CXR Careers in Radiology

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. 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. 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.

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: [email protected]. Finally, THANK YOU to all our listeners who contribute to the rads conversation! Keep it up!

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. 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. 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. 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

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!

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.