The future balance between training and demand for radiologists in Iran

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the balance between training and demand for radiologists in the Iranian health care system between 2008 and 2027. Materials and Methods: A total number of 250 clusters were randomly selected from urban and rural areas of Iran, of which 168 were selected from urban areas and 82 were selected from rural areas. In order to collect basic medical data and to determine the number of radiology visits in the last two weeks, questionnaires were prepared and sent out to the subjects' houses. Information on the number of radiologists as well as statistics on the Iran's population were provided by the Medical Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and the Statistics Center of IRI, respectively. Results: Radiologists were visited 245 times during a two-week time period, which resulted in an average referral to radiologists of 0.125 for each individual. Our results indicated a slight shortage of radiologists in 2008, which is expected to disappear till 2023. Afterwards, the training of radiologists is expected to slightly surpass the demands. Conclusion: Results from the present study suggested that an overall balance between training and demand for radiologists in Iran is likely to happen in near future.