Washington (Feb. 4, 2026) -- Radiologists are struggling to balance the pressure to provide high-quality, high-volume care while training the next generation of physicians.
With this in mind, the Journal of the American College of Radiology's Focus on Economics of Education issue explores a range of related topics, including radiology education funding, resident teaching while maintaining productivity, alternative approaches to resident education, trends in radiology residency applications, and investing in radiology medical education in the pre-clinical years.
"Healthcare delivery is changing rapidly, leading to alterations in how radiologists function as part of the care delivery team," said guest editor Tara Catanzano, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Operations, Chief Abdominal Imaging at Stony Brook Medicine. "The increasing demand for clinical productivity while engaging with the citizenship activities required by health systems and the professional responsibilities of communication and documentation have placed tremendous pressure on our teaching faculty. This pressure is, unfortunately, resulting in less time for education delivery using the traditional methods."
The seven articles in the issue explore topics at the crossroads of education and economics in radiology, including alternative educational approaches, trends in diagnostic radiology applications and match rates, educational debt among U.S. medical graduates entering radiology, and the business case for investing in foundational radiology education.
"Across practice settings, educators and clinical leaders alike are pulled between maximizing productivity and dedicating time, funding and institutional resources to resident education," added guest editor Fatima Elahi, DO, MHA, Henry Ford Health. "There was an opportunity to explore the economic realities underlying radiology education and the innovative, practical solutions to these challenges."
