What is a Radiologist?
The Radiologist is really your doctor's doctor. The radiologist is different from other physicians because he or she diagnoses diseases by obtaining and interpreting medical images. A radiologist correlates medical image findings with other examinations and tests, recommends further examinations or treatments, and confers with your physician...read more

Safety
Valley Radiologists encourages the public to be informed when making health care decisions. Many radiology exams utilize radiation which should be considered in determining proper care for an adult or child. Valley Radiologists monitors its radiation doses based on physicist recommendations and guidelines established by the American College of Radiology. The practice is also committed to using only the latest technology and proper shielding to reduce radiation exposure...read more

Parent Education Materials:

Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging
The American College of Radiology has developed new materials to educate parents about medical imaging and to help them track their child's past imaging exams. "My Child's Medical Imaging Record" allows parents to keep track of where and when a study was performed as well as the type of radiologic exam. Parents are encouraged to use this record as they do the widely used vaccination record, and should encourage their future medical providers to make decisions regarding optimal timing of additional radiologic examinations with a better understanding of their child's imaging history.

"What Parents Should Know About CT Scans for Children: Medical Radiation Safety" and "What Parents Should Know About Medical Radiation Safety" are downloadable patient education brochures that provide lay definitions for various imaging exams that use radiation, and educate parents of the benefits and potential risks associated with these studies. The brochures provide dose estimates in comparison to natural background radiation, discuss possible alternative examinations that do not use radiation, and equip parents with questions to ask their imaging providers so they can make better informed decisions regarding their child's care.

The imaging record card and the patient brochures are available at www.imagegently.org. Valley Radiologists invite you to download the materials from the Image Gently Website.