Service is one of the core values of Radiology Partners (RP) and foundational to everything we do. In line with RP’s ongoing commitment to living its values, RP partnered again with RAD-AID International for a medical mission trip to Guyana, South America, in June 2024.
Three radiologists and two technologists from RP volunteered to serve on the trip, providing guidance to residents in training at Georgetown Public Hospital in Georgetown, Guyana. With a population of 750,000, Guyana ranks poorly in healthcare indicators compared to neighboring countries, and the country’s Ministry of Health is working to improve the healthcare system. In 2017, RAD-AID partnered with the Ministry of Health and the University of Guyana to start the country’s first radiology residency program.
RP radiologists focused on teaching residents at Guyana’s largest hospital, which serves as the referral site for the entire country. “They’re just absolutely thirsty to learn from subspecialty radiologists,” said Dr. Krishna Nallamshetty, chief medical officer for RP and a cardiovascular radiologist. “We gave three lectures a day. What we realized is the things we take for granted are resources, which are quite different from the resources they have. Yet the residents were fully committed to doing their best job to take care of their patients, and the amount of knowledge they had was phenomenal. We were seeing the most complex patients in the country, and they were very knowledgeable about what the findings were.”
Dr. Phillip Granchi, diagnostic radiologist for RP’s SEAL Team, jumped at the chance to join the medical mission trip, as he had been looking for ways to use his skills as a radiologist to serve. “Coming back from this trip, I’ve recognized that radiology, more than any other medical specialty, has the ability to share knowledge because of access to technology. This ability can transform how young radiologists are trained, educated, nurtured and brought into the greater understanding of what we do. That would be a good way to transform radiology and the world.”
RP technologists spent time with technologists at the hospital and assisted residents with procedures. Danielle Berthold, R.T. (R)(ARRT), registered technologist at Premier Radiology, aided with fluoroscopic procedures, x-rays and positioning adjustments. “If you can teach one tech one small adjustment to make a better image for the rest of her patients for the rest of her career – is that not a positive?” Berthold said. “This trip impacted my life to the point where I have decided I am going to start training and hopefully in the future be registered as a mammography tech on top of an x-ray tech, because I realize this is what I want to do, to try to do more international work.”
Pamela Ward, R.T. (R)(M)(CT)(BD)(ARRT), a mammography technologist at Premier Radiology, said the mammography machine at Georgetown Public Hospital is the only one in the country. “The technologists I worked with were full of questions and wanted to know about our rules, regulations, standards, protocols and how we do our paperwork. It really goes both ways, because we’re going over to share our knowledge, but we’re also learning from them. It was a really good experience.”
Dr. Shanshan Bao, pediatric radiologist at Jefferson Radiology, called the mission trip “a life-changing experience.”
“To be able to kind of teach residents the art, so to speak, of radiology, it made me appreciate my own value and the attributes and assets I bring to the organization.”
Learn more about RP’s collaboration with RAD-AID International, including the 2023 service trip to Zanzibar, Tanzania, and RP and RAD-AID’s global health partnership formed in 2020. See more Rad Reach features, including Dr. Heather Tauschek’s efforts in Alaska and Dr. Arlene Richardson’s service with RAD-AID Tanzania.
From left to right, the team of radiologists, technologists and leaders who traveled on RP’s service trip include Dr. Philip Granchi, diagnostic radiologist with RP’s SEAL Team; Dr. Shanshan Bao, pediatric radiologist at Jefferson Radiology; Pamela Ward, R.T. (R)(M)(CT)(BD)(ARRT), registered technologist at Premier Radiology; Danielle Berthold, R.T. (R)(ARRT), registered technologist at Premier Radiology; and Dr. Krishna Nallamshetty, chief medical officer at RP and cardiovascular radiologist.
Radiology Partners, through its owned and affiliated practices, is a leading physician-led and physician-owned radiology practice in the U.S. Learn more about our mission, values and practice principles at RadPartners.com. For the latest news from RP, follow along on our blog and on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. Interested in learning about career opportunities? Visit our careers page.
