"Bunker Shift" Is Not the Best Term to Use for Important Additional Shifts in Radiology Practice to Try to Catch Up With the Massively Increasing Volumes

The article by Brandser and Kothari was interesting, describing a way of getting the work done by the same number of radiologists through increasing their number of working hours for extra pay [1Brandser E. Kothari T. Bunker shifts alleviate long list anxiety syndrome.J Am Coll Radiol. 2022; 19: 9Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (2) Google Scholar]. I object to calling it “bunker shift.” The authors should know that the original description of “bunker” in 1758 meant a bench for sleeping, hardly what you want your radiology colleagues to do. The term then was used for underground shelters or dugouts in English and “bunker” in German. Reinforced concrete shelters supposedly bomb-proof were called “bunkers,” where some of our family members tried to survive in places like Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, and so on. Why call radiologists working after hours to help out a “bunker shift”? The term would depress me, so I would not want to do it. Call it what it is: “extra” shift or some other uplifting term. Response to Letter to the Editor Re: Bunker Shifts Alleviate Long List Anxiety SyndromeJournal of the American College of RadiologyVol. 20Issue 6PreviewThank you for the interesting history of the word “bunker.” Full-Text PDF Bunker Shifts Alleviate Long List Anxiety SyndromeJournal of the American College of RadiologyVol. 19Issue 9PreviewAs a general radiology practice with partial subspecialization with more than 30 radiologists, we have fast readers and slow readers making a typical bell curve but with prominent tails at both ends of the curve. Like others, we have radiologists who are speedy at some types of studies and less speedy at others [1]. Full-Text PDF