The radiology job market in the Netherlands: which subspecialties and other skills are in demand?

Objectives: To evaluate the current job market for medical specialists in radiology and nuclear medicine (NM) in the Netherlands.

Methods: Vacancies posted for radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians in the Netherlands between December 2020 and February 2022 were collected and analyzed.

Results: A total of 157 vacancies (146 for radiologist and 11 for nuclear medicine physicians) were included. The most sought-after subspecialties were all-round (22%), abdominal (19%), and interventional radiology (14%), and 30% of vacancies preferred applicants with additional non-clinical skills (research, teaching, management, information and communications technology (ICT)/artificial intelligence (AI)). Non-academic hospitals significantly more frequently requested all-round radiologists (n = 31) than academic hospitals (n = 1) (p = 0.001), while the distribution of other requested subspecialties was not significantly different between non-academic and academic vacancies. Non-academic hospitals also significantly more frequently requested additional research tasks in their vacancies (n = 35) compared to academic hospitals (n = 4) (p = 0.011). There were non-significant trends for non-academic hospitals more frequently requesting teaching tasks in their vacancies (n =18) than academic hospitals (n = 1) (p = 0.051), and for non-academic hospitals more frequently asking for management skills (n = 11) than academic hospitals (n = 0) (p = 0.075).

Conclusion: All-round, abdominal, and interventional radiologists are most in demand on the job market in the Netherlands. All-round radiologists are particularly sought after by non-academic hospitals, whereas nuclear radiologists who completed the Dutch integrated NM and radiology residency seem to be welcomed by hospitals searching for a nuclear medicine specialist. Finally, non-clinical skills (research, teaching, management, ICT/AI) are commonly requested. These data can be useful for residents and developers of training curricula.

Clinical relevance statement: An overview of the radiology job market and the requested skills is important for residents, for those who seek work as a radiologist, and for those who are involved in the design and revision of residency programs.

Key Points:

Review of job vacancies over an extended period of time provides valuable information to residents and feedback to potentially improve radiology and nuclear medicine (NM) residency programs.

All-round radiologists are wanted in non-academic hospitals and nuclear radiologists (those who have completed an integrated NM-radiology curriculum) are welcomed by hospitals searching for nuclear medicine specialists in the Netherlands.

There is a need to train residents in important non-clinical skills, such as research and teaching, but also management and communications technology/artificial intelligence.