Member Spotlight: Kirang Patel, MD

Kirang Patel, MD, is a neuroradiology fellow at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He earned his undergraduate degree in human biology at University of Texas, Austin, and attended medical school at St. George’s University Medical School in Grenada. Dr. Patel completed his residency at University of Missouri, Kansas City.

What or who sparked your interest in radiology?

What really sparked my interest in radiology was when I realized that radiologists are the integral part of medicine and the clinical team. Radiology encompasses all medical specialties and radiologists must be well-versed in various topics related to all of them. For example, when reading a post-operative CT, I have to think like a surgeon; when reading an OB ultrasound, I have to think like an OB/GYN.

Radiologists can also predict different pathologies—such as differences in types of renal cell cancer—or even predict pathology at the molecular level as when predicting different molecular subtypes of hepatocellular adenomas.

However, the field of radiology does not stop there. Not only is there a plethora of study types—from US to nuclear medicine—there are also many procedures that radiologists can perform. Compared to other specialties, we are involved in the care of the most patients. These are some reasons why I became passionate about radiology as a profession. However, radiology as a community is even better. Having such a strong and inviting community made radiology the right choice for me.

What has been the best professional accomplishment in your career?

One of the best professional accomplishments in my career so far would be co-developing and launching the first RSNA Medical Student Taskforce alongside Yasha Gupta, MD, and Adam Swersky, MD. The goal of this taskforce was to help increase medical student engagement within RSNA as well as promoting RSNA and the field of radiology to medical students. It was unbelievable to see how a new group of dedicated students interested in radiology came together and made many projects, such as the Med Student Pulse newsletter, a reality. My biggest passion is medical student teaching and mentorship and I was able to engage in this passion with the help of RSNA.