I am deeply honored and grateful to serve as the 123rd president of the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS). As you know, our society is the oldest radiology society, and we are widely regarded as the education society. 

As a medical student, I started perusing the radiology journals; they were on library shelves back then, and there was the gray one and the yellow one. I loved the one with the yellow cover, the American Journal of Roentgenology, and I have ever since. Indeed, the ARRS was the first radiology society that I became aware of. I joined the society as a radiology resident, and I have been a member ever since. 

Now, as ARRS president, I encourage all of our learners to join. 

Left to right: Erik K. Paulson, Gary J. Whitman, and Deborah A. Baumgarten on stage during the Opening Ceremony of the 2023 ARRS Annual Meeting in Honolulu, HI.

It takes a team to run the society, and we have one. I would like to thank the hardworking and dedicated members of our Executive Council. Also, I would like to thank the Executive Committee of the Council, consisting of president-elect Angelisa M. Paladin, MD; vice president Deborah A. Baumgarten, MD, MPH; and secretary-treasurer Christine M. Glastonbury, MD.

Left to right: Nadja Kadom, Courtney Coursey Moreno, Christine M. Glastonbury, and Angelisa M. Paladin enjoy front-row seating at the Hawaii Convention Center.

A special and large thanks to outgoing ARRS president Gary J. Whitman, MD, who did a fabulous job in many respects. 

Dr. Paulson receives the ARRS presidential gavel from Dr. Whitman on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

In addition, Susan B. Cappitelli, MBA, CAE, and her excellent ARRS staff deserve robust recognition. And thanks to all of our almost 20,000 dedicated members, who we serve, of course.

Importantly, I would like to thank my family and my wife, Kathy Merritt, who has been a rock of support throughout my entire career. 

Over the last few years, we in radiology have faced incredible and unprecedented challenges in our day-to-day work, and this is true regardless of our specific work environments. Why? The pandemic, which has touched everyone, has had a profound impact on the workplace in general. It has changed how we work, approach work, and shaped our opinions of work. And it is not just the pandemic—it’s other phenomena: political polarization, social unrest, changes in home life and education, remote work. The pandemic and its effects led to a great resignation, and as a result, many of our sites are now understaffed. One in five doctors plan to leave their current practice in two years; two in five nurses plan to leave their practice in two years; one in three doctors expect to work less next year. 

Health care workers have far greater demands now than in the pre-pandemic times. The delivery of health care has changed dramatically and quickly over the last few years. There is unprecedented “consumerism” in medicine now with a mandate to improve and rethink patient access, to provide more and better mental health services to our populations, and to have transparent pricing. 

In radiology, whether you work in a large or small private practice, remotely by yourself, an academic department in a medical center, or part of a mega radiology practice, there has been a palpable shortage of radiologists. This shortage is fueled by a trend toward exclusive subspecialization with declining numbers of radiologists who can handle general work, ever-increasing expectations for service to our patients, referring doctors, hospitals, and health care systems. We have been stretched thinner. There is a desire by radiologists to have more flexible work hours or, simply stated, to work less hours overall compared to years past. There is a concern about what role artificial intelligence and machine learning will play; will we be displaced? Reimbursement has been decreasing relative to inflation and compared with other specialties. As a result of these realities and others, there is clear evidence of burnout among radiologists, similar to health care workers in other specialties. On top of that, sometimes, we find that the leaders in our organizations may be distant, or too corporate, or suffer from “toxic positivity,” which may be worse than “toxic negativity.”

There has been a steady headwind for years, but it now feels like a gale force wind. And a lot of this feels out of our control. 

So, goodness, how do we manage all of this?

Hold on, let’s take a breath. One strategy that we can embrace and control is to develop a culture of teams within our workplaces. In fact, I have titled this InPractice series “The Teamwork Imperative” because we must establish teamwork as a core value within the radiology workforce. I believe that if we foster a culture of teams, we can mitigate and shield ourselves from some of these headwinds. During my term as your ARRS president, future installments of “The Teamwork Imperative” here in InPractice will feature specific thoughts on this subject, borrowing some thoughts from the game of basketball’s great coaches. 

Please stay tuned!