Interventional Radiologist
Encino, California

For the last 26 years, I have served as the head of the Interventional Radiology Department at Northridge Medical Center in California. After finishing medical school followed by a residency, I decided to pursue even more education to become an expert in interventional radiology. I often think about the different people I reach as a radiologist.

One story that stands out in my mind involves a patient who was not only a new mother, but the wife of a doctor. Two weeks after her child was born, she noticed a little lump on her chest, poking out, right next to her sternum. Her physician wasn’t sure if it was a localized infection or something else. She didn’t feel ill, but we decided that we needed to get some preliminary examinations done. I performed a chest X-ray, and I saw something that could have been a mass. Next, I proceeded to perform a CT scan and saw definite evidence of a mass that was growing.

I told the patient that I could perform a biopsy on her chest. We quickly prepared her for the procedure and discovered that it was lymphoma. I then surgically implanted an infusion port in her chest to allow her to begin intravenous chemotherapy, followed by a course of radiation therapy. A year later, she is in remission and doing great, concentrating again on raising her young family.

We took the patient and her physician husband through the whole process from diagnosis to treatment. This patient, her husband, and child are some of the people who have had an impact on me during my career. It is rewarding to know how many different roles we play as radiologists, from first suspicion through the problem to a final solution.

I’ve been rewarded many other ways, as well. I’ve gotten the opportunity to mentor young medical students as clinical associate professor in the Department of Radiology at UCLA Medical Center. My students have recognized me five times as a “Teacher of the Year” in the department since 1996, but that is not the best part. My involvement with these students allows me to work with the radiologists of the next generation.

Teaching is a challenge, but my students and I work together to constantly understand the growing field of radiology, and my students offer insight on new technology or ways to reach out to patients.

It is my goal to have the best understanding of the tools I use everyday to help patients. Those tools helped me diagnose and treat that young woman. Through teaching, I can make sure the radiologists of the future have that understanding, too.