The Impact of Professional Turf Battles on Radiology Resident Education: Perspectives From the Radiology Class of 2005

Purposes: To assess residents' exposure to professional turf battles, via a survey of the radiology residency class of 2005, and to assess perceptions about the causes, solutions, and impact of turf battles on resident education. Methods: An electronic survey composed by the ACR Resident and Fellow Section was completed by 168 senior residents (a 18.9% response rate) enrolled in allopathic radiology residency programs from across the United States. Results: The majority of respondents (153 of 168, 91.1%) perceive a loss of professional turf from nonradiologists. Areas most often perceived as being affected by lost professional turf were interventional radiology (136/168, 81.0%), cardiothoracic imaging (106 of 168, 63.1%), and ultrasound (88 of 168, 52.4%). The sense of lost professional turf was most often attributed to inadequate residency training in the affected subspecialities (87 of 168, 51.8%). The most commonly cited motivation for ongoing turf battles was reimbursement for diagnostic imaging and image-guided procedures as a motivator for nonradiologists. The majority of residents feel that the most effective ways to counter professional turf battles include the promotion of national physician-training standards for diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapies, the mandatory accreditation of all imaging facilities, and the development of performance standards that providers of imaging services must meet to qualify for reimbursement. Conclusions: The majority of resident respondents feel that professional turf battles have had a significant impact on their education. Methods recommended to counter professional turf battles mirror recent proposals by the ACR to support mandatory national quality, safety, and training standards for providers of diagnostic imaging.