CXR Careers in Radiology (Fiona Doolan)

Dr. Geraldine McGinty is professor of Clinical Radiology and Population Health Sciences and Senior Associate Dean for clinical affairs at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. In this episode she shares her own journey and encourages medical students to build networks, know themselves, and be curious.
Dr. McGinty studied medicine at the University of Galway and did her residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she was chief resident. She is an expert in imaging economics and an attending radiologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, specializing in breast imaging. She has served as an advisor to the CPT Editorial Panel and the National Quality Forum. She was Chair of the American College of Radiology’s Commission on Economics and was the radiology member of the AMA’s Relative Value Update Committee from 2012-2016. From 2014-2021 Dr. McGinty served as a Non-Executive Director of IDA Ireland, the national foreign direct investment agency. In May 2018 she was elected as the Chair of the ACR’s Board of Chancellors, the first woman to hold this office. Dr. McGinty was president of the ACR from 2020-2021.
Find her @DrGMcGinty on Twitter

Dr. Anne Marie Cahill is a pediatric interventional radiologist, Chief of the Division of Interventional Radiology and Director of Image Based Therapy for Vascular Anomalies, and endowed Chair in Pediatric Interventional Radiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She is also associate professor of radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. A 2021 fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology, Dr. Cahill is a member of the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA), the Irish Society of Interventional Radiology, The Royal College of Radiologists of London, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Royal College of Radiologists, Faculty of Radiologists of the Royal College of Surgeons, and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Society of Europe to name a few, and serves as a distinguished reviewer for Journal of Vascular Interventional Radiology. Dr. Cahill obtained her medicine degree from University College Galway, in Galway, Ireland, and hails from Mayo. Her initial appointments included internal medicine, gastroenterology at University College Hospital, Galway, and endocrinology at Mullingar General Hospital, Westmeath, and she did her radiology residency at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, after which she completed two fellowships -  a general pediatric fellowship at British Columbia Children's Hospital and a pediatric interventional fellowship at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Cahill has published over two hundred peer-reviewed papers, and she’s here with us today to talk a bit about pediatric interventional radiology. Hear about Dr. Cahill's journey, her perspectives on who makes a great interventional radiologist, and some incredible guidance on knowing yourself and choosing the path that's right for you.

Dr. Lindsey Negrete is an alumna of Stanford University where she is also an attending in Body Radiology. She trained first on the east coast at Brown University for medical school before returning to her hometown of San Diego to complete diagnostic radiology residency at UCSD. She is a creator of the podcast Let's Read Out, available online here. In this episode Dr. Negrete shares that from medical school to residency and beyond, we should be open to new possibilities -  whether about something as routine as how to study or as important as pursuing a field you find engaging.
Follow her here: @LindseymarieMd @letsreadout

Creator note: The outro was recorded when I was a bit ill, apologies for my voice quality! Find me at @CareersRads on Twitter and cxrpod@gmail.com.

Dr. O’Leary is a 5th year radiology resident at Penn’s integrated interventional radiology program.  He works primarily at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and is a chief resident of the diagnostic radiology program at Penn. He received his medical degree from University College Dublin, after which he completed his intern year at the Mater Hospital in Dublin before entering residency. He is enthusiastic about building a strong skill base in IR procedures over the next eighteen months of his program. We talk about his choice to do IR, areas in which IR is really taking a lead today, including developments that make longitudinal patient care an option, such as interventional oncology, and some of the merits of IR training in setting physicians up for a wide variety of jobs. Dr. O'Leary welcomes questions from Irish graduates considering taking a next step to the US, so get in touch!

The IR pathway we discuss in the episode:

https://www.sirweb.org/learning-center/ir-residency/

Dr. Shyamal Patel is a radiation oncologist with expertise in brachytherapy who helped start the program at Dignity Health Cancer Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He is an alumnus of Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his internship in medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and subsequently his residency in radiation oncology at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. He then completed his fellowship in brachytherapy at the University of California, Los Angeles under the guidance of one of the pioneers of prostate high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. Listen as he shares what he loves best about his work and what qualities are key to being a good radiation oncologist.

CXR: Careers x Radiology is a student project to open the world of radiology, interventional radiology, and radiation oncology to medical students, one interview at a time. Learn its mission, how it started, what you can expect to hear and learn, and what's in store for upcoming episodes!

Be sure to email CXR with any thoughts or questions for any of the participants or for me, Fiona, at cxrpod@gmail.com or @fidoolan on Twitter. I'll answer queries in future episodes. Be well and keep in touch!

Dr. Sadaf Bhutta is a pediatric interventional radiologist at Seattle Children’s and associate professor of radiology at the University of Washington. She is ABR certified jointly in diagnostic radiology and pediatric radiology. Listen as she shares her journey to radiology, highlighting how diverse the interests and training pathways of a radiologist can be, and urges students to know themselves and ask questions about the work radiologists do at their own institutions.

She has special interest in congenital cardiac imaging and has been invited faculty at national and international meetings on the subject, and is also a founding member of the Society of Pediatric Interventional Radiology.

Dr. Bhutta earned her bachelor’s in medicine from King Edward Medical College in Pakistan and trained in diagnostic radiology and pediatric radiology at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, UAMS. After nearly 10 years as a faculty member there, she is now enjoying the Northwest and her work at UW and Seattle Children’s.

Mentioned in the episode: 

- RSNA reigstration 2021 https://rsna.21annual.com/ 

- American Roentgen Ray Society https://www.arrs.org/

- Society of Pediatric Interventional Radiology https://www.spir.org/

This episode embarks on a runthrough of training pathways for IMGs interested in pursuing diagnostic radiology in the US. Links referenced in the episode are below. Thanks for the enquiries. Your feedback means so much, keep the questions coming! 

IMG Alternate Pathway to Diagnostic Radiology

Of interest might be the Holman Research Pathway, a fast-track research pathway for highly trained candidates: 

The ABR recognizes the shortage of physician investigators in diagnostic radiology. To address this shortage, a research pathway program was designed for individuals to simultaneously train in diagnostic radiology and basic science, clinical, or transitional investigation. This pathway is named for B. Leonard Holman, MD, who first proposed this initiative.

Holman Research Pathway to Diagnostic Radiology 

Dr. Christoph Wald is Chair of Radiology at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, a tertiary care hospital of Beth Israel Lahey Health System, and is a Professor of Radiology at Tufts University Medical School He is an alumnus of Bonn University Medical School in Germany and Aberdeen University Medical School in Scotland, and did his radiology residency and abdominal imaging fellowship at Lahey. Additionally, he holds a volunteer leadership role with the American College of Radiology, as Chair of the Commission on Informatics, one of his major interests. In this episode, he advises students that success is a product of knowing oneself, something that’s tremendously important. Listen to us discuss his daily work as a body imager, how he chose rads, the work he’s seen grow at Lahey in lung cancer screening, and the future of AI in radiology. Connect with him @waldchristoph connect with CXR @CareersRads

Dr. McWilliams is an alumnus of Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology where he was chief resident, a current attending radiologist in private practice at Vision Radiology, and a dedicated educator hailing from Ireland. He is a diagnostic radiologist with fellowships in both cardiothoracic imaging and emergency radiology. He hopes to continue the tradition of excellent teaching he experienced from his mentors during residency. Listen as Dr. McWilliams shares his thoughts on the promise of emergency radiology and options for students to explore radiology. 

The American Society of Emergency Radiology has an annual meeting.

Dr. McWilliams tutors/coaches with Elite Medical Prep.

Radiology reaches thousands of underserved areas, both at home and abroad, thanks to aid work. Hear personal perspectives of two women who are active in the global health radiology space, how they got started in their work, and some tips on getting involved yourself.

Dr. Katrina McGinty is an alumna of New York Medical College and clinical associate professor of radiology at the University of North Carolina. Her research interests include education and quality improvement in radiology. Val Brod completed her ultrasound training at the University of Colorado and is a staff sonographer at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado, a level one trauma center.

RAD AID International Website: https://rad-aid.org/

at 4:15 meet a special guest: Dr. McGinty’s kitten

Help Fiona raise funds for Doctors Without Borders at Gaelforce West, her first 70k ultra endurance race, a year after major ortho surgery https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fiona-c-doolan

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s): https://sdgs.un.org/goals

1. No poverty 2. Zero hunger

3. Good health and wellbeing

4. Quality Education 5. Gender Equality

6. Clean Water and sanitation 7. Affordable and clean energy

8. Decent work and economic growth 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

10. Reduced inequalities 11. Sustainable cities and communities

12. Responsible consumption and production 13. Climate action

14. Healthy oceans 15. Healthy land

16. Peace, justice, and strong institutions 17. Partnerships to realise UN goals

This episode is a breakdown of pathways to IR in the US, by popular demand.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Society of Interventional Radiology Training Pathways: an excellent infographic

SIR learning center: under Patient Center you can find simple overviews of many IR procedures to get a feel for if this kind of work may interest you. The most common procedures are also helpfully laid out.

CIRSE: Trainee resources and the Medical students' perspectives on IR survey report I mentioned.

CIRSE/SIR/PAIRS Global IR Juniors Summit: more about IR in participating countries, including US, Canada, UK, and more.

RSNA 2022 Meeting , SIR 2023 Meeting

Caveat emptor in regards to my answer to the audience question on dual applying to both DR and IR programs. As a medical student, I have not yet participated in the Match, nor do I have residency admissions committee experience. I relay advice from one former resident and advise students, particularly internationals, to consider what field their experience best supports and focus on that. For more information on characteristics of successful candidates in the Match, check out this document from NRMP.

Dr. Greditzer is assistant professor of radiology at Weill Cornell. A radiologist with two years advanced fellowship training in musculoskeletal imaging, he reads for the Hospital for Special Surgery and Orthopedic Radiology Specialists. He is a former Division I collegiate and international water polo player and was a member of the National Water Polo Team before beginning medical school. He attended The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and completed residency in radiology at the University of Miami while rotating through Ryder Trauma Center, the busiest Level I trauma center in the country. Listen as he shares a bit about his work, medical school in Ireland, and reminds us to engage with every rotation we undertake in medical school, not just those in the field we want to work in.

Dr. Greditzer is on Twitter.

Further reading on HSS cartilage work: Institute for Cartilage Repair

Dr. Michelle Miller Thomas is associate professor at the Washington University in St. Louis and she specialises in diagnostic neuroradiology. She works between multiple hospitals in the St. Louis area. She did her intern year at Saint Johns Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis MO, then her residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Texas Houston and her fellowship in neuroradiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis MO. Radiology education is one of her major interests. Her experience weaves together expertise in medical education and translational imaging research. She develops curricula, leads groups of physician-clinician educators and delivers courses for undergraduate and graduate medical trainees. She has expertise in translating advanced neuroimaging techniques from the laboratory into clinical applications. The major focus of the advanced neuroimaging topics she studies are brain tumour characterisation, neurosurgical planning, and dementia. She is 13 years in practice and looking forward to many more.

Dr. Chris Gange is a thoracic radiologist at Yale New Haven Hospital, where he is on the faculty and is a fellowship director at Yale University. He is an alumnus of the medical science program and medical school at Drexel University, and the Boston University biomedical engineering program, and mentors residents and fellows in chest radiology.  Listen as we discuss academic radiology, the paradigm shift towards delivering radiologic reports directly to the patient, and many things in between. 

Society of Thoracic Radiology 

Dr. Nishant Shah is a 4th year radiation oncology resident at the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his medicine degree from Boston University School of Medicine, and also holds a bachelors in engineering from BU. He is active in several professional organizations in radiation oncology and is currently in his research year at Penn. He enjoys protons and podcasting, and loves the atmosphere in his department. Hear Dr. Shah's advice about everything from radiation oncology training pathways to promising new therapies in the field to how he chose rad onc! Find him on Twitter @nishantshah8792

Welcome to another episode! Dr. David Ballard is an abdominal radiologist serving as an Assistant Professor of Radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University St. Louis. He completed his abdominal imaging fellowship at Mallinckrodt and is in his first year as an attending in academic radiology. Dr. Ballard graduated medical school from Louisiana State University Health and completed residency at Mallinckrodt. During radiology residency, he served as chief resident and conducted the annual radiology chief resident survey through the radiology chief resident subgroup of AUR. He has a strong interest in research with over 100 publications and a special interest in 3D printing. He also serves as associate editor for RadioGraphics.

The 3D-printing N95 study we mention in Dr. Ballard’s interview: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33257256/

Find out more about RadioGraphics here: https://pubs.rsna.org/toc/radiographics/41/6

Dr. Fergus Coakley is the chair of Diagnostic Radiology at Oregon Health and Sciences University. He joined OHSU in August 2012 from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) where he was a professor in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging in the UCSF School of Medicine, where he was also chief of the Abdominal Imaging Section and vice chair for Clinical Services. He holds an honorary appointment as a professor in residence in the Department of Urology.

Dr. Coakley is from Cork, Ireland. He took his medical degree from the School of Medicine at University College Cork, Ireland. He completed internship at Mercy Hospital in Cork, medical residency at Mater and St. Vincent’s Hospitals in Dublin, and radiology residency at Leicester teaching Hospitals in Leicester, England. He did a fellowship in body imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before joining UCSF. He also spent a year as assistant professor and director, body MRI, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Weill Medical College of Cornell University. 

Dr. Coakley is involved in teaching at all levels, from medical students to postgraduates. He was program director of two postgraduate training programs at UCSF – a joint abdominal imaging fellowship between UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital and San Francisco VA Medical Center, and a T32 training grant from the NIH, which he secured in 2005 and which was renewed through 2015. Dr. Coakley’s main research interest is the potential of MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound for cancer therapy and tumor ablation.

His department chair at UCSF credits Dr. Coakley for bringing this technology and technique to UCSF Medical Center. He is widely published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is an expert in CT radiation dose, MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound and MRI of prostate cancer.

Read the updated guidelines for the use of MRI in the Diagnosis, Staging and Management of Prostate Cancer as referenced by Dr. Coakley here:

https://www.auanet.org/guidelines/guidelines/mri-of-the-prostate-sop

His advice to students? Be good at what you do. 

Dr. Kim is a diagnostic radiologist with a PhD in Molecular Medicine currently working at Atrius Health. She is an alumna of Boston University School of Medicine, completed her transitional year at Signature Healthcare at Brockton, radiology residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Breast imaging fellowship at Mass General Hospital. She finished her training in 2019 and returned to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a staff at Breast Imaging and a director of Breast MRI. She transitioned to her current role at Atrius Health, the largest independent physician-led healthcare organization in the northeastern United States, in 2021. Find her on Twitter @DrGeunwonK

Dr. Kim is a committee member of the Massachusetts Radiological Society Breast Imaging Subcommittee and the Massachusetts Medical Society Women's Health Committee, a mom and an avid photographer.

Hear Dr. Kim's insights on supporting women in rads, how to get involved in organized medicine, and personal perspectives on finding the right fit for residency and beyond.

Dr. Richard Towbin is a Board Certified Radiologist and Pediatrician trained in Pediatric Neuroradiology and Pediatric Interventional Radiology. He is a SIR Gold Medalist. He is one of the founders of the specialty of Pediatric Interventional Radiology, pioneering procedures for over four decades. He served as the Chief of Pediatric Radiology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He established Subspecialty Pediatric Radiology practices at each institution. He published the first textbook in Pediatric Interventional Radiology in 2015, and has served as President and Chairman of the Board of the Society for Pediatric Radiology, Treasurer of the Society of Interventional Radiology, and received numerous distinctions. He is a Gold Medal and Pioneer Award recipient from the Society for Pediatric Interventional Radiology. He mentors University of Arizona medical students in a pediatric radiology initiative which combines mentorship and academic work, which can be found at Applied Radiology, and he would be delighted to hear from interested students: rtowbin@gmail.com.

Finally, THANK YOU to all our listeners who contribute to the rads conversation! Keep it up!

Dr. Jacqueline Bello is Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where she is Chair of Neuroradiology.
Her clinical focus is on adult and pediatric neuroradiology, medical education, quality and safety, and healthcare policy.
Dr. Bello received her Doctor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She did Radiology residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and completed a fellowship in Neuroradiology at Columbia-Presbyterian.  She is a Columbia University Alumni Gold Medalist, and has been awarded fellowship by the American College of Radiology and the NY Academy of Medicine.
In 2016, Dr. Bello received the New York Roentgen Society Distinguished Radiologist Award. She is a past president of the NY Roentgen Society, NY State Radiological Society and the American Society of Neuroradiology. She is chair of the American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors.

In this episode, hear what excites Dr. Bello about equity and inclusion in radiology right now, as well as her perspectives on relationship building in radiology and mentorship.

Mentioned in this episode:
23:49 Dr. Bello refers to the 2022 publication in Radiology, ‘Relationship between Race and Access to Newer Mammographic Technology in Women with Medicare Insurance’ by Christensen et. Al. available here and featured also in a RSNA News article on mammography access disparities.
28:00 Information on the New IDEAS imaging and dementia study is available here.
54:31 Fiona was interviewed in RSNA News in September in ‘Exposing Medical Students to Radiology’.

Dr. David Axelrod is board certified in both diagnostic and interventional radiology and works for Radiology Partners as Director of interventional radiology at Saint Catherine of Siena Medical Center, a part of the Catholic Health Network. He had an 8 year tenure with Northwell Health as director of interventional radiology at Huntington Hospital, Long Island, where he was assistant professor at Hofstra. Prior to this he was assistant professor and attending at Stony Brook Hospital in Long Island. He is an alumnus of Cornell University and SUNI Stony Brook School of Medicine. He did radiology residency at North Shore University Hospital and fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and has worked in both hospital-based and private practice settings. He is very active in organizational radiology at the state and national level, including as a councillor for the ACR, and volunteers with RAD-AID. Hear his advice on some qualities a good IR should strive for, and his journey to IR.

This episode is an appeal to medical students to check in amongst themselves, and, with the Match approaching, to be resilient and know their worth.

This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay, former Obstetrician, now writer.

Transcript from DFW's speech This is Water 

Fundraiser for Pieta House in honour of Mark 

Students, lean on your supports when needed. Connect. And always remember, YOU have value!