Contrast and Clarity with the JACR

Healthcare policy doesn't have to be boring - and it definitely isn't when it shapes the future of radiology. In this episode, Maddi and Jeff are joined by Robert Optican, MD, FACR to break down the six legislative and regulatory issues every radiologist should know, from AI reimbursement and Medicare payment reform to the ROOT Act, the No Surprises Act, and the growing wave of AI regulati...

June TLDR: What actually matters this month? Welcome back to TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) - the monthly series from Contrast & Clarity where we break down the entire monthly JACR issue into the insights that actually matter. This month's episode includes: AI that helps (and where it falls short) in lung and breast cancer screening Patient preference of lay-friendly report summaries Vent...

What if one of the most valuable skills in medicine is being able to say the simple two-letter word: no? For many radiologists, saying no can feel harder than taking overnight call, joining another committee, or agreeing to "just one more project." Somewhere along the way, medicine has turned being busy into a badge of honor - and many of us have become experts at overcommitting ourselve...

It can be difficult to find the time to read an entire JACR issue cover to cover! Welcome back to TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) - the monthly series from Contrast & Clarity where we break down the entire monthly JACR issue into the insights that actually matter. In this month's TLDR episode, Maddi and Jeff tackle questions like: Are we overreacting to pediatric CT use? Should radiologists be mee...

For years, the AI conversation in radiology has focused on one question: Will AI replace radiologists? But what if we've been asking the wrong question this whole time? In this episode of Contrast & Clarity with the JACR, Maddi and Jeff sit down with Tessa Cook, MD, PhD to explore one of the biggest unsolved challenges in healthcare AI: Who watches the algorithms after they are deployed? A...

Medicine has a fascinating business model: Take a group of high-achieving perfectionists, lock them in a dark reading room, make every decision high stakes, and then act surprised when everyone develops imposter syndrome. So for the final installment of Artifacts of the Mind series, Maddi and Jeff decided it was time to stop simply identifying the problem...and finally ask the question every healt...

What's the one word that medicine avoids at all costs? Failure. In Part 3 of the Artifacts of the Mind series, we stop whispering about imposter syndrome...and start confronting the culture that fuels it: perfectionism. This episode widens the lens. Maddi and Jeff talk with David Fessell, MD and Frank J. Lexa, MD MBA about perfection culture and how the illusion of infallibility doesn't pr...

It can difficult to find the time to read an entire JACR issue cover to cover! Welcome to TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) - a new monthly series from Contrast & Clarity where we break down the entire monthly JACR issue into the insights that actually matter . This month: Sustainability in Radiology . Because here's the reality - imaging isn't exactly carbon-neutral. Between energy-hungry scanners,...

In part 2 of Artifacts of the Mind , we flip the script: what if imposter syndrome isn't a flaw...but a signal for growth? Maddi and Jeff are joined by Hanna Zafar, MD MHS to explore the idea of "failing up" - rethinking failure not as something to hide, but something to use. Because while residency makes learning loud, post-training culture often makes it silent - and that's exa...

Radiology has a dirty little secret. The people who look the most confident...often feel like they're faking it. In this episode, Maddi and Jeff talk with Sherry Wang, MBBS about one of the most pervasive - and least talked about - realities in radiology: imposter syndrome. Why does it hit hardest when you're succeeding? Why does guilt follow you from the reading room...straight home? And...

Radiology runs medicine. So why are we teaching it like a side quest?   In this episode of Contrast & Clarity, Maddi and Jeff talk with Scott Simpson, DO, MSEd and Daniel DePietro, MD about the uncomfortable truth: we’re graduating physicians who rely on imaging every day…but were barely taught how to use it. We get into: Why radiology education shows up too late (and too inconsistently) The h...

Are we training radiology residents for yesterday’s world? Because the traditional model of workstation teaching + didactic conferences? It may not be sustainable anymore. In this week's episode, Maddi and Jeff sit down with the authors of “Alternative Approaches to Resident Education”  to unpack what the future of radiology training could — and maybe should — look like: ·     Social media as a le...

Imaging volumes are "down." Radiologist workload is "up." Length is stay is longer. Wait. What? In this episode of Contrast & Clarity with the JACR , Maddi and Jeff sat down with Tina Shiang, MD to unpack her recent analysis of inpatient imaging utilization and radiology workload over the past decade. Here is the twist: when imaging is adjusted for disease severity, overall...

That “black box” AI algorithm your practice just bought might look sleek on a demo screen—but when something goes wrong, it won’t be the software company signing the report. It’ll be you . In this episode of Contrast & Clarity, Maddi and Jeff interview Ken Davis, Senior Counsel in Healthcare at Katten Law Firm, for a no-fluff conversation about the intersection of radiology, contract law, and...

What happens when AI gets it wrong – and who’s actually on the hook?   In this episode of Contrast & Clarity with the JACR, we sit down with Tanya E. Karwaki, JD, PhD, author of the JACR opinion piece “Balancing Artificial Intelligence Risks and Benefits in an Evolving Legal Environment,” to unpack one of the most uncomfortable – but unavoidable topics in radiology AI: legal risk. AI adoption...

Artificial intelligence isn’t failing radiology. Our healthcareinfrastructure just isn’t ready for it. In this episode of Contrast & Clarity with the JACR , we cut through the hype to tackle the real reason artificial intelligence hasn’t transformed radiology yet—and it’s not because the algorithms aren’t good enough. Joined by Michael Bruno, MD, MS and drawing from insightshighlighted at the...

What happens when the dream of remote radiology becomes a nightmare for practice culture? Tune in as Maddi and Jeff are joined by Ivan DeQuesada, MD and Andrew Moriarty, MD to discuss onsite staffing concerns and the tensions between productivity, patient care, and the modern radiologist's desire for flexibility. From empathetic accountability to equitable hybrid scheduling and strategic work-...

How has the traditional radiology resident readout evolved in the post-pandemic era? In this week's episode, Maddi and Jeff are joined by Shanna Matalon, MD, Sophia O'Brien, MD MSEd, and Scott Simpson, MD MSEd to talk about what trainees and faculty really think about side-by-side, remote, and asynchronous readouts, why feedback gaps persist, and how programs can improve the educational ex...

When USMLE Step 1 went pass/fail, the goal was to lower stress and level the playing field. Instead, it may have just moved the goalposts. In this week's episode, Ruth Carlos, MD, MS, FACR and Megan Worthington, MS join Maddi and Jeff to talk about how the change to pass/fail for the USMLE Step 1 examination has reshaped the residency match - especially for competitive specialties like radiolo...

Women make up half of the medical school graduates, but only a quarter of radiology residents. In this episode, Maddi and Jeff are joined by Amy Patel, MD and Shiva Yagobian, BS to go beyond the statistics and explore the social, institutional, and policy-level barriers that shape the "leaky pipeline" from training to leadership. Whether you're a trainee wondering where all the women...

As health systems and radiology practices continue to consolidate, education often ends up as collateral damage. In this episode, Charlotte Taylor, MD joins Jeff and Maddi to discuss how radiology educators can adapt - and even thrive - when clinical demands and financial pressures are rising. From incentive scorecards and creative teaching models to intentional early resource allocation to enable...

What happens when hackers meet PACS? Nothing good for patient care. Join us this week as Maddi and Jeff get insight from Po-Hao Chen, MD, MBA and Christoph Wald, MD, PhD, MBA on their brand-new ACR-SIIM white paper on radiology cybersecurity. We will explore ransomware, downtime drills, and the unglamorous but essential world of cyberhygiene. Read the full JACR manuscript: https://www.jacr.org/art...

Do labor unions really change the residency experience - or just the perception of it? This week, Maddi and Jeff explore radiology residents' perspectives on labor union participation with Erica Kinne, MD, Elliot Varney, MD, PhD, and Lars Grimm, MD based on their most recent research. From vacation days and housing stipends to duty hours and wellness, radiology residents weighed in on both the...

How can multidisciplinary teams improve lung cancer screening? What are the primary barriers to lung cancer screening and how can they be addressed? In this week's episode, Maddi and Jeff catch up with Lauren Groner, DO, MS and Rishikesh Dalal, MD, MPH about their research that used behavioral and implementation science to better understand lung cancer screening barriers and develop a strategy to...

Are radiologists following the playbook on what to do next when there is an incidental adrenal nodule on a lung cancer screening CT? Maddi and Jeff interview Aparna Singh, MD about her new study that shows radiologists aren't exactly consistent in handling these unexpected findings - sometimes over-reacting, sometimes under-reacting, and often skipping an important lab test entirely. There is...