Contrast and Clarity with the JACR

This September JACR may be short and sweet, but it's packed with surprisingly big ideas.

This month's TLDR tackles:

• Where diagnostic errors really happen
• Whether radiology AI actually pays for itself
• What a breast biopsy needle shortage can teach us about resilience
• How radiology should prepare for the World Cup and Olympics
• Plus: AI disclosure in scientific publishing, smarter radiation dose benchmarking, and a timely look at mater...

Report turnaround time is easy to track - and faster certainly feels better. But does a faster report actually mean better patient care? And what happens when speed becomes a benchmark tied to physician performance and payment?

In this episode of Contrast & Clarity, Nadja Kadom, MD joins us to discuss her JACR review article examining the evidence (or lack thereof) behind national turnaround-time benchmarks - and why uniform thr...

What happens when radiology simply can't read any faster?

For nearly a decade, radiologists managed to absorb rising imaging volumes, increasing complexity, and a growing workforce shortage while keeping turnaround times remarkably stable. We worked harder, read faster, picked up more shifts, and squeezed out the slack that once existed in the system.

Then something changed.

In this episode, Maddi and Jeff are joined by Eric Christen...

The August issue of the JACR is packed with big questions - and in this month's TLDR, we read it so you don't have to.

Join Maddi as she breaks down some of the interesting papers and ideas, including:

🤖 AI that transforms images—and what it might accidentally erase

🩻 The growing radiologist workforce shortage

🧠 How AI should change the way we train radiologists

🎯 Smarter cancer screening and patient foll...

Preference signaling was supposed to make the radiology Match smarter: fewer applications, less uncertainty, and a more efficient process for both applicants and programs. But did it actually work?

In this episode of Contrast & Clarity, Maddi and Jeff are joined by Christopher Keshishian, MD to unpack new data examining more than 1,300 matched radiology applicants across seven Match cycles. The results are surprising: applicants...

What do radiology turnaround times, AI-powered software development, MRI helium shortages, and the future of academic radiology all have in common? They are all shaping the future of our specialty - and they are all in this month's JACR issue!

This TLDR episode highlights the newest articles that will make you think, challenge your assumptions, and may even change your practice. Skip the stack of journal article and get insights th...

Think matching into diagnostic radiology is all about Step 2 scores and publications? Think again.

Behind every successful applicant is something far less obvious: strategy. The rules have changed: preference signaling, virtual interviews, and application inflation. Every cycle brings a new layer to the game - and many applicants are still playing by last year's rules.

In this episode, Maddi and Jeff pull back the curtain on what ac...

BI-RADS isn't just getting an update -it's setting up a new foundation for the future of breast imaging.

The first major BI-RADS update in more than a decade has arrived - and it's much more than a terminology refresh. BI-RADS v2025 reflects how breast imaging has evolved, bringing greater consistency across modalities while supporting a future for more personalized breast cancer screening and care.

In this episode, Maddi and Fatima...

Healthcare policy doesn't have to be boring - and it definitely isn't when it shapes the future of radiology.

In this episode, Maddi and Jeff are joined by Robert Optican, MD, FACR to break down the six legislative and regulatory issues every radiologist should know, from AI reimbursement and Medicare payment reform to the ROOT Act, the No Surprises Act, and the growing wave of AI regulation. Discover how today's policy decisions wi...

June TLDR: What actually matters this month?

Welcome back to TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) - the monthly series from Contrast & Clarity where we break down the entire monthly JACR issue into the insights that actually matter.

This month's episode includes:

• AI that helps (and where it falls short) in lung and breast cancer screening
• Patient preference of lay-friendly report summaries
• Venture capital in radiology
• Workforce and turn...

What if one of the most valuable skills in medicine is being able to say the simple two-letter word: no?

For many radiologists, saying no can feel harder than taking overnight call, joining another committee, or agreeing to "just one more project." Somewhere along the way, medicine has turned being busy into a badge of honor - and many of us have become experts at overcommitting ourselves.

In this episode, Maddi and Jeff discuss th...

It can be difficult to find the time to read an entire JACR issue cover to cover!

Welcome back to TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) - the monthly series from Contrast & Clarity where we break down the entire monthly JACR issue into the insights that actually matter.

In this month's TLDR episode, Maddi and Jeff tackle questions like:

• Are we overreacting to pediatric CT use?
• Should radiologists be meeting patients over video?
• Are we re...

For years, the AI conversation in radiology has focused on one question:

Will AI replace radiologists?

But what if we've been asking the wrong question this whole time?

In this episode of Contrast & Clarity with the JACR, Maddi and Jeff sit down with Tessa Cook, MD, PhD to explore one of the biggest unsolved challenges in healthcare AI:

Who watches the algorithms after they are deployed?

AI models don't behave like CT scanners or...

Medicine has a fascinating business model: Take a group of high-achieving perfectionists, lock them in a dark reading room, make every decision high stakes, and then act surprised when everyone develops imposter syndrome.

So for the final installment of Artifacts of the Mind series, Maddi and Jeff decided it was time to stop simply identifying the problem...and finally ask the question every healthcare worker is secretly thinking: ...

What's the one word that medicine avoids at all costs?

Failure.

In Part 3 of the Artifacts of the Mind series, we stop whispering about imposter syndrome...and start confronting the culture that fuels it: perfectionism. This episode widens the lens. Maddi and Jeff talk with David Fessell, MD and Frank J. Lexa, MD MBA about perfection culture and how the illusion of infallibility doesn't protect us - it holds us back. Because in medi...

It can difficult to find the time to read an entire JACR issue cover to cover!

Welcome to TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) - a new monthly series from Contrast & Clarity where we break down the entire monthly JACR issue into the insights that actually matter.

This month: Sustainability in Radiology.

Because here's the reality - imaging isn't exactly carbon-neutral. Between energy-hungry scanners, contrast waste, and high-throughput wo...

In part 2 of Artifacts of the Mind, we flip the script: what if imposter syndrome isn't a flaw...but a signal for growth?

Maddi and Jeff are joined by Hanna Zafar, MD MHS to explore the idea of "failing up" - rethinking failure not as something to hide, but something to use. Because while residency makes learning loud, post-training culture often makes it silent - and that's exactly where doubt thrives.

We get into why failure is n...

Radiology has a dirty little secret.

The people who look the most confident...often feel like they're faking it.

In this episode, Maddi and Jeff talk with Sherry Wang, MBBS about one of the most pervasive - and least talked about - realities in radiology: imposter syndrome.

Why does it hit hardest when you're succeeding?

Why does guilt follow you from the reading room...straight home?

And why do so many high-achieving radiologists fee...

Radiology runs medicine.

So why are we teaching it like a side quest?

In this episode of Contrast & Clarity, Maddi and Jeff talk with Scott Simpson, DO, MSEd and Daniel DePietro, MD about the uncomfortable truth: we’re graduating physicians who rely on imaging every day…but were barely taught how to use it.

We get into:

• Why radiology education shows up too late (and too inconsistently)
• The hidden cost of not teachin...