Dr. Mirvis is the Editor-in-Chief of this journal and a Professor of Radiology in the Diagnostic Imaging Department, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.

Well before they finish their training program, residents must decide on whether to proceed directly into private practice or add to their formal training through a fellowship and choose a career path afterwards. At this time, it is no secret that private-practice radiology jobs are plentiful, starting salaries are high, and years to partnership are low or non-existent. This is an ideal circumstance for radiologists just starting out. It is a difficult time for private practices that are forced to compete aggressively for new members and it is murder on the financially less competitive academic radiology community.

A relatively small percentage of radiologists choose to start their careers in academics, with the majority opting instead for private-practice "big bucks," among other incentives. In many academic radiology centers, one sees steadily increasing workloads, more limited research and teaching time, fewer opportunities to interact intellectually with fellow faculty, and decreasing time for nonprofessional life. A lot of creativity and forbearance will be required to navigate the current (perhaps quite lengthy) manpower shortage. Seeing so many residents, and occasionally colleagues, jump to private practice, I have reflected upon some of the reasons I selected an academic career (although ambivalently at the outset) as well as upon comments from conversations with past and current faculty associates.

Teaching can be great fun. Good-quality research is difficult but very satisfying when successful and acknowledged. Working with equipment vendors is interesting and can enhance the creation or direct improvement of imaging devices or methods. Traveling to lecture is usually an outstanding personal growth experience. Mentoring and assisting a less "seasoned" junior associate to develop his or her career is as, or more, satisfying than coveting one's own successes. Working collaboratively with colleagues near and far and developing long-standing relationships is a source of daily pleasure. Writing and researching and learning more about your specialty maintains and enhances your practice abilities. Many of these qualities can be found in private practice to varying degrees, and some will be tough to obtain in a given academic environment.

In our department, we encourage our residents and fellows to participate at some level in the academic experience: develop research ideas; write papers, case reports, or current reviews; or make a major meeting presentation. It is important that residents experience some aspects of an academic career directly before choosing their path. These comments are not meant to ultimately recommend one course over another. This is a very personal decision, occurring in a relatively turbulent medical care environment. The lines of distinction between the private and academic world are becoming blurred in some settings. However, the bottom line is that the next generation of radiology researchers and teachers will come from among our current residents and fellows. Will there be a sufficient quantity of sufficient quality to do the job? Only time will tell. What we can do now in our training programs is to make sure we give our residents a solid opportunity to see what is behind the academic curtain (both positive and negative). We should give them a chance to see if they just might like it.

As a partial incentive toward this goal, Applied Radiology will henceforth sponsor an annual resident article writing contest. Our editorial board will review articles that are submitted by resident authors. Official journal recognition and a financial reward will be offered for the three highest ranked submissions, which will subsequently appear in the journal. Details are found in this issue (page 33). The long-term strength of the specialty of diagnostic imaging is directly related to the quality and vigor of its academic arm.