Grand Rounds: "The Perfect Radiologist"

Christine M. Glastonbury, MBBS

Christine Glastonbury, MBBS
Professor of Clinical Radiology, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, and Radiation Oncology
University of California, San Francisco

About this lecture: It has been said that the search for zero error rates is doomed from the start. Even the best trained experts in radiology make errors. The interpretation error rate at tertiary care institutions with subspecialty radiologists is not significantly different to error rates in a general radiology practice. So why do we make these errors in radiology and what can we do to minimize them? What is it about the way we think about scans that contributes to errors? How can we change the way we work or think to minimize errors?

Dr. Glastonbury will share her perspective as Neuro section QA chief with examples of real-life errors of experts. She sees errors as opportunities. Understanding our cognitive biases and how and why we make these errors is our first step in preventing them. Then we can pursue perfection in radiology.

Dr. Christine Glastonbury is a Professor of Clinical Radiology,Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Radiation Oncology. She obtained her MBBS from the University of Adelaide, South Australia in 1991, and completed her residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, Australia and a residency in General Radiology at Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals in London. She finalized a fellowship in General Radiology from the Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey, UK, and a two-year fellowship in Neuroradiology, followed by a Body MR fellowship from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

She finalized a fellowship in General Radiology from the Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey, UK, and a two-year fellowship in Neuroradiology, followed by a Body MR fellowship from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Glastonbury’s particular interest is in the area of the head and neck malignancies and the detection of nodal disease, which is significantly important with treatment decisions for patients with head and neck tumors. Dr. Glastonbury’s goals are to better determine ways in which people are most likely to misinterpret films and find solutions in preventing radiology errors during diagnosis. She works closely with the Radiation Oncologists and Head and Neck surgeons on a weekly basis to improve the care of head and neck cancer patients.

Dr. Glastonbury is Editor-in-Chief for a new textbook Specialty Imaging: Head and Neck Cancer which was published in December 2012. She has written multiple chapters in the radiology textbook Diagnostic Imaging: Head and Neck that was published in September 2004 and is Co-Editor and second author for the second edition of this textbook in 2010. She is also Co-Editor and second author of Expert Differential Diagnosis – Head and Neck, which was published in April 2009. In April 2012, Dr. Glastonbury completed a review from the past 10 years of head and neck tumor imaging articles in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. Adding to her success, she has also written and published 73 articles and 10 book chapters.