Actual and Future Employment for Radiologists in Belgium: Results of a Survey

Introduction: Belgium counts 1,888 active radiologists. This is an average of 16.2 radiologists per 100,000 people, which is slightly more than the European average of 12.7 per 100,000. Feedback from recently graduated residents suggests difficulties in finding a permanent staff member position and a high demand for dedicated profiles in radiology departments. To objectify this, the Young Radiologist Section (YRS) of the Belgian Society of Radiology (BSR) performed a survey of the radiology job market in Belgium.

Material and Methods: An anonymous survey was sent to recently graduated Belgian radiologists (2013–2018) and to the heads of all Belgian radiology departments.

Results: The majority of the responding graduates found a permanent staff member position as a radiologist within two years after graduation and around half of the respondents even before graduation (50% in the graduates 2018 and 57% in graduates of 2013–2017). However, a small portion of the responding graduates (8%) needed more than two years to find a staff member position.

Of the responding departments, 44% prefers to appoint a radiologist with extra training in one or more subspecialties. The top three of most desired subspecialties is: musculoskeletal imaging, interventional radiology and breast imaging.

Conclusion: Half of the responding graduates did not find a permanent staff member position before graduation. However, >90% found such a position within the first two years after graduation. There is a demand for dedicated profiles in almost half of the radiology departments.