In March, RP announced the launch of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), naming 13 radiologists to senior executive leadership roles. One newly named Associate CMO is Dr. Arthy Saravanan, Associate CMO for Recruitment.
Dr. Saravanan is a breast imaging radiologist for ARA Diagnostic Imaging serving the Austin, Texas region. Dr. Saravanan is the chair of ARA’s Marketing committee and a member of ARA’s Executive Committee. Additionally, she serves as Assistant Professor for the Department of Diagnostic Medicine at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas in Austin. She received her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana; completed her residency in radiology at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan, and Aultman/Mercy Hospital/NorthEast Ohio Medical University, Canton, Ohio; and completed her fellowship in breast imaging at the University Health Network at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She joined RP in 2019.
As ACMO for Recruitment, Dr. Saravanan will partner with recruiting support board and teammates to develop national recruiting strategy and collaborate with the brand development team to further elevate the RP brand.
We sat down with Dr. Saravanan to learn more about her aspirations for RP’s Office of the CMO and her role as Associate CMO for Recruitment.
Tell us about your tenure/history with RP.
I joined RP in February 2019 with ARA. Prior to that, I had recently finished my fellowship in 2017. When I was interviewing, I considered several jobs with RP, and one of my top choices was an RP job in Houston. Subsequently, after I took the job in ARA, we decided to collaborate with RP. It is interesting to have both of those perspectives –looking at RP as a new radiologist fresh out of training and actually joining RP as part of a local practice.
What attracted you to RP?
I was very drawn to RP’s overall mission of transforming radiology and being locally led with a national presence. Within the first few months of joining RP, I was able to see that the practice really did hold to their motto of being locally governed. I didn’t see any significant changes on the local level, but now we had the opportunity to explore and seek resources for other things, such as provider services or recruiting. The way I describe RP to many candidates is that it’s really an umbrella organization that provides resources, support and guidance, yet locally, individual practices still make their own decisions.
How has your experience prepared you for your role as Associate CMO of Recruitment?
I started leading recruitment in my local practice one year after joining. At that time, there was a shortage of breast imaging radiologists nationally, and it was impacting us locally, as we had six open spots to fill within that subspecialty. With my perspective being fresh out of training, the ability to relate to candidates and some good luck, we were able to fill all of the open positions. In that experience, I became very interested in what motivated candidates to accept certain opportunities. I also have experience serving as ARA’s Chair of Marketing wherein I served as a brand ambassador for my local practice. That is important, because in recruiting, you are often the face of the practice to candidates. I am looking forward to leveraging strategies from different markets and sharing them with other practices.
What do you want to accomplish in this role?
My main goal is to collaborate with the well-established Recruitment Support Board and the entire Recruiting team to further grow recruitment nationally. We have a very strong platform, and my aim is to bring the clinical or physician’s perspective to that platform. I also intend to collaborate with the Recruiting team and Support Board on goals that they have already established in hopes of steady growth and improvement in this area.
What does the future of radiology look like in 5 years? 10 years? How will RP contribute to that?
Radiology is a field that is on the cutting edge of transformation, and it has been evolving since it began. In 5-10 years, I believe we will see a lot of positive change. We will continue to use technology to better radiology for our radiologists and our support teammates, and I think radiologists will need to continue to stay updated on technology as it advances. Our mission of transforming radiology will continue to position us well, and I think that mission really aligns with how radiology as a whole will evolve in the coming years.
Dr. Arthy Saravanan is the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Recruitment at Radiology Partners, a leading physician-led and physician-owned radiology practice in the U.S. For the latest news from RP, follow along on our blog and on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
