An ABR volunteer since 2006, Rob Gelczer, MD, will see his term on the OLA MSK Committee end next March. He’s having so much fun that he’s already looking for ways to stay in the mix. 

“This will be my last go-around, so I’m actively asking (ABR MSK Trustee Dan Davis, MD) where he can put me,” said Dr. Gelczer, who works for Radiology Associates in Oklahoma City. 

Chances are good that Dr. Gelczer’s days as a volunteer aren’t over. Along with serving as an oral examiner from 2006 to 2012, he wrote questions for the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Exam from 2009 to 2018 and has spent the past seven years writing and reviewing OLA questions. 

It’s been a valuable educational experience. Dr. Gelczer finds that working with the ABR makes him a better physician. 

“The best thing is just being able to look at cases,” he said. “No matter where you practice, there’s a certain patient population that you’re going to see on a regular basis, and there are some areas of radiology that you get rusty on because it’s not part of your normal patient base. This is better than any CME. Just getting out there, seeing the cases that are important and making sure my knowledge base stays fresh and is keeping my radiology skills sharp.” 

When he started as a volunteer, Dr. Gelczer was amazed to be working alongside notable people from his field. Better yet, he became friends with many of them, creating a camaraderie that made tasks more enjoyable. 

Dr. Gelczer enjoyed the time he spent with Donna Blankenbaker, MD, Paul Capp, MD, and Kay Vydareny, MD. He said it was a humbling experience to have chips and salsa in Tucson with Lynn Steinbach, MD, when she was president of the International Skeletal Society. 

“They are luminaries and I learned a great deal from them,” he said. “I always told people that I was very happy to be the dumbest guy in the room.” 

Drs. Davis and Gelczer met 17 years ago when they were MSK oral examiners in Louisville. Dr. Gelczer was a first timer and Dr. Davis was in his second year. 

“Rob asked me how to get cases together for the exam sessions and for advice on how to give oral boards,” Dr. Davis said. “We became good friends.”  

They quickly found common ground and remain friends today. They were both president of their private practice groups and live 2.5 hours apart. Dr. Davis often stopped in Oklahoma City to visit Dr. Gelczer when he drove to Amarillo, Texas, to visit his father-in-law. 

Dr. Gelczer even got his yellow labrador retriever based on Dr. Davis’ experience with the breed. 

“He is a wonderful, upbeat, positive person,” Dr. Davis said. “Everyone at the ABR loves Rob.” 

And Dr. Gelczer loves his field. After earning his medical degree at Columbia University, he completed residencies in orthopaedic surgery and diagnostic radiology at the Mayo Clinic. He later finished an MSK fellowship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. 

His experience with radiologists as an orthopaedic surgery resident convinced him that he needed to make a change. 

“I liked orthopaedic surgery, but I didn’t love it,” he said of his first residency. “At the same time, I was going by the radiology department to have them look at the x-rays on my patients or the CTs or MRIs and I saw what radiologists actually did.” 

His switch to MSK was easier after conversations with his mentor at Mayo. Doris Winger, MD, had taken the same route. 

“She said, ‘Rob, if you wound up doing a musculoskeletal fellowship, it would really be helpful given your orthopaedic surgery experience,’” he said. “I always feel comfortable talking to orthopaedic surgeons and speaking their language.” 

Dr. Gelczer earned his diagnostic radiology initial certification after passing the oral exam in 1998 in Louisville. He sees value in multiple-choice exams but believes nothing can replace the interaction between colleagues that takes place during orals. After receiving extensive feedback from stakeholders, the ABR is bringing back the diagnostic radiology oral certifying exam in 2028. 

“It’s more real-world,” he said. “I think going back to an oral board examination is a much truer assessment of how a person will function as a practicing radiologist day to day.” 

Restarting the oral exam is going to require many volunteers; the recruiting effort is scheduled to begin in 2026. If asked, Dr. Gelczer is ready to continue serving his specialty and patients. 

“I would really love that,” he said. “That would be my first choice!”