Jobs / Healthcare / 29-1224.00

Radiologists

Diagnose and treat diseases and injuries using medical imaging techniques, such as x rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasounds. May perform minimally invasive medical procedures and tests.

US jobs
26,770
Median wage
$420,860 a year
Job family
Healthcare

Can agents do the work of radiologists?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Healthcare:

  • Task levelPartialOne benchmark, from early 2025. On Stanford's MedAgentBench, where agents do clinical tasks in a simulated electronic health record, the best recorded model completes 69.7% of tasks (Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2). It has no maintained leaderboard, so newer models are not measured. No benchmark in our collection tests work with patients.
  • Project levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. GDPval includes nurses among its 44 occupations. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all occupations. No benchmark in our collection tests clinical work over days, such as managing a patient's care.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in healthcare, not always this occupation's tasks.

  • GDPvalby OpenAIProject level · Wins plus ties against experts
    84.9%GPT-5.5 · Apr 2026
    Strong
  • GDPval-AAby Artificial AnalysisProject level · GDPval-AA Elo
    1846 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, Default Fallback) · 23 Sep 2026
    Unrated
  • MedAgentBenchby Stanford UniversityTask level · Task success rate
    69.7%Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 · 24 Jan 2025
    Strong

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Prepare comprehensive interpretive reports of findings.
  • Perform or interpret the outcomes of diagnostic imaging procedures including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear cardiology treadmill studies, mammography, or ultrasound.
  • Document the performance, interpretation, or outcomes of all procedures performed.
  • Communicate examination results or diagnostic information to referring physicians, patients, or families.
  • Obtain patients' histories from electronic records, patient interviews, dictated reports, or by communicating with referring clinicians.
  • Review or transmit images and information using picture archiving or communications systems.
  • Confer with medical professionals regarding image-based diagnoses.
  • Recognize or treat complications during and after procedures, including blood pressure problems, pain, oversedation, or bleeding.
  • Develop or monitor procedures to ensure adequate quality control of images.
  • Provide counseling to radiologic patients to explain the processes, risks, benefits, or alternative treatments.
  • Establish or enforce standards for protection of patients or personnel.
  • Coordinate radiological services with other medical activities.
Other job titles for this occupation (29)

Attending Physician · Diagnostic Radiologist · Interventional Neuroradiologist · Interventional Radiologist · Musculoskeletal Specialty Radiologist (MSK Specialty Radiologist) · Neuroradiologist · Nuclear Medicine Physician · Nuclear Medicine Specialist · Physician · Radiologist · Attending Radiologist · Breast Imaging Radiologist · General Radiologist · Interventional Radiology Physician · IR Technician (Interventional Radiology Technician) · IR Travel Technician (Interventional Radiology Travel Technician) · Mammographer · Musculoskeletal Radiologist (MSK Radiologist) · Nuclear Medicine MD (Nuclear Medicine Medical Doctor) · Nuclear Medicine Officer · Nuclear Physician · Nuclear Radiologist · Pediatric Radiologist · Radiologist Physician · Radiology Physician · Teleradiologist · Therapeutic Radiologist · Vascular Radiologist · Veterinary Radiologist