Despite overall high career satisfaction and optimism for the future of the field of nuclear medicine in Europe, unfilled vacancies and notable disparities in career advancement potential persist, according to an online survey conducted by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM).
The survey was conducted between April and June 2024, and the findings have been published in the March 2026 edition of the EANM Journal.
Career satisfaction and work-life compatibility by professional category. Proportion of respondents who would probably/definitely choose nuclear medicine again (career satisfaction) and rating moderate/high work-life compatibility. Van den Wyngaert et al; EANM Journal
Conducted by a multinational EANM team headed by Prof. Tim Van den Wyngaert, PhD, a nuclear medicine physician at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, the survey sought to assess the state of the European nuclear medicine workforce: characterizing its members, assessing career satisfaction, and identifying challenges in the field and the factors that influence career choices. Additionally, the group aimed to assess patterns in training to evaluate and support workforce-development strategies.
The research was organized with the support of the EANM’s “Initiatives in Nuclear medicine to Support Professional Interest and Recruitment in Europe” (INSPIRE) project and Young Professional Council (YPC). The survey had three sections: professional background and work environment, basic training, and advanced nuclear medicine specialization. It generated 239 responses from 31 countries (with about a 3% total response rate), noted
Most respondents (94.1%) hailed from high-income countries (by the World Bank’s definition). The majority of participants were in Western Europe (42.3%), with 23.8% from Southern Europe, and 23.4% from Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic had the most respondents (13.8% of the total), followed by Italy (12.1%), Germany (9.6%), and Belgium (9.2%).
Of the respondents, 58.2% were physicians, 13% were physicists/engineers, and 10.9% were technologists/radiographers. Respondents were evenly balanced by gender -- 49.4% men, 48.9% women, 1.7% undisclosed.
The median age of participants was 46, with the 45 to 50 age group being the largest at 17.1%, and the authors underscored that age played some role in responses.
Training in nuclear medicine is typically started between the ages of 25 and 30, and training takes between three and five years, although the different professions show variation in this that reflects diverse educational backgrounds and pathways to the field. Also, while 71.8% of the participants chose nuclear medicine as a career during early adulthood (ages 18 to 25), 29.6% transitioned to the field from other careers, they explained.
Training duration by professional role (n = 204). The distribution shows significant interprofessional variation, with technologists/radiographers typically completing training in one to three years, physicians predominantly in four to five years (42.2%), and pharmacists and scientists/chemists demonstrating the highest variability across all duration categories.Van den Wyngaert et al; EANM Journal
Leadership roles were unsurprisingly more likely to be held by respondents over the age of 40, with 28.9% of those under 40 reporting working in these roles. Furthermore, while the number of respondents was evenly distributed by gender, leadership roles were not: 60% of men held leadership positions, while only 41.3% of the women did.
Career satisfaction was high among respondents, with 85.2% in total saying they would choose nuclear medicine again as a career path, and work-life compatibility was rated as moderate/high by 89.4%. There were no significant differences observed for work satisfaction by gender, age, country, or region; however, technologists/radiographers had lower rates of satisfaction on average than other professions, at 68.4%.
Proportion of respondents reporting at least one open vacancy for any role in their department. Countries receiving fewer than five responses are marked with diagonal stripes and excluded from numerical reporting due to insufficient sample size for reliable estimates.Van den Wyngaert et al, EANM Journal
Even with high rates of satisfaction, however, 80.2% reported open vacancies in their departments -- in particular for technologists/radiographers (61.6%) and physicians (57.1%), with 45.7% and 42.4% respectively of these positions open for extended periods. However, there were “substantial gaps” in all professions, the authors added. Additionally, multiple vacancies for technologists/radiographers were reported for their departments by 18.5% of participants.
For career advancement, 83.8% of the respondents reported “some or significant” career advancement. However, again, technologists/radiographers reported lower advancement rates (64.7%) than physicians (88.9%), physicists (80.9%), pharmacists (82.3%), and scientists (88.9%).
The outlook for the field was reported in optimistic terms by most respondents: 65.9% expected future growth for nuclear medicine. However, 17.9% anticipated challenges to the discipline, and 6.1% expressed uncertainty about its future. The respondents who foresaw challenges or expressed uncertainty cited things applicable to medical fields in general, according to the authors, such as poor investment and limited career development opportunities in some countries.
Affirming the comparative resilience of nuclear medicine as a career, the authors wrote that EANM has sought to address these issues through programs such as INSPIRE, launched in early 2024 to engage “students, educators, educational institutions, associations, and key stakeholders to foster sustained interest and recruitment.”
Additionally, noting the gender disparity reported in leadership, the authors highlight the role of EANM's Women's EmpoWErment program in addressing workforce issues.
You can read the full results and analysis here.
