RSNA News - September 2004

Private Practitioner Touts Value of Academic Radiology

I would not be as good a clinical radiologist without my academic background. It taught me the value of research and keeping up to date.
— Thomas R. McCauley, M.D.

Thomas R. McCauley, M.D.

1992-1994 RSNA Research Scholar

Thomas R. McCauley, M.D., sees the big picture when it comes to the value of academics and research. "There is an exponential impact on patient care," he says. "In clinical medicine, I treat my patients. When I teach, my students learn and then use that information to treat their patients. When I perform and publish research, thousands of physicians learn new information to help treat their patients."

Dr. McCauley may think he's left full-time academics, but he always thinks like a teacher and a researcher.

Today, the 1992-1994 RSNA Research & Education Foundation Research Scholar works in private practice for Radiology Consultants, P.C., in New Haven, Conn. He is also a clinical associate professor of diagnostic radiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, teaching MR physics and clinical topics to residents and fellows.

Literature Research Techniques

As an RSNA Research Scholar, Dr. McCauley was the principal investigator of "Assessment of Peripheral Vascular Disease with Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Flow Measurement and Spectroscopy."

"The RSNA Research Scholarship got my academic career going. It was very helpful because it gave me time to do in-depth research, especially as a junior attending," he says. "I could do the time-consuming work of vascular imaging and quantification of flow. As a junior investigator, I got to work with the physics group at Yale, and that's something most young investigators would never have the time to do."

Dr. McCauley says one of the primary benefits of his scholarship was learning how to conduct literature searches. "I learned excellent research habits early on including how to look things up and how to weed through the volumes of material. The ability to find information in the literature quickly is not only important for my academic work, but also is invaluable for my clinical work," he says.

Dr. McCauley uses these techniques in his other role an associate editor of MR imaging for Radiology. "As I review submissions to Radiology, I ask myself, 'How do you make a good project or conduct a good study? Is it written well? Is the research designed well? Does the paper help me understand scientific methods better? Is it a novel study?'"

Shirley McCarthy, M.D., a professor of diagnostic radiology and obstetrics/gynecology at Yale, is one of Dr. McCauley's clinical mentors. "Tom is a great guy. He is a very dedicated doctor. He is very knowledgeable in his MR techniques. He's highly ethical and conscientious," she says.

Concerns for the Future of Radiology

Two years ago, after 12 years in full-time academics, Dr. McCauley took a position in private practice. He says he had to look at his whole life, especially his time commitments, his family and financing college for his three children. He says he felt torn because he enjoys the academic work so much.

"Unfortunately, changes in healthcare reimbursement and the academic environment have increased the time demands on academic radiologists, decreased time available for research, and decreased financial support in many academic departments. Radiology must work to figure out how to solve this problem in the future because research and teaching are the foundation for clinical radiology," Dr. McCauley says.

As for young radiologists planning a career in private practice, Dr. McCauley suggests they spend a lot of time in academics before going into private practice. "I would not be as good a clinical radiologist without my academic background. It taught me the value of research and keeping up to date."

Dr. McCauley received his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. He earned his medical degree and completed his internship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, N.Y. He conducted his residency in radiology at New England Deaconess Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston and was a body MR imaging fellow at Yale.