Coaching: A Primer for the Radiologist.

The practice of coaching using positive psychology is an emerging and promising approach to address the radiologist burnout epidemic, with the focus on wellness even more urgent given the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and other recent stressful events. Coaching uses a strengths-based approach to help radiologists identify and achieve positive emotions, create meaningful relationships, increase engagement and purpose, and develop coping skills for personal and professional stressors, including communication, improving resilience, team building, and mindfulness. Health and wellness coaching promotes healthy behavior change as a means of averting or mitigating chronic lifestyle-related diseases and is a potential treatment for burnout and stress management. Coaches help clients enhance self-motivation, identify strengths, and implement a framework for change by applying psychological resources, including mindfulness, positive mind-set, resilience, self-efficacy, and self-awareness. The framework of coaching is built upon psychological safety, mindfulness, accountability, and the coach-client relationship. Coaches use the three fundamental skills of mindful listening, open-ended inquiry, and perceptive reflections to empower clients on their journeys to achieve their best selves.

Distribution of spinal fractures in children: does age, mechanism of injury, or gender play a significant role?

BACKGROUND: The distribution of fractures in the spine reported in the literature is quite variable. Application of such data to the pediatric population needs to take into account differences between children and adults, including overall decreased fracture frequency in children, developmental and physiological differences, and mechanism of injury. Knowledge of specific regions of injury may alter search patterns and protocols. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the distribution of spinal injuries in pediatric patients is related to age, mechanism of injury, or gender. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All pediatric patients (<18 years old) referred to our trauma service over a 5-year period were retrospectively reviewed. All patients with vertebral fracture and/or neurological injury were included. The levels of the spinal fractures were tabulated. Correlation was then made with age, gender, and mechanism of injury (motor vehicle accident versus non-motor vehicle accident). RESULTS: Of the 2614 pediatric patients, 84 sustained vertebral fracture and 50 had neurological injury without radiographic abnormality. A total of 164 fractures were identified. The thoracic region (T2-T10) was most commonly injured, accounting for 47 fractures (28.7%) followed by the lumbar region (L2-L5) with 38 fractures (23.2%), the mid-cervical region with 31 fractures (18.9%), the thoracolumbar junction with 24 fractures (14.6%), the cervicothoracic junction with 13 fractures (7.9%), and the cervicocranium with 11 fractures (6.7%). There was no relationship to gender or mechanism of injury. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of gender or mechanism of injury, the thoracic spine (T2-T10) is the most common region of fracture in pediatric trauma patients.