Coming to the United States for a month of immersive training this fall was revelatory for Guyana natives Iliana Persaud, MD, and Nathel Quinn, MD. The two diagnostic radiology residents went back home determined to improve the state of health care there.
Thanks to support from RAD-AID International, the pair spent a month apiece at Emory University Hospital late this year. Dr. Persaud completed her residency in early November and Dr. Quinn is in his second year.
Guyana, located on the northeastern coast of South America, ranks poorly in healthcare indicators. Its breast cancer mortality rate, for example, is 11.2%; the rate in the U.S. is 2.5%. One factor influencing the difference is the lack of imaging resources in the few hospitals there that are routine in America.
“It was a wonderful experience coming from a developing country to one of the best hospitals in the U.S.,” Dr. Persaud said. “I was able to see how a breast imaging department runs with the use of high-end equipment and software. I saw procedures like breast biopsies guided by ultrasound, mammography with tomosynthesis, and MRI, procedures that are not being done in my country. Coming to the United States and seeing lots of equipment at different breast imaging departments motivated me to improve this sector in my country.”
Dr. Quinn plans to specialize in neuroradiology; he’s being sponsored at Emory by Frank Minja, MD. He said the Emory experience was valuable because he gained familiarity with tools that can make him a better physician.
“In Guyana, we do not have an MRI machine within the public healthcare system,” he said. “The main public hospital has only one CT scanner, which is frequently challenged by high patient workloads. Additionally, we face significant difficulties in obtaining proper imaging for ultrasound. My primary objective in coming here was to deepen my understanding of radiology practices and technologies. I wanted to learn more about certain diseases we study but often cannot diagnose effectively.”
Along with the availability of imaging equipment, Dr. Quinn was impressed by how quickly Emory’s diagnostic radiologists made patient diagnoses.
“Something that shocked me is that for clinic patients and outpatients, their CT scan and MRI reports are provided within four hours,” he said. “That is so good. We are nowhere close to that (in Guyana). We usually give patients a couple of days.”
RAD-AID started Guyana’s first radiology residency in 2017 at Georgetown Public Hospital, which now graduates three to five radiologists per year. Most teaching there happens remotely through a Cloud-based PACS.
Juan Diego Guerrero-Calderon, MD, an assistant professor at Emory’s Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, is a member of RAD-AID’s Global Health Team. After sponsoring a women’s imaging fellow from Tanzania at Emory in 2022, he believed that the institution would be a great place for Guyana residents. With the support of colleague Frank Minja, MD, Dr. Guerrero-Calderon established the program.
“We had to make it happen with RAD-AID funding and Emory being completely helpful and open to receiving both of them,” said Dr. Guerrero-Calderon, who started a RAD-AID program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham when he was a resident there. “It took a lot of coordination for their credentialing and where they were going to live. But it was very successful.”
The two residents took different paths to arrive at radiology. Dr. Persaud wanted to pursue family medicine. She changed her focus after seeing her husband, a diagnostic radiologist, at work in the reading room.
“I gave myself a chance to rotate within the different departments before deciding what I wanted to do,” she said. “Radiology suits me.”
Dr. Quinn chose radiology after a health scare. Originally interested in orthopaedic surgery, he began suffering seizures, canceling his plans to pursue the specialty. What caused the seizures remains a mystery, but he hasn’t had one since moving to radiology.
“I was informed that radiology presented opportunities where I could specialize without posing a risk to patients,” he said. “I embraced this path because it allows me to explore a wide range of medical conditions. I now plan to specialize in neuroradiology, which truly feels like my calling.”
Dr. Guerrero-Calderon plans to continue strengthening the partnership between Emory and RAD-AID Guyana. He believes his hospital was fortunate to host the two residents.
“They both have great knowledge,” he said. “They’re very dedicated to their work. Their best qualities are how much they care for their patients. That’s their main motivation. That’s why they’re radiologists.”
Dr. Persaud plans to spread the word about the RAD-AID program to more residents in Guyana. Her first-hand experience in America will help her recruit physicians who can improve things back home.
“If you don’t know, how are you going to advocate?” she said. “I’m going to fight to build and improve this program, come up with proposals and encourage more residents to come over to see if they can get the same exposure. I want more people on my team to fight for this development.”
We’re thankful to have more than 1,300 volunteers who proudly serve their fields to improve patient outcomes. They’re happy to contribute and grateful for fellow medical professionals who work to make the world a better place. In the spirit of the season, we asked a few for their comments about giving back.
Drú Curtis, MD
DR Initial Certification Advisory Committee
“As the holidays continue approaching, I am reminded daily to express my heartfelt gratitude and believe it is imperative that we each continue volunteering our time and expertise in whatever ways we can. We have a unique opportunity to serve our communities in copious impactful respects, from our patients who entrust us with their care to supporting the next professional generation. Reflecting upon my amazing colleagues and faculty at AdventHealth who remain focused on providing exceptional care as well as training, I am blessed beyond measure and proud to be part of our team where service remains a core pillar of our work. While challenges within the field remain and obstacles will emerge, I increasingly appreciate how important service is to overcoming them, and become more confident in our pursuits each day.”
Brian Funaki, MD
IR/DR Certifying Exam Committee
“The importance of volunteerism has never been greater in our increasingly transactional world. It remains the lifeblood of a community, whether that be your home, hospital, or professional society. I am thankful that I have the time and ability to help – even with the smallest tasks – because it makes a difference in my own life and in those around me.”
Katherine Tzu, MD
RO Qualifying Exam Committee
“I was taught that the most valuable gift you could give someone is your time, whether it is patients, family, friends, or strangers. We were all put on earth to take care of each other. I try to live my life with that in mind and it helps me maintain perspective. We all have a gift, be it mentoring, cooking, writing, playing music, or even just listening. The capacity to share our gifts with the world is our superpower.”
Kai Yang, PhD
DR Qualifying Exam Committee
“I am thankful for the great care providers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. My daughter survived three life-threatening events last year and was in hospital for 108 days with 54 days under intubation. Now she is back in school and on her way to full recovery. I am thankful that I can drive my daughter to school and pick her up every day, just like any another father and daughter do. I am also so proud of being a member of the MGH team and providing the highest quality care to every patient.”
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!”
