After a year of learning about several medical specialties during his transition year, Logan Ryals, MD, is relieved to start his residency and concentrate on career goals.
While his experience, mostly with internal medicine and surgery, at Ascension Saint Joseph Hospital in the Chicago area was valuable, it was just a warm-up for what Dr. Ryals wants to do. Since his third year at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, he’s been locked in on diagnostic radiology.
“I was interacting mostly with internal medicine doctors who were telling me how they interpreted an x-ray,” he said. “That’s all good, but I wanted to get into the nitty gritty and learn how to interpret CTs, x-rays, and MRIs.”
Dr. Ryals started his DR residency July 1 at UChicago Medicine. After performing rounds during his preliminary year and doing patient-facing work, he believes devoting his time to the reading room will better suit him.
“I’m affected by the noise and chaos in the hospital,” Dr. Ryals said. “I’m looking forward to having a different work environment. I know there will still be super busy days and chaotic lists to get through, but at least the surroundings will be calm.”
Doing rounds during medical school, including time in the emergency department, started his interest in radiology. Shadowing a diagnostic radiologist for a few days was the clincher. He immediately went to his program director in search of ways to get more experience in the specialty.
“I wanted something that could provide a mix of things,” Dr. Ryals said. “I wanted a specialty that could touch all of medicine and provide some kind of working knowledge about all medical specialties. I think radiology is perfect for that.”
His mother, a nurse, was an inspiration for him to pursue medicine in the first place. She often talked about her day at work when she came home.
“Seeing her thrive in that environment and hearing some of her stories, I thought, ‘OK. I think I want to do something in the medical field,’” he said.
Doing well in high school science and biology was another deciding factor to pursue medicine. Dr. Ryals was the first person from his family to attend college. Medical school was the plan while he was earning an undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Southern Mississippi.
“I thought I would be a family doctor or an internal medicine doctor,” he said. “Those are the doctors you see the most. I thought I wanted that kind of strong patient interaction, but as I matured and realized what I valued, I realized that I liked behind-the-scenes work.”
After earning his medical degree, Dr. Ryals’ goal was to do his preliminary year and residency in the same city. With that achieved, the only move he and his wife made over the past year was to get a little closer to UChicago. They sold their cars when they moved from Mississippi and use public transit.
Spending a year in Chicago has made him more comfortable in the area even with the inevitable adjustments that come with starting a new program.
“I know I’ll have to learn a new hospital system and where everything is, but at least I know the city a little bit better,” he said.
When he completes his residency, Dr. Ryals said he might consider a neuroradiology fellowship. He’s leaving his specific career plans open as he starts his residency, but working with trainees looks appealing given his passion for teaching.
He and his medical school study partner traded off teaching each other chapters from their textbooks as they prepared for exams. He also mentored third-year medical students during his fourth year.
“I definitely want to work in an academic environment at some point, whether that’s right out of residency or whether I do private practice first and then come back,” he said. “I love to teach. That’s how you really know a concept – if you can teach it.”
