The Rules of Radiology

This book gets to the heart of what radiology is and what radiologists do. As a relatively young speciality, there is no guide for radiologists to act as a moral compass. Until now, that is. You will not find any dry technical matters in here. You will not find any clues about how to interpret images better. This book details the ‘other 50%’: the rest of the working week when a radiologist is not reading scans or performing procedures.   

The essence of radiology is distilled and offered up to the reader. If you want a comfortable read that offers bland reassurances, look elsewhere. If you want a book that questions everything and discusses uncomfortable truths, this is the book for you. Each of the Rules addresses an important part of professional practice.  This book is a manifesto for all radiologists across the globe to raise their game, to be more effective and to serve their patients better. 

“The book will inevitably appeal mainly to radiologists and their trainees, or to people who have a spouse, partner or child who is aspires to become one. All the same, there is at least one good reason GPs might be interested in it – apart from its arresting style of writing and sense of humour.” (John Launer, bjgplife.com, December 21, 2021)

“McCoubrie has managed to channel this compulsion into the production of a readable, witty tome with pearls of wisdom gleaned from years of experience, a tome that would be profitably read by us all.” (Arpan Banerjee, RAD Magazine, July, 2021)

“This book deals with the pressures and challenges of work, not only the work that we, various specialists, carry out but the more complex business of working in teams, personal relations, and group dynamics. A very good read for many reasons and one that can give us a new perspective.” (Eric Watts, The Association of Clinical Pathologists, ACP news, April, 2021)

“It looks at many complex aspects of radiology practice, analyzes the reasons why these can be troubling or successful, and it advises on how we should approach them. Many years ago, when I worked on another continent, a colleague suggested that a copy of the radiology billing codes should be kept in the smallest room of the house … . This book is much more appropriate reading in that location -- and much more fun.” (Adrian Brady, AuntminnieEurope.com, March 25, 2021)

Proudly hailing from the West Riding of Yorkshire, Paul McCoubrie qualified from St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, in 1996. A card-carrying educationalist, he was Lead RCR Anatomy Examiner and Head of Severn School of Radiology. He is currently External Examiner for the Faculty of Radiology, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. He has been Consultant Radiologist at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, since 2004, and lives in Bristol with his wife and teenage daughters.