"Fifty shades, perhaps?" I wanted to reply. I know.... Bad joke.
Despite my inane thoughts, there really are MANY shades of grey in radiology, or so I have learned during my current radiology elective. Bone, water, air, and fat all have different shades of grey depending on which type of imaging is being used. Moreover, radiologists constantly change the contrast of an image in order to detect any changes in density, which could indicate the presence of some sort of pathology.
I was amazed to watch one resident scan for lung nodules in a CT scan (like the image shown below) and he picked out tiny little grey spots that seemed to me to be very much like other grey spots on the image. Nope. He could tell the difference between which grey spot was likely a cancer and which one was just lung tissue. I sort of laughed when he pointed to these spots because, to me, there was no way to see the difference between them.
Hence, I guess that's why radiology is a 5-year residency. It takes a long time to "see" the right things. On an interesting tangent, see if you can find the image of a gorilla in the CT scan to the right. I DID NOT SEE IT!! But...apparently 83% of radiologists missed it too, so maybe I shouldn't feel so bad.
And read the article below (side note: I've actually watched the gorilla video that they talk about during a college class and totally did not see the gorilla either). Apparently, I should stay away from radiology as a career choice.
NPR: Why Even Radiologist Can Miss a Gorilla Hiding in Plain Sight
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