All it took was a little exposure to radiology and Parris Diaz, MD, was beaming. Dr. Diaz, who’s in the intern year of his urology residency, was ready to switch fields. Even at age 30 with an uncertain future ahead, he’s confident that he’s making the right decision.
“You need to be happy in what you’re doing,” said Dr. Diaz, who’s in the urology program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). “I love the field of urology. It has impacted me in more ways than I can count. It has taught me so much, and I’m so appreciative, but I’m excited to go into radiology and discover this new field that I never knew was going to be the one for me.”
Dr. Diaz is the first from his family to attend college. His mother is a caregiver and his father works in construction. When he entered UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, he hadn’t settled on a career direction.
“I went into medical school kind of wide-eyed,” he said. “I went to every specialty thinking, ‘This could be it. This could be the one.’ I went in with no expectations and urology was the one that stuck out to me just because of the people. There are amazing individuals in urology and great personalities.”
His first chance to perform a radiology rotation came during his urology residency. His two opportunities to investigate radiology in his third year as a medical student were canceled.
Dr. Diaz’s urology program set up a two-week mini-rotation last December after he told his director that he wanted to change his plans. It gave him the chance to gain experience with abdominal and chest imaging.
“I always thought radiology was interesting, but I just never knew anything about the field,” he said. “It’s one of those fields where if you don’t rotate on it or do it, how do you really know what the life is like?”
Once he got in the reading room, he knew he was in the right place. It wasn’t a dimly lit spot filled with physicians hunched over their computers. It was instead a place that inspired him to pursue an exciting new direction.
“There’s a lot of collegiality there,” he said. “There’s a lot of learning happening. There’s a lot of people calling, asking for help. The interaction that you’re having, physician to physician, is very gratifying. I know it’s something that can make me happy.”
Seeing physicians working across disciplines to determine patient care matched his experience as a urology resident. He often finds himself consulting with diagnostic radiologists.
“I think radiologists have so much knowledge about every other specialty and they have the tools to help consultants inside the hospital, outside the hospital, in every setting,” Dr. Diaz said. “When I don’t know what’s going on, I find myself calling a radiologist and saying, ‘What should we do next? What should we be looking for?’”
Dr. Diaz has secured a spot as a medical resident at UCSF that starts after his urology time ends in June. He’ll re-enter the Match in September.
“I’m excited for more growth as a doctor that I know will only help me as a radiology resident,” he said.
He’ll likely use some of his time to counsel other residents who are thinking about changing their fields, just as he sought and received advice when he plotted his move.
“There aren’t many of us out there, but I am happy to be able to let others know that it’s OK to switch,” Dr. Diaz said. “It’s OK to change your mind. You’re not a quitter. You have to choose what type of life you want … what type of career you want. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself.”
Even with at least a year off his residency track, Dr. Diaz is willing to sacrifice time for career satisfaction. His professional life could easily last between 30 and 40 years, so he wants to be happy and fulfilled.
“I know that it isn’t going to be an easy road, but it’s a career that I know that I will really enjoy,” he said.
When the ABR Board of Governors approved funding to sponsor the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Visiting Scholars Program starting in 2022, it provided another avenue for residents and ABR-certified early career physicians and physicists to pursue their research goals.
Four physicians have benefitted from being selected for the program so far. The current class includes Francis Deng, MD (diagnostic radiology); Leslie Chang, MD (radiation oncology); and Ria Muhlerkar, MD (radiation oncology).
Applications for the next cohort will be accepted until June 17. An informational webinar will be held tomorrow.
We asked our three current Visiting Scholars for updates on their projects and what they think of the experience.
What is the subject of your research?
Dr. Chang: My research involves the development of a patient safety and quality improvement (PSQI) curriculum within radiation oncology residencies. We developed a pilot workshop for residents to work through the different steps in the development of a departmental QI initiative in improving multidisciplinary patient handoff when adaptive radiation therapy is planned. The curriculum covers topics such as stakeholder engagement, process mapping, causal analysis, intervention implementation, and sustainability. The impact on physician education and interest in future QI initiatives will be assessed through pre-post curriculum surveys and PSQI-based exam questions.
Dr. Deng: The aim is to develop a platform that enables deliberate practice for cross-sectional image interpretation. The basic idea is a simulated diagnostic image viewing environment that allows learners to drill a microskill over and over again, such as systematically searching through a volume of CT images for a specific set of abnormalities. The platform would assess the performance of learners and whether they have met a threshold of competence for the activity. At the same time, the platform provides feedback on the correct answer and enables more efficient development of visual expertise.
Dr. Mulherkar: The subject revolves around the idea of self-efficacy, or, in other words, the confidence that individuals have in their own ability to do something. We know that women are underrepresented in many highly technical medical specialties, and this is a multifactorial issue. One potential contributor to this is lower perceived self-efficacy in women compared to men. My project uses both survey and interview techniques to determine whether there are gender-based differences in self-efficacy of medical students and residents when it comes to radiation oncology. Do women feel less confident in performing highly technical tasks associated with the specialty, and could this make them less likely to pursue the field?
How did you choose your research subject?
Dr. Chang: The decision stemmed from a personal interest in quality improvement projects in radiation oncology during my clinical training. Engaging in departmental patient safety initiatives and participating in leadership development programs equipped me with the necessary skills within a systems thinking framework to tackle this project. It had also taught me skills that have not been formalized in medical education, although it is a formative aspect of physician engagement in quality and safety initiatives in practice.
Dr. Deng: I had this idea since reading a body of literature on learning radiograph interpretation led by Dr. Martin Pusic, who is now the director of the ABMS Research and Education Foundation. The whole idea made so much sense to me, but it struck me that it has yet to take hold in radiology education at large and it has not been well implemented for cross-sectional imaging, which is what I deal with as a neuroradiologist. The Visiting Scholars program became an opportunity to create collaboration and push the idea further.
Dr. Mulherkar: I am very interested in educational research as well as gender disparities. When I learned of the opportunity of the ABMS Visiting Scholar’s Program through the ABR, I discussed my interests with one of my mentors, Dr. Ellsworth. She pointed me to some literature in this space, and after discussing our ideas, we were able to design a project investigating this issue.
How has your Visiting Scholar experience been?
Dr. Chang: The Visiting Scholar experience has been incredibly enriching, providing a broader understanding of various programs and research in continuing medical education. It has facilitated connections with the specialty societies within ABMS and Council of Medical Specialty Societies as well as broader medical organization such as American Medical Association, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. It has also helped foster collaborations between scholars and provided insight into ongoing questions in medical education to refine examination methods and improve patient outcomes.
Dr. Deng: The program is more than just a grant mechanism for one’s project. It has been a way to network with, get inspired by, and share ideas with other educators at various career stages who are involved in medical education research and organizational leadership. Many innovative ideas in the medical education space are brewing outside of radiology and it’s helpful to get exposure through a program like this and related conferences to know what’s going on and think about bringing it into radiology.
Dr. Mulherkar: The experience has been amazing. It’s such a privilege to be part of the monthly sessions with the other visiting scholars. It’s an opportunity not just to hear about their incredibly important work, but also to learn from their research methods and the challenges they have faced. Recently, we had an opportunity to all meet in person at the annual Visiting Scholars meeting in Chicago, and it was wonderful to be able to connect with physicians across different specialties who have similar interests in research and education.
The ABR pleased to announce the addition of two physicians to its Board of Governors: James C. Anderson, MD, and Karen Ragland Cole, MD, MBA. The volunteers will begin their two-year terms at the end of the ABR’s fall meeting in late September.
Dr. Anderson is a professor of neuroradiology and vice-chair of education in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and assistant dean for graduate medical education at Oregon Health & Science University. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska and his medical degree from the University of Nebraska School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center – Wichita Wesley Medical Center and a fellowship in neuroradiology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He maintains board certification in diagnostic radiology and subspecialty certification in neuroradiology. He is a past chair of the ACGME Resident Review Committee for Radiology and serves on the ACGME-International Surgical/Hospital-based Review Committee. He was recently appointed president of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology. He has extensive experience as an ABR volunteer, including as an oral examiner.
Dr. Cole is a partner at MemorialCare Medical Group of Long Beach Memorial/Miller Children and Women’s Hospital. She earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University, her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and a master’s degree in public health at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Cole completed her radiology residency and body imaging fellowship at Kaiser Permanente Sunset in Los Angeles, a first-year neuroradiology fellowship at LAC/USC Medical Center and second-year neuroradiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. She added a Master of Business Administration from UCLA. Dr. Cole maintains board certification in diagnostic radiology and subspecialty certification in both neuroradiology and pediatric radiology. She is a member of the Section of Radiology and Radiation Oncology for the National Medical Association, is past president of the Association of Black Women Physicians, and represents the California Radiological Society as a councilor to the American College of Radiology. She is also a certified parliamentarian and past president of the National Association of Parliamentarians’ Green Gavel Electronic Unit. She has participated in efforts to address health disparities locally and globally and has served as a volunteer on two Haiti mission. Last year, she volunteered to serve on the ABR’s Continuing Certification Advisory Committee for Diagnostic Radiology.
The Board of Governors is responsible for ABR financial affairs, Initial and Continuing Certification (MOC) program processes, communications, strategic planning and priority setting, intersociety relations and outreach, and application of American Board of Medical Specialty standards.
