey included radiologists who were not members of the College and was thus more representative of all radiologists. (Approximately three quarters of radiologists are College members.) We examined how the demographic, professional, and practice characteristics of radiologists vary among major groups within the profession.

A stratified random sample of 2804 radiologists and nuclear medicine specialists was drawn from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, which is the most complete and extensive single source of information on physicians in the United States. Because the total numbers of female radiologists, nuclear medicine specialists, and radiologists less than 35 years old are relatively small, these groups were deliberately "oversampled" (hence the term stratified random sample) to ensure sufficient numbers of responses in these categories for meaningful analysis. A total of 1845 completed questionnaires were received, which yields a response rate of 68% if the questionnaires sent to invalid addresses are excluded. Responses were weighted to make the data representative of all radiologists, despite differences in sampling rates.

Findings for professionally active radiologists who completed their training included the following: 94% were certified by the American Board of Radiology, 13% were women, 47% were less than 45 years old, fees for service were the primary remuneration for 62%, and 72% are in practices owned by physician members of the practice. By major activity in radiology, 69% were diagnostic radiology generalists; 11% were radiation oncologists; 18% were diagnostic radiology subspecialists; and 2% were nuclear medicine specialists. A breakdown by age indicated that the age group of radiologists less than 45 years old included more women, diagnostic subspecialists, and persons who had fellowship training than other age groups did. Percentages of diagnostic radiology generalists and solo practitioners were lower among younger radiologists. Radiation oncologists, compared with all others, were the most likely to practice solo or in small groups of two to four members. The subfields with the highest percentages (60% or more) of diagnostic radiologists reporting expertise or proficiency were CT, mammography, and sonography. Among radiologists who were retired, half had retired by the time they were 65 years old. However, a majority of radiologists 65-69 years old were still working, as were 40% of those 70-74 years old.

The profession of radiology is changing, with more women, subspecialists, and fellowship-trained radiologists in younger age groups and fewer solo practitioners. Only a small percentage of radiologists are not board certified. Radiologists typically remain professionally active into their late 60s or even beyond.