Dr Lazar Vucetic: 'When My Mother Became A Radiologist, She Could Only Dream Of The Technologies We Use Today'

Dr Lazar Vucetic, a young radiologist from Serbia, has passionately been hacking away at his keyboard to bring SteadyHealth readers interesting, digestible, and well-researched articles for a while now.

'I was fascinated by the black-and-white pictures of the inside of the human body, taken by a special machine'

What made Lazar want to become a doctor, and a radiologist in particular? It's probably a question all doctors get bored of, but SteadyHealth's editorial team had to ask — and Lazar's answers aren't nearly as dull as the question itself. 

"Both my parents pursued their careers in medical fields; my mother is also a radiologist, still working at the hospital back in my hometown, while my late father was a dentist. Because of that, I grew up surrounded by medical books, while listening to my parents talking about their day at work, which, even then, sounded pretty interesting."

Even then, Lazar says, the idea of "fixing" people fascinated him. "When I was six years old, my mother, who up until then mostly worked in the ER, started to specialize in radiology — so for the next few years, she lived, studied, and worked in the capital city (where I currently live), returning home almost every weekend to spend some time with us (dad, sister, and me)."

That's where his passion really caught fire. 

"My mother always took her books home to study, and I'd often sit alongside her and look at the pictures. I was fascinated by the black-and-white images of the inside of the human body, taken by a special machine, without the need for the patient to be opened up."

"Given the fact that I was rather tech savvy, I wanted to merge my passions of medicine and technology, and figured out that radiology was the exact place to pursue that idea," Lazar adds. "After high school, I was admitted to the Medical School of the University of Belgrade, where I graduated, with my final thesis concerning radiology, or to be more specific – I analyzed the role of MRI in evaluating tumor response after a specific kind of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients."

Now in the third year of his radiology residency, Lazar is working alongside his mentors while continuing to attend lectures and take exams — a pretty hefty schedule! What's next? Lazar says:

"My current plan, after I finish with my residency, is to work here as a specialist for some time, and gain enough experience in my field, since medical specialists have a significantly higher chance of employment. From then on, my goal is to find a job and eventually try to broaden my experiences somewhere abroad. The thing is, the current political and socio-economic situation in my country doesn’t really equally allow young doctors to reach their full potential, and a lot of us agree that, unfortunately, we have a better chance for that somewhere abroad. After that, we can return to our country and implement what we have learned in a practical way, with the benefit of sharing our knowledge with other colleagues, thereby helping to improve the entire branch."

'Medical school builds skills in an extremely logical way'

Since Lazar is currently going through a rather intense patch of exams, we wanted to know what advice he has for medical students and young doctors.

He explains: "While medical school can sometimes really be an exhausting experience, I wouldn’t call it 'hard', because all of the things you learn about make perfect sense, and are extremely logical. The thing is, the sheer volume of knowledge you have to master is awfully time-consuming."

That means, Lazar adds, that "medical school demands certain sacrifices" — and a suffering social life is definitely one of those, "at least until you learn to skillfully balance all of your daily activities".

"From then on, it gets easier. Once you have learned the basics that you incorporate into all medical fields, you will eventually find one field you’re especially interested in, so you will spend more time doing the things you really like. That’s what I think of radiology."

Medical students also need to get used to the idea that they, too, have their limitations, Lazar shares:

"As much as I didn’t want to confess, I found out I simply can’t know everything. But I also learned that this is normal; in medicine, it is impossible to be a jack of all trades. Medicine demands commitment and dedication, but also passion, because if you’re doing something you love, you won’t find it hard to sometimes make a few sacrifices on your way. However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t have time for other activities. You’ll just learn to find a way to organize your time more efficiently."

'People believe in all sorts of stuff found on the internet'

Have you ever wondered what physicians really think and feel when their patients went to see "Dr Google" right before their appointments, perhaps thinking they have all the answers, convinced they're dying of an exceedingly rare condition, or certain that some herbal remedy a Facebook friend they never even met recommended is better than their prescription meds?

We have, so we can at least get one doctor's thoughts — ones that tie in with his motivation for sharing his knowledge with SteadyHealth readers, of course. Lazar explains his take. 

"Accessing online medical information can be a good way to inform yourself about a certain disease, or to prepare yourself for specific diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, as long as your sources are credible. Finding reputable sources, however, has proven to be tricky, especially in these 'instant' times, where seemingly everyone, regardless of education, is allowed to post their thoughts about everything online."

It's not just the sources themselves that can be problematic, however — people also need to activate their critical thinking skills.

"To make things worse," Lazar shares, "people tend to believe in all kinds of stuff they find online, without even questioning the logic and credibility behind it, while paradoxically having less trust in medical institutions and the doctors working in them". Online misinformation campaigns have, Lazar believes, "led to the rise of many movements, such as the anti-vaxxers, who knowingly spread false or misinterpreted information to a large, gullible audience, thereby posing a serious threat to public health". 

As a medical writer, Lazar is committed to making sure he shares accurate information that his readers can verify for themselves. 

"That’s why I always cite my sources, and do proper research on the subjects I’m writing and talking about. This means that I read several peer-reviewed articles, and books written by authorities in that area, and only after checking that this all adds up and makes sense in the context of my previous knowledge, am I willing to talk or write about it publicly."

How does Lazar feel when his patients have stocked up on online reading material, meanwhile? 

"I don’t mind if patients get their information via the internet, but my opinion is that they should only use the data they gathered to inform themselves about the topic, and certainly not to follow the advice given without consulting their doctor first. When these types of patients appear, I try to explain how the symptoms they are having are (probably) not related to what they have initially thought after reading about them on the internet."

That means Googling something like "how to prepare for a mammogram", or "what are the side effects of hydrochlorothiazide?" is a lot safer than looking for "home remedies for heart failure" or "causes of sudden extreme fatigue". Search engines can help you find information about a condition you were already diagnosed with or a procedure you're about to undergo, but they cannot offer you an accurate diagnosis. 

Remember, Lazar says, that "your doctor spent at least six years studying medicine, four years specializing in his field, and countless hours on seminars and congresses — so I think it’s a safe bet to say that they know little more than some anonymous person on the internet telling you how this or that will cure all of your ailments". Unlike Dr Google, your doctor also knows you and your specific circumstances.

'COVID-19 accelerated some advances in healthcare'

COVID-19 is still on everyone's minds, of course, so we asked Lazar to share his views on the way in which global and local health authorities handled the pandemic, and to speculate about how the coronavirus might change healthcare. 

"Unfortunately, I think more time needs to pass to view this situation from a distance and analyze it from an objective perspective, to see what we did well and what went wrong, and use that knowledge to be prepared for a next potential health crisis of similar proportions."

Lazar's article about how COVID-19 could reshape the future of healthcare focuses on advances in telemedicine. To expand on that, he shares that telemedicine was already "very close to wider implementation in the future, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this progress". These changes, Lazar says, could make healthcare more efficient and accessible. 

'My mother — also a radiologist — could only dream about today's advances when she entered the field'

What should everyone know about radiology? Lazar explains that he wants patients to know radiology is there to help, not harm. 

"The first thing that comes to mind is ionizing radiation. Although this whole discipline is based around radiation, scientists saw the potential of radiology as a quick and precise way to either diagnose, or even plan surgery using medical imaging, early on. Because of its omnipresence in medicine, the design and technology used to make these machines have evolved in order to minimize the radiation dose patients receive, making every next generation of these machines even safer."

As one of the fastest-evolving medical fields, radiology is constantly changing, and SteadyHealth wanted to know what Lazar is excited about. 

"When my mother became a radiologist, almost 20 years ago, she could only dream of the technological advances of today. Not only has the resolution has improved, but the machines have become more intuitive to use. Add cinematic 3D reconstructions, as well as radiology-based surgical procedures, and you can see that this progress is massive."

"The thing I’m most excited about in the future of radiology is AI assistance, where special algorithms are used to help radiologists make accurate diagnoses faster. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the machines are taking our jobs (at least not yet), because in the end, it’s the human experience and skill that are responsible for the final conclusion."