Pediatric Radiology — Specialty Profile

Exploratory, not prescriptive. This profile blends hard data (pay, match rates, burnout, demographics, each sourced and dated) with generalizations and synthesized opinion about culture and "who fits." It's here to help you get curious and go find out for yourself, not to tell you who to become. Numbers marked ⟳ verify change every year; check the linked source before you quote one. Last reviewed: 2026-08-04.

Also called: peds rads, pediatric imaging. A 1-year ACGME-accredited fellowship entered after a diagnostic radiology residency, or now through a 15-month in-residency pathway. Organ systems: all of them, in patients from the fetus to the adolescent.

Subspecialty fellowship of Diagnostic Radiology.

The 30-second version

Pediatric radiology is the radiology subspecialty organized around a patient who is still being built, and its central discipline is deciding not to image. A child's tissues are more radiosensitive than an adult's and they have more remaining years for a radiation-induced cancer to develop, so every CT is a calculation rather than a reflex. That pushes the field toward ultrasound and MRI wherever they will answer the question, and it makes dose optimization a defining professional commitment rather than a compliance exercise. The diagnostic content is genuinely different too: congenital malformations, the tumors of childhood, non-accidental injury, and a normal appearance that changes month by month as a skeleton ossifies and an airway grows. It also carries an American Board of Radiology subspecialty certificate, which most radiology fellowships do not: the ACGME accredits six diagnostic radiology subspecialties, and abdominal and musculoskeletal radiology are among those that finish accredited training with no certificate at the end. The trade at the center of the field: a genuinely distinct diagnostic discipline with a real board, in a subspecialty that pays below its parent and lives at children's hospitals.

Quick dashboard (details and sources below)
Training after med school 6 years (1 intern year + 4 yr diagnostic radiology + 1 yr pediatric radiology fellowship)
Total from college start ~14 years (4 undergrad + 4 med school + 5 residency + 1 fellowship)
Training chain Med school (4) → Diagnostic Radiology (5) → 1 yr ACGME pediatric radiology fellowship → ABR pediatric radiology certificate
A second route A 15-month in-residency pathway, created with the Society for Pediatric Radiology, reaches the same certificate without a separate fellowship ⟳
Competitiveness Low. A recognized national shortage of pediatric radiologists, and fellowship capacity that exceeds demand ⟳
Typical full-time pay No pediatric radiology survey line. Parent radiology runs ~$550,000–$575,000; this sits below it ⟳
Pay vs. parent (general radiology) Below, on children's-hospital employment and payer mix rather than on the work ⟳
Lifestyle Reading-room based, strong schedule control, with fluoroscopy and procedures adding scheduled patient contact ⟳
Burnout No subspecialty figure. Parent radiology is 45.2% against a 41.9% all-physician baseline (AMA 2025), fifth of the nine specialties it names. Medscape 2024 reads it the same direction on its own scale, 51% against a 49% baseline. Above average on both, with real volume pressure ⟳
% women 31.0% of pediatric radiology fellows (ACGME AY2024–25); parent radiology 29.2% of residents ⟳
DO / IMG accessibility Gated behind radiology, historically reachable (15.0% DO, 11.4% IMG at PGY-2 in 2026), though the window is narrowing ⟳

What they actually do

Dose stewardship is the field's defining commitment. Children are more radiosensitive than adults and have more years ahead for a radiation-induced malignancy to appear, so pediatric radiologists systematically substitute ultrasound and MRI for CT where the question permits, and where CT is necessary they use protocols scaled to the child's size. This is not a minor technical adjustment; it shapes which modality is chosen for almost every clinical question.

Congenital and developmental disease is the diagnostic core. Congenital heart disease, airway and pulmonary malformations, gastrointestinal atresias and malrotation, genitourinary anomalies, and skeletal dysplasias, many of them detected before birth on fetal MRI and then followed after it.

The tumors of childhood are their own category: Wilms tumor, neuroblastoma, hepatoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and the brain tumors, staged and followed on protocols that differ from adult oncology.

Non-accidental injury is the most consequential reading in the field. Recognizing the pattern of fractures, their ages, and the injuries that do not fit the history is a radiologic diagnosis with legal and custodial consequences, made in coordination with child abuse pediatrics. Getting it wrong in either direction causes serious harm.

Fluoroscopy and procedures give the field patient contact that most of radiology lacks: upper GI studies for malrotation, contrast enemas including the therapeutic reduction of intussusception, voiding cystourethrograms, and image-guided biopsies and drainages at institutions without a separate pediatric interventional service.

Neonatal imaging is a daily service, with line and tube position, necrotizing enterocolitis, and the imaging of premature lungs read continuously for the intensive care unit.

Representative work: ultrasound as a first-line modality across the body · MRI in place of CT wherever the question permits · fetal MRI · fluoroscopic upper GI and contrast enema, including intussusception reduction · skeletal surveys for suspected non-accidental injury · pediatric oncologic staging and surveillance · neonatal chest and abdominal radiography · pediatric neuroimaging · dose-optimized CT protocol design · multidisciplinary conference participation.1

A day in the life: a reading room at a children's hospital, punctuated by fluoroscopy. The worklist is broad rather than deep, since a pediatric radiologist covers neuro, body, chest, musculoskeletal, and nuclear imaging in the same session, which is the opposite of the organ-system specialization the rest of radiology has moved toward. Fluoroscopy slots bring actual patients and their parents into the day. Multidisciplinary conference participation is heavy, since pediatric surgery, oncology, and the intensive care units all run imaging-centered rounds.

On call: genuine. Children's hospitals need overnight coverage, intussusception and testicular torsion are time-sensitive, and the neonatal intensive care unit generates continuous imaging.

The training path & time to completion

Medical school (4 yrs) → diagnostic radiology residency (1 intern year + 4 years) → 1-year ACGME-accredited pediatric radiology fellowship → ABR subspecialty certification in pediatric radiology.12

  • Accreditation and certification are separate things, and this cluster routinely conflates them. The ACGME accredits six diagnostic radiology subspecialties: abdominal radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, neuroendovascular intervention, neuroradiology, nuclear radiology, and pediatric radiology. Breast imaging, cardiothoracic radiology, and emergency radiology fellowships have no accredited programs.3
  • The certificate list is a different and shorter one. The ABR's diagnostic radiology subspecialty certificates are neuroradiology, nuclear radiology, pediatric radiology, and pain medicine, which is not an imaging subspecialty.4 So abdominal and musculoskeletal fellows train in accredited programs and end with no subspecialty certificate, and that gap is the structural fact that actually separates this field from most of its siblings.
  • There is now a second route to that certificate, and it is new. The ABR, working with the Society for Pediatric Radiology, created a 15-month in-residency pathway: a resident applies at least six months before graduation with an individualized plan, completes 12 core pediatric rotations plus up to three electives spanning pediatric neuroradiology, body, fetal, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and nuclear imaging across all ages from fetal to adolescent, and is overseen throughout by a preceptor holding ABR pediatric certification. Residents completing it do not need a separate pediatric radiology fellowship to sit the exam, though they may still pursue another fellowship afterward.2 ⟳
  • Total from the start of college: about 14 years by the fellowship route, and about 13 by the in-residency pathway, which is a genuine saving.

Why the ABR built the second route matters. A flexible pathway that removes a fellowship year from the requirement is what a board does when it wants more people in a subspecialty, and pediatric radiology has a recognized national shortage.5 If you are a radiology resident who already knows you want this, the in-residency pathway is worth investigating early, because the application closes six months before you graduate.

How competitive is it?

This is not a competitive fellowship, and the field has measured why. In the ACR/RBMA workforce survey for 2023, 74% of pediatric radiologists and 64% of practice decision-makers reported being understaffed in pediatric radiology, and capacity exceeds applicant interest.5 ⟳

The reasons are the familiar pediatric pattern:

  • The pay is below the parent field, in a specialty where general practice already pays very well.
  • The jobs are at children's hospitals, which limits geography sharply.
  • Radiology has moved toward organ-system subspecialization, and pediatric radiology asks you to be broad instead, which cuts against the direction of the field.
  • The upstream residency has become competitive and is tightening, having swung back to genuinely competitive for US MD applicants.6

The consequence favors a trainee. A shortage subspecialty with a board certificate, an accredited fellowship, and now a shortened pathway is an unusually favorable position for anyone who wants the work.

The honest read. If you want it, you can have it, and you will be recruited. The decision is about geography and compensation rather than about getting in.

Board: ABR subspecialty certification in pediatric radiology, reachable by fellowship or by the 15-month in-residency pathway.2

Compensation — the robust version

No compensation survey isolates pediatric radiology. This reasons from the parent field and the pediatric pattern that recurs throughout this site.

The parent anchor. Diagnostic radiology runs roughly $550,000–$575,000 total compensation, with associates at $350,000–$525,000, a median around $544,000–$590,000, and partners reaching $700,000 to $1.2 million and above.6 ⟳

Pediatric radiology sits below that, and the mechanisms are the same three that appear in every pediatric subspecialty on this site:

  • The payer mix. Children are disproportionately covered by Medicaid, which reimburses below commercial rates.
  • The employment model. Children's hospitals are nonprofit institutions that do not offer the private-group partnership track where radiology's high figures come from. The partner numbers above belong to private practice, and this subspecialty largely cannot reach them.
  • Study mix and time per study. Pediatric imaging involves more ultrasound and MRI and less high-volume CT, and a pediatric study frequently takes longer to protocol, perform, and read than its adult equivalent.

What partly offsets it. The shortage is real leverage, and a children's hospital that cannot recruit has to compete. Teleradiology has also begun to reach pediatric subspecialty reading, which opens some geographic and income flexibility that did not previously exist.

Keep the comparison honest. Below the radiology median still means very well paid by the standards of medicine as a whole. The gap being described is against other radiologists. The sibling profiles show the identical pattern: pediatric urology, pediatric otolaryngology, and pediatric orthopedics all sit below their adult parents for structurally identical reasons.7

Limited-data caveat: no compensation survey isolates pediatric radiology, so the positioning is a structural inference from payer mix, employment model, and study mix. The parent distribution is sourced. Benchmark against children's-hospital and academic radiology salary scales. ⟳

Lifestyle

  • Reading-room based with strong schedule control, which the parent profile identifies as radiology's structural advantage along with the best remote-work options in medicine.6
  • Fluoroscopy brings patient contact back, which distinguishes this subspecialty from most of radiology and which people either value as variety or experience as an interruption.
  • Call is genuine. Children's hospitals need overnight coverage and several pediatric emergencies are time-critical.
  • Remote work is less available than in general radiology, because fluoroscopy and procedures require physical presence, though subspecialty teleradiology is growing.
  • Geographic flexibility is poor. The jobs are at children's hospitals. This is the field's most binding practical constraint.
  • The breadth is a lifestyle factor in itself. Covering every organ system means a wider knowledge base to maintain than an organ-focused radiologist carries.

Lifestyle rating: 4/5. Strong schedule control and reading-room work, deducted for genuine call, reduced remote flexibility, and a narrow job map.

Wellbeing — the part to take seriously

No pediatric-radiology-specific wellbeing data exists, and both burnout surveys stop at broad specialties, so what follows is inherited from the parent rather than measured here. The AMA's 2025 Organizational Biopsy puts radiology at 45.2% against a 41.9% all-physician baseline — the fifth-highest of the nine specialties it names, and the reading this page leads with, because AMA publishes a radiology row, is free, and can be opened directly. Medscape's 2024 report reads 51% against its own 49% all-physician average, the upper third of its table. Both put radiology above average, and both name volume and RVU pressure as the real strain.6 ⟳

The distinctive weight is non-accidental injury. A pediatric radiologist reads skeletal surveys knowing that the finding may remove a child from a home, or that missing it may return a child to danger. Both errors are catastrophic and the reading is frequently not clear-cut. Practitioners describe this as the hardest part of the job, and it is a responsibility no other radiology subspecialty carries in the same form.

The compensating satisfaction is that most children are fine. A large share of pediatric imaging is normal, and delivering that to a frightened family is a real good. Intussusception reduction is the field's showpiece: a diagnosis and a cure in the same fluoroscopy suite, with a child who arrived screaming going home well.

The oncology and intensive care work carries the usual weight, and pediatric deaths are part of the practice at any children's hospital.

The isolation question is milder than in most of radiology, because fluoroscopy, multidisciplinary conference, and the clinician relationships at a children's hospital pull the pediatric radiologist out of the reading room more than an adult subspecialist.

Career longevity is good, with no physical demands and a practice that can shift toward reading and away from call over time.

Who's in the field (demographics)

The ACGME publishes a sex breakdown for pediatric radiology fellows. There is no subspecialty-specific DO or IMG figure, so those two inherit radiology directionally.

  • Women: 31.0% of pediatric radiology fellows in academic year 2024–25, 18 of 58, against 29.2% of diagnostic radiology residents on the same table and 27% of radiologists in practice.6 ⟳
  • DO: parent radiology has historically been reachable, at 15.0% DO of the PGY-2 positions it filled in the 2026 Main Match, though the parent profile notes the window is narrowing as the specialty becomes more competitive.6 ⟳
  • IMG: 11.4% at PGY-2 in 2026, historically one of the more accessible high-paying specialties.6 ⟳
  • Underrepresented in medicine: no subspecialty figure. Children's hospitals serve a Medicaid-heavy and substantially more diverse population than the radiology workforce reading their studies. ⟳

Culture, personality & the online stereotypes

Who gravitates here: radiology residents who liked children and liked breadth. The field selects hard for people who are willing to be generalists in an era of subspecialization, who value the diagnostic distinctiveness of pediatric disease, and who do not mind fluoroscopy and parents. It is academic and children's-hospital based by construction. As always, plenty of people in the field do not fit any single mold.

The stereotypes. Community perception rather than fact, each with a kernel and an unfair edge:

  • "Small adults." The thing pediatric radiologists most object to. Children's normal anatomy changes with age, their diseases are different, and their radiosensitivity changes the modality choice.
  • "You take a pay cut to read more slowly." Broadly accurate on the structure, and the field answers with the diagnostic content rather than disputing it.
  • "The last generalists in radiology." Fair and increasingly a point of pride, since a pediatric radiologist covers every organ system while the rest of the specialty narrows.
  • "Nobody wants to do the skeletal surveys." True, and they are among the most consequential studies anyone reads.

What people say online (synthesized and paraphrased, not quotes): across physician and resident forums, pediatric radiology reads as respected, needed, and financially avoided. The dominant recurring theme is compensation and geography together: posters note that the jobs are at children's hospitals, that they pay below private general radiology, and that both facts are structural rather than negotiable. A second thread is the breadth, discussed positively by people in the field as the thing that keeps the work interesting and negatively by those who prefer to go deep. A third, more recent, is the ABR's 15-month pathway, welcomed as a sensible response to the shortage and discussed practically in terms of the six-month application deadline. A fourth is non-accidental injury, discussed seriously and with evident weight. The tone is warm and clear-eyed.

Voices from the field. Paraphrased from published sources, with links to the originals:

  • The American Board of Radiology, working with the Society for Pediatric Radiology, created a 15-month in-residency pathway to pediatric radiology certification as a flexible alternative to the traditional fellowship and clinical practice routes, requiring 12 core pediatric rotations and up to three electives across pediatric neuroradiology, body, fetal, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and nuclear imaging, application at least six months before residency graduation, and oversight by a preceptor holding ABR pediatric subspecialty certification.2
  • The ACGME accredits six diagnostic radiology subspecialties: abdominal radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, neuroendovascular intervention, neuroradiology, nuclear radiology, and pediatric radiology. Breast imaging, cardiothoracic radiology, and emergency radiology fellowships are not among them.3

Why people choose it / why people leave

Why choose it: a genuinely distinct diagnostic discipline rather than adult imaging at smaller scale · one of only three ACGME-accredited radiology fellowships and one of only three ABR subspecialty certificates · breadth across every organ system in an era of narrowing · fluoroscopy and procedures, which restore patient contact radiology usually lacks · intussusception reduction, a diagnosis and cure in one sitting · a recognized shortage, so you will be wanted · a new 15-month pathway that can save a year.

Why leave or avoid it: pay below the radiology median, with the private-partnership tier structurally unavailable · a job map limited to children's hospitals · genuine overnight call · less remote-work flexibility than general radiology · non-accidental injury reading, which is consequential and unpleasant · breadth that means a wider knowledge base to maintain.

Best fit if: pediatric disease genuinely interests you as a distinct subject · you prefer breadth to organ-system depth · you want a board certificate and an accredited fellowship · you can be flexible about geography · you do not mind fluoroscopy and parents.

Not for you if: you want radiology's income ceiling, which is in private partnership · you need geographic freedom · you want maximum remote flexibility · non-accidental injury casework would weigh on you · you prefer to specialize narrowly.

The FLI angle — Pediatric radiology for first-gen, low-income & immigrant students

Where it fits FLI realities well:

  • Radiology has historically been one of the more accessible high-paying specialties, at 15.0% DO and 11.4% IMG of the PGY-2 positions it filled in 2026, and this fellowship is undersubscribed.6 That combination remains favorable, though the parent profile warns the residency window is narrowing.
  • The new 15-month pathway can save you a year of trainee income if you decide early, which is a direct financial benefit and the kind of thing that matters when people depend on you.2
  • PSLF fits well. Children's hospitals and academic medical centers are nonprofit qualifying employers and this field's job market sits almost entirely inside them, which is unusual in radiology where the high-earning route is private partnership and disqualifies you.
  • The shortage is leverage. A subspecialty that cannot recruit enough people gives a new attending real negotiating position and real choice of institution.
  • The income remains high in absolute terms even below the radiology median.6

Risks to name honestly:

  • The residency is tightening. Radiology has swung back to genuinely competitive for US MD applicants, so the historical DO and IMG accessibility should not be assumed to hold.6 Plan accordingly rather than relying on old figures.
  • The pay gap is real and structural. The private-partnership tier that produces radiology's $700,000-plus figures is not available in a children's hospital. Model that against general radiology before committing, and read it alongside the Money section on debt and specialty choice.
  • Geography is the binding constraint, and it is often the thing FLI students most want to control. If living near family in a specific place is non-negotiable, general radiology preserves that and this does not.
  • Decide early if you want the 15-month pathway, because the application closes six months before residency graduation and it requires program director and institutional approval.

Bottom line for FLI: a shortage subspecialty with a real board, an accredited fellowship, a shortened pathway that can save a year, and an employment base that is almost entirely PSLF-eligible, in a specialty that has historically been among the more open high-paying routes in medicine. What you pay is a narrow map and a real gap against private general radiology. If pediatric disease interests you, this is one of the more favorable structural positions available.

Fun facts

  • The central skill is knowing when not to image. Children's radiosensitivity and their remaining years make every CT a calculation, which pushes the field toward ultrasound and MRI.
  • Normal is a moving target. Ossification centers appear and fuse on a schedule, so what counts as a normal radiograph changes month by month through childhood.
  • It is occasionally therapeutic. Fluoroscopic reduction of intussusception diagnoses and cures the problem in the same sitting.
  • Six diagnostic radiology subspecialties are ACGME-accredited and this is one of them. Abdominal and musculoskeletal radiology are accredited too and end in no board certificate, while breast imaging and cardiothoracic radiology are on neither list.34
  • The board built a shortcut. A 15-month in-residency pathway now reaches the same certificate without a separate fellowship year, which is what a board does when it wants more people in a subspecialty.2
  • It is the last generalist corner of radiology, covering every organ system while the rest of the specialty narrows.

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Clinical scope and fellowship content — dose stewardship and modality substitution, congenital and developmental disease, pediatric oncology imaging, non-accidental injury, fluoroscopy including intussusception reduction, fetal MRI, and neonatal imaging. Composite of published US pediatric radiology fellowship curricula: Vanderbilt Radiology Fellowships (https://www.vumc.org/radiology/radiology-fellowships), Columbia Department of Radiology advanced fellowship training (https://www.columbiaradiology.org/education/advanced-fellowship-training), and Duke Department of Radiology fellowships (https://radiology.duke.edu/education/fellowships), accessed 2026. ↩ ↩2

  2. The 15-month pathway and ABR certification. American Board of Radiology, "Focus on DR: New 15-Month Pathway Offers Flexibility for Pediatric Radiology Training and Certification" (April 2025) — created in partnership with the Society for Pediatric Radiology as a flexible alternative to the traditional fellowship and clinical practice pathways; requires 12 core pediatric rotations and up to three electives covering radiography, fluoroscopy, ultrasound, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine and interventional procedures, spanning pediatric neuroradiology, body, fetal, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and nuclear/molecular imaging across all ages from fetal through adolescent; residents apply at least six months before residency graduation with an individualized program plan requiring program director and institutional approval, overseen by a preceptor holding ABR pediatric subspecialty certification; residents completing the pathway do not require a pediatric radiology fellowship for exam eligibility. https://www.theabr.org/beam/focus-on-dr-april-2025/ ⟳ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Which radiology fellowships the ACGME accredits. ACGME, Data Resource Book, Academic Year 2024-2025, the Radiology-diagnostic block, whose subspecialty rows are abdominal radiology (13 programs, 56 fellows), musculoskeletal radiology (23, 36), neuroendovascular intervention (5, 8), neuroradiology (93, 309), nuclear radiology (19, 15), and pediatric radiology (48, 58). The book counts accredited programs, so a row in it is accreditation. Breast imaging, cardiothoracic radiology and emergency radiology have no row. https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/pfassets/publicationsbooks/2024-2025_acgme_databook_document.pdf Corrected 2026-08-17: this page said in five places that the ACGME accredits only three diagnostic radiology fellowships, and it named abdominal and musculoskeletal radiology as its non-accredited examples. The book gives six, and those two are on the list. The claim had rested on a composite of academic radiology department fellowship listings, including the University of Michigan's, which cannot enumerate what the ACGME accredits, while the book that can was already cited on this page as 6. Three other radiology profiles carried the same premise and pointed at this one as their evidence. What survives is the certification half, which is the sharper fact: abdominal and musculoskeletal fellowships are accredited and end in no ABR subspecialty certificate. The footnote also said "nuclear medicine" where the diagnostic radiology subspecialty is nuclear radiology; nuclear medicine is a separate primary specialty with its own board. ⟳ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Which radiology subspecialties the American Board of Radiology certifies. ABMS, American Board of Radiology board page: under Diagnostic Radiology it lists four subspecialties, Neuroradiology, Nuclear Radiology, Pain Medicine, and Pediatric Radiology, and states that a diagnostic radiologist wishing to specialize in one of them must certify in Diagnostic Radiology first. Pain medicine is a pain-management certificate rather than an imaging one. Abdominal radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, breast imaging, and cardiothoracic radiology appear nowhere on the list. https://www.abms.org/board/american-board-of-radiology/ (accessed 2026-08-17). ⟳ ↩ ↩2

  5. The pediatric radiologist shortage, measured. Farmakis SG, Rubin E, Parris D, Tarrant J, Bulas D, Barth RA, "2022 and 2023 ACR/RBMA Workforce Surveys: Focus on Pediatric Radiology," Journal of the American College of Radiology 2025;22(6):670–674, DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2025.02.050, PubMed 40081441 (https://www.jacr.org/article/S1546-1440(25)00155-3/abstract; the figures below are also carried, with denominators, by AuntMinnie, https://www.auntminnie.com/subspecialties/pediatric-radiology/article/15739782/pediatric-radiology-continues-to-face-workforce-shortage). On the 2023 survey, 74% of rank-and-file respondents identifying as pediatric radiologists (48 of 65) and 64% of practice decision-makers (11 of 17) reported being understaffed in pediatric radiology, and 10% (5 of 47) said they were likely to retire by the end of 2024, a higher share than the all-respondent 8%. The earlier round is Farmakis SG, Tarrant J, Parris D, Markovich D, Rubin E, Barth RA, "The 2021 ACR and Radiology Business Management Association Workforce Survey: Subspecialty Focus on Pediatric Radiology," JACR 2024;21(5):836–839, PubMed 38072222, and the field's own agenda-setting piece is Farmakis SG, Chertoff JD, Barth RA, "Pediatric Radiologist Workforce Shortage: Action Steps to Resolve," JACR 2021;18(12):1675–1677, PubMed 34547272. Read the frames with the numbers: these are practice-level survey perceptions on small subspecialty denominators, not a vacancy census, and the same survey series found pediatric radiology named a top-three hiring need by only 11% of decision-makers in 2023. Corrected 2026-08-17: this footnote previously cited nothing but unnamed "US academic pediatric imaging fellowship program materials" with no URL, and the shortage it supports is this page's load-bearing structural claim, asserted in the dashboard, the training section, the competitiveness section, the compensation offset, Fun facts and the FLI negotiating-leverage bullet. Peer-reviewed ACR/RBMA workforce surveys measure it, and they are now the citation. ⟳ ↩ ↩2

  6. Parent-field figures: diagnostic radiology typical comp ~$550k–$575k, with associates ~$350k–$525k, median ~$544k–$590k, and partners $700k–$1.2M+; 5 years of training (1 intern + 4 DR) and ~13 years from the start of college, with fellowship near-universal; competitiveness high and rising, having swung back to genuinely competitive for US MDs; burnout ~36% (2022 data), mid-pack, with real volume and RVU pressure; 27% women practicing and 29.2% of residents; ~14% DO and ~11% IMG at PGY-2, historically reachable but narrowing; strong schedule control and the best remote options in medicine. See the diagnostic radiology profile on this site for the full version. Sources for the non-pay figures above: women in practice, AAMC, "Women are changing the face of medicine in America" (2022 data), https://www.aamc.org/news/women-are-changing-face-medicine-america . Women in training, ACGME, Data Resource Book, Academic Year 2024-2025, Table C.21, https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/pfassets/publicationsbooks/2024-2025_acgme_databook_document.pdf , which puts diagnostic radiology residents at 29.2% women in academic year 2024-25. The same table gives pediatric radiology fellows as 18 of 58, 31.0% women, in academic year 2024-25. Corrected 2026-08-17: the dashboard said "no published subspecialty figure," the demographics section opened by saying no pediatric-radiology-specific data was located, and this footnote hedged that the absence was "not established here" rather than "not published." The figure is in the table this footnote had already quoted for the parent field, one row below it. It also makes the inference that followed unnecessary: the page predicted pediatric subspecialties run above their parents, and the measurement is 31.0% against 29.2%. Correction 2026-08-13: this page previously carried the parent resident share at ~27–28%, in the Quick dashboard and in Who's in the field. DO and IMG shares, NRMP, Results and Data: 2026 Main Residency Match, May 2026, Table 2, https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Main_Match_Results_and_Data-2026.pdf , which gives 15.0% DO and 11.4% IMG of the PGY-2 diagnostic radiology positions that filled in 2026: of 1,066 filled, 144 DO seniors and 16 DO graduates, and 30 US IMGs and 91 non-US IMGs. Corrected 2026-08-17: the dashboard, both demographics bullets and the FLI accessibility bullet carried "~14% DO" and "~11% IMG," which this footnote had already recorded as superseded while the body kept printing the old pair. The correction runs slightly in the reader's favor: radiology is a point more DO-accessible than the page said. Corrected 2026-08-17: the compensation caveat said no survey line "was located," which makes our own searching the subject of the sentence. It now says what the page says fourteen lines earlier, that no compensation survey isolates pediatric radiology. Burnout, Medscape Physician Burnout & Depression Report 2024 (n=9,226, fielded July–October 2023), which is paywalled and is relayed here through Healthgrades Pro (https://resources.healthgrades.com/pro/the-most-and-least-burned-out-physicians-by-specialty) and Advisory Board (https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2024/01/31/physician-burnout); both put radiology at 51%, well above the ~36% carried here, which is an older figure with no current source behind it. ⟳ A second, freely readable instrument: the AMA's 2025 Organizational Biopsy (~19,000 physicians, 38 states) puts Radiology at 45.2% against a 41.9% all-physician average, https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/these-9-physician-specialties-report-highest-burnout-rates. It is primary where Medscape reaches this page through relays, and its baseline sits seven points below Medscape's 49% — the two never belong in the same sentence, and a cross-specialty rank must name which survey it comes from. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  7. The pediatric-subspecialty pay pattern: pediatric urology, pediatric otolaryngology, and pediatric orthopedics all sit below their adult parent fields, with payer mix and nonprofit hospital employment rather than the patients as the mechanism in each case. See the pediatric urology, pediatric otolaryngology, and pediatric orthopedics profiles on this site, each of which carries its own compensation sources. ⟳ ↩

Researched with AI assistance and reviewed by hand. How this site is made