New Perspectives: Everything Is Shipshape in His Radiology Residency
By ABR Associate Director of Communications Rodney Campbell
June 2026;19(3):8
From naval aviator to diagnostic radiology trainee, Ryan Dinnen, MD, has led a full life in a short time.
Dr. Dinnen, a second-year resident at the Naval Medical Center (NMC) in Portsmouth, Virginia, has been in the service since graduating from high school. His sense of duty was shaped by the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, particularly United Airlines Flight 93 crashing near his Pennsylvania hometown, which motivated him to accept a Navy ROTC scholarship to attend Duquesne University.
“That was my senior year of high school,” he said. “I had already been thinking about the military. I felt the patriotic urge. I wasn’t unique in that.”
After earning his accounting degree from Duquesne in 2006, Dr. Dinnen was commissioned in the Navy. Since then, he has served continuously on active duty, a commitment influenced by his family’s military tradition. His father, brother, and sister all served.
His mother’s nursing career also fueled an early interest in medicine.
“I was kind of torn in high school,” Dr. Dinnen said. “I had always thought about medicine, but I knew I wanted to fly in the military.”
As a pilot of MH-60 Sierras, the Navy’s counterpart to the Black Hawk helicopter, Dr. Dinnen deployed aboard aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, supporting missions that ranged from combat operations to humanitarian relief.
He flew search-and-rescue in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, supported disaster response efforts near Japan following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown, and conducted contingency and anti-piracy operations in the Arabian Gulf.
“You realize pretty quickly that the specifics of the mission change, but the responsibility doesn’t,” Dr. Dinnen said. “Those experiences shaped how I think about leadership. You rely on your team, you stay adaptable, and you focus on doing the job the right way, especially when things aren’t easy.”
Along the way, he, his wife, and their three children navigated the demands of frequent relocations and deployments.
“It’s been pretty profound,” he said. “Those experiences taught us that adaptability and flexibility aren’t just professional skills, they’re part of how we live as a family.”
Dr. Dinnen went on to earn master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Florida and in national security from the Naval War College before matriculating at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where he graduated in 2023.
As the first physician in his family, he entered medical school undecided on a specialty. Ultimately, he chose radiology, drawn to its central role in patient care and collaboration.
“I wanted to be a part of a multidisciplinary team,” he said. “A good radiologist drives a lot of that teamwork. You’re like the head coach more than the quarterback.”
Since beginning residency, Dr. Dinnen has distinguished himself academically and clinically, scoring in the 94th percentile on the American College of Radiology’s Diagnostic Radiology In-Training Exam. He was named Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Intern of the Year in 2024 and Navy Radiology Resident of the Year in 2025.
Chris Kuzniewski, MD, program director emeritus at the NMC in Portsmouth, said those impressive achievements don’t fully sum up Dr. Dinnen’s radiology acumen.
“However great his accomplishments and attributes, his greatest asset is his selflessness and dedication to his classmates and fellow residents,” Dr. Kuzniewski said. “If there is a call shift that needs filling, Ryan will volunteer for it. When they needed a volunteer to stand the night float rotation over Christmas, Ryan volunteered. Remarkably, he does this without complaint or boastfulness. He truly is a resident-servant.”
Dr. Dinnen’s dedication to his specialty goes beyond the workplace. He’s also active as a volunteer, including as a member of the ABR’s Diagnostic Radiology Initial Certification Advisory Committee. The group acts as a liaison between trainees and their medical specialty board.
“It’s a great opportunity to represent residents at the national level,” he said. “It helps me get exposure to how the standards are set and the exam is built. I wanted to be able to understand and then contribute to the process of how we train and assess new radiologists.”
Members of his committee traveled to the ABR’s headquarters in Tucson earlier this year to meet with staff. Dr. Dinnen, who will be taking the DR Qualifying Exam in his fourth year of residency, said he now has a better understanding of what’s ahead and can share that information with fellow residents.
“The most surprising thing was how detailed the process is with Angoff scoring,” he said. “It gave me a lot of comfort as someone who’s going to be taking the exam that there’s real thought and a methodical process to ensure that it’s relevant, fair, and equitable.”
When he was nominated to the committee by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, where he serves as a volunteer, he jumped at the opportunity to learn more about board certification.
“I didn’t know much about the ABR or that there was even an opportunity for resident volunteer involvement,” Dr. Dinnen said. “I just fell into it, and it’s been fantastic.”
