Health care needs a new profession: neuroimaging counseling By Nancy Lu, Sumita Strander, and Francis X. ShenMay 14, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/14/neuroimaging-counseling-health-care-new-profession/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ukJjtlPUMFiqXb0kdJRquycpQv652ywZNfxYW_APFVYrAhW5vTcu8l3KKPrMwyVSF2rkWJODWgasG-dlj8IMy1IuRXA&_hsmi=306900761&utm_content=306900761&utm_source=hs_email Most of us have never had our brains scanned. But a new generation of more affordable and highly portable MRI (pMRI) devices are rapidly reshaping neuroimaging research and clinical care. There could be a future out there in which people get regular brain “check-ups” from portable MRIs, write three authors of today’s First Opinion essay. To address the rise in neuroimaging, these authors suggest the creation of a new field: neuroimaging counseling. Like genetic counselors before them, neuroimaging counselors would be trained to help explain brain scan findings to patients. The clinical interpretation of scans would remain in the domains of radiology, neurology, and neurosurgery. But communicating those readings, addressing follow-up questions, and facilitating dialogue about the emotional weight of abnormal brain imaging results could be supported by counselors. Read more on what this new type of health care worker could do.