A native Californian, Jocelyn Cheng, MD, is happy to be back in her home state for her diagnostic radiology residency.

To start at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, however, she had to rush across the country and get settled in a little less than a week. Before beginning her residency on July 1, she finished her intern year at Brockton Hospital near Boston and went on a quick family trip to Cape Cod in June.

“I had eight days off from the end of my (internship) to the start of this residency,” she said. “It ended up being more like a three-day scramble.”

Fortunately, she had help. Her older brother is performing a neurology fellowship at USCF Medical Center and was able to locate an apartment for Dr. Cheng that’s just a seven-minute commute to work. He also helped her move furniture and pick up a few necessities.

Her new roommate, a fellow radiology resident named Priya, also made the transition easier. The two met on Instagram.

“My brother and Priya were just so incredibly helpful to me during those first few days and the initial move-in,” Dr. Cheng said. “(The move-in process) helped me bond with Priya a little bit.”

After she started her residency on July 1, she found her new cohorts to be just as welcoming. Less than a month into the program, the group went on a weekend trip to wineries in Napa.

“Being in an environment where people have so many common interests has been really fun,” Dr. Cheng said. “I think all of my co-residents get along smashingly.”

An East Coast Upbringing

Coming back to California wasn’t a guarantee. Dr. Cheng’s family moved out of the state when she was young, and she graduated from high school in Massachusetts and earned her undergraduate and medical degrees at Brown University in Rhode Island.

Her experience before and during the Match process convinced her that UCSF was the right place to continue her training, despite the cross-country relocation.

“There were a ton of really strong academic institutions on the East Coast that I was considering,” she said. “I enjoyed the individual interactions during interview day. When I did an away rotation (at UCSF), I really liked the faculty.”

Dr. Cheng’s interest in radiology started early in medical school. An engineering major during her undergrad studies, she found diagnostic radiology perfect for her technology background and natural curiosity. She had been considering pediatrics.

“I think when you’re solving a mystery, the most fun part is being the detective,” she said. “It’s not being a lawyer who’s trying to argue the facts. It’s not being a social worker who’s carrying out certain tasks to help bring the victim’s family justice. It’s being the detective and doing diagnostic work behind the scenes.”

Third-year rotations in mammography and pediatric radiology sealed her plans. Both involved collaborative work environments; she chose pediatrics for her career path.

“I found that there were plenty of conversations with patients and other doctors that satisfied my need to talk to people,” Dr. Cheng said. “There were a lot of patient encounters and hands-on care.”

Dr. Cheng benefitted from working with Elizabeth Dibble, MD, an associate professor of diagnostic imaging at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. Their collaboration resulted in a highly competitive grant award to Dr. Cheng from the Radiological Society of North America (Dr. Cheng put together the grant application), abstract presentations, and publications, one of which received an award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

“Jocelyn was an excellent student to work with,” Dr. Dibble said. “She had such great ideas and was a pleasure to work with.”

Next Year Brings New Challenge

Still early in her residency, Dr. Cheng knows she has much to learn before practicing independently. One of the biggest challenges will come when she goes on call next year.

“The first step is making sure that I don’t miss anything that’s emergent and will hurt someone,” she said. “Trying to become a safe radiologist is my first priority, and then becoming a good or great one is going to come later in my progression.”

After the grind of a yearlong internship at Brockton that included significant time in the emergency department, Dr. Cheng is energized and motivated for her UCSF residency to get going.

Her cross-country odyssey resulted in a work life that’s just what she wants: all radiology, all the time.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much I want to roll out of bed and go to work every day,” Dr. Cheng said.