Experienced Diplomate Doing Her Part to Serve ‘Beautiful Field’
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2024;18(4):7
When she writes nuclear radiology questions for the ABR’s Qualifying (Core) Exam, Arti Gupta, MD, taps into her more than three decades of experience to develop appropriate content.
But that knowledge only went so far to boost her confidence as a new volunteer producing questions for the challenging Initial Certification exam. Dr. Gupta started her ABR committee work in 2024 after years of considering the possibility.
“I was kind of intimidated in the beginning because I had been in radiology for more than 30 years and never had a chance to do it,” she said. “I was a little nervous about how things were going to be, but I couldn’t have imagined a better group … all the support staff and everybody. They’re just amazing people.”
A clinical professor in the department of radiological sciences at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, Dr. Gupta can already see the benefits of her volunteerism. Meeting her colleagues in person last year in Tucson to finalize their questions for the exam was a valuable opportunity.
“It’s good to be connected with various programs and give back to your field that has given you so much,” she said. “It’s a very pleasant and soulful experience.”
Her ABR work started not long before she made a big career change, moving to UC Irvine a year ago this past April from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita. The move impacted her onboarding to volunteer work as she was also getting accustomed to a new work life after almost 19 years at the same job.
Now better settled in California, Dr. Gupta is more comfortable writing exam questions.
“It does take some time to grasp it,” she said. “I’m pretty sure my questions from this year are going to be much better than they were last year.”
Ephraim Parent, MD, PhD, the chair of Dr. Gupta’s committee, said his colleague’s contributions to the group are beneficial.
“Dr. Gupta brings a palpable enthusiasm for radiology resident education to the ABR committee and is always happy to help with any project that is presented,” Dr. Parent said. “She is a team player who brings a unique insight to the Nuclear Radiology Qualifying Exam Committee. She has great attention to detail and often finds ways to improve the question writing of the entire group.”
Born in India, Dr. Gupta came to the U.S. after graduating from King George’s Medical University. She landed in Chicago to complete a nuclear medicine residency at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and diagnostic radiology residency at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Dr. Gupta believed that she would get better training in the U.S. before returning home for a diagnostic radiology fellowship in India. After that, she added a body imaging fellowship at Northwestern.
“The quality of radiology drew me to the U.S.,” she said. “It was good over here and, in that era, it wasn’t in India. Now I would say it’s comparable.”
Her husband, Akash Joshi, MD, is also a radiologist and ABR volunteer who writes Online Longitudinal Assessment questions. They hope their two adult children, both of whom are considering medical careers, will keep up the family tradition of practicing radiology.
“It is just a beautiful field,” Dr. Gupta said.
She works closely with trainees and fellows at UC Irvine, giving her a better idea of what content should be included on the Qualifying (Core) Exam. She also makes notes on potential exam content while performing her clinical duties.
“It helps to interact with residents on an everyday basis and know the curriculum, what they’re supposed to know,” she said. “Most questions come from everyday bread-and-butter things.”
Dr. Gupta is making the most of her ABR volunteer experience. Even though she started later in her career, she gets satisfaction from her efforts.
“If I had started earlier, it would’ve been much better for my career,” she said. “But it’s OK. Better late than never.”
