Guided by Many: How Relationships Shaped My Path to Radiology
By Joshua Baker, PhD
The importance to my family of my recent match in diagnostic radiology cannot be overstated. As a first-generation physician, I am ecstatic to have reached this incredible milestone! As members of the middle class, my parents and extended family worked endlessly to give my two sisters and me a better future, so it was a cathartic moment to share Match Day with them.
I could not have accomplished what I did without the anxious phone calls to family or weekend getaways to unwind with friends. Their steady encouragement grounded me through uncertainty and reminded me why I chose this path. Carrying those relationships forward, I enter radiology not only with gratitude but with a commitment to support others as deeply as I have been supported. Being new to medicine, personal relationships were what helped me through the unfamiliar social and academic hurdles of the match process.
As national chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Medical Student Section, I have had the opportunity to connect with many amazing radiologists and peers. Over the past eight years of dual-degree training, their guidance has helped me overcome seemingly endless challenges. More broadly, listening and learning from experienced radiologists about how forces such as increasing volume, decreasing reimbursement, and artificial intelligence would affect my career was essential. What surprised me was the strong interest they had in my ideas on the challenges facing the field. Radiology leaders are ready to engage with medical students and help them shape the future of the profession. While working with state and national advocates at the ACR and Michigan Radiologic Society, I discovered leaders who wanted to help me not only become a radiologist but also experience the joy of advocating for patients and colleagues I would never meet. Only in those spaces did I come to appreciate what it means to join the profession.
For me, the human aspects of radiology remain front and center as I celebrate my match success. All of us who just matched are entering an exciting and critical period for the profession, which will require engagement at the local, state, and national levels. I know we will meet challenges with the same tenacity we brought to our training. I also encourage radiologists reading this to mentor the next generation or advocate for the profession so it remains the best specialty in medicine and a cornerstone of world-class patient care. Without my whole team, I most certainly would not be here celebrating this momentous achievement!
Dr. Baker is an eighth-year DO/PhD candidate at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine MSTP program. He matched in diagnostic radiology at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.
