Rad ST. Definitely financially inclined. Considered Opthal, did taster and courses but wasn’t convinced at the time it was the right option.
There’s money in Rad but telerad rates are not great. Yes the volume is high and increasing, but most Consultants avoid it as the pay per scan is quite low, and you have to report at high speed and volume, to make extra money. You can do it, it’s possible, but it’s hard work and not everyone can hack the rate of work and risk.
Private practice is limited predominantly to MSK radiology. However it’s massively hyper competitive. Generally, an older school MSK Radiologist will dominate the private practice in a region, and others won’t make much, if anything.
Who knows what the future will hold. Do I regret it? I regret entering Medicine, everything else since then has been damage control so I don’t blame myself.
If you’re interested in private practice, target a subspeciality where there is a limited consultant body and thus less competition. Ophthal, ENT, Plastics and Urology are ideal for example. However Private Practice is not a rosy world, where everything is better and brighter. It’s dog-eat-dog, requires more expensive medicolegal insurance (so you have to work a significant amount to make it worth it), and the biggest issue, is that it costs your personal time. I’m talking evenings, and weekends. Unless you can switch into it permanently instead of NHS, which I’ve seen with the odd Orthopod, but it’s very rare. The issue with Rad Private Practice is you don’t own any of the patient pathway and so can’t really generate your own business, and have to rely on referrals; ie the surgeon, to feed you.
If you want to make quick and headache free money, do locum GP. Quickest route through training, and all you need to practice afterwards is your CCT and a heartbeat. You’re not going to be asked where you trained, how many publications you have or whether you’ve done a fellowship.
If you want to Brexit to UAE or elsewhere however, any specialty will pay 2x if not more than for GP.
My advice would be don’t f*ck around with wasting time in training. CCT in GP, and start making real money and enjoying life.
Radiology is good, it’s intellectually stimulating and once you get confident, it’s possible to quite frankly coast. It’s not a terrible job at all and removes most frustrations with working in the NHS. You won’t go home as angry and frustrated as you might with GP. But if you want money alone, there are easier ways to get it. Opthal training is an even longer road, and will also be tough.