Dr. Arthy Saravanan, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Recruitment at Radiology Partners (RP), recently spoke with Dr. Ramesh Gopi, diagnostic radiologist and practice president of RP Silicon Valley.

Dr. Gopi discussed the benefits of RP’s support network, technology and resources – and how the support and flexibility allow him to maintain work-life balance. Read excerpts from their discussion below, and watch an extended version here.

Dr. Saravanan: How did you learn about RP, and what made you want to join?

Dr. Gopi: I did most of my training in Southern California, and Radiology Partners is headquartered in El Segundo. When I trained at UCLA, many of my colleagues ended up taking positions at RP practices, so I had some great feedback from them when my practice was scouting for groups to partner with. They had great things to say about RP regarding leadership, technology and operations, which really compelled the decision to look at RP seriously. We ended up partnering with RP in November 2020.

Now that you’ve been in the partnership for a couple of years, what was that transition like for you as a practicing radiologist before and after joining RP?

RP has a tremendous number of resources, including a large team of integrations specialists who help you think through the different steps of merging your practice with a larger entity. There’s literally a spreadsheet with 100 items on there and teammates who walk you through every single item because they’ve done this before. That makes the process very smooth. Each local practice has a practice director to help coordinate and orchestrate the entire process. Having never done something like this before, I can tell you single-handedly, we couldn’t have accomplished it, but as a team with RP, we were able to do it successfully over a few months.

Are there any significant things that stand out about being an RP radiologist?

RP brings so much to the table with its supportive network and access to resources. With so many radiologists, RP can still do an IT implementation in a week. They have their own teleradiology practice. They have many AI tools that can be implemented on-site and on-demand. They have partnerships with many other companies to help you implement a go-live very quickly. That came to bear two years after we merged with RP, when we expanded into another area where we took over a hospital contract. We saw how smoothly that process went.

How did you get into your role as practice president of RP Silicon Valley? Do you feel like there is support from the larger RP network to guide you in this leadership role?

I have a very interesting story. I started out as an engineer in Southern California and then decided to pursue medical imaging. After training, a colleague and I, as young radiologists, started a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area and were able to assume the reins of a hospital contract in Silicon Valley. It was an exciting experience, and we learned a lot. We had to immediately grow into a leadership role to interface with hospital administration, billing companies and many other factions of people and resources, which lent itself to an organic development of leadership. RP has been great about honing that leadership in a more definitive way. As soon as we merged with RP, I got several calls from individuals in RP asking me to lead some AI initiatives, which led to me form relationships with these individuals, learn a lot about these technologies and ultimately bring those to our hospital. I’m very grateful to RP for being able to take this to the next level and help us improve our existing leadership capabilities.

What are your hobbies?

My real passion is coffee. I have a coffee bar at home, and I roast my own beans, make my own coffee and experiment a lot with that. We started this little cooperative with the technologists and hospital personnel and created a coffee bar inside an imaging center. Some of the technologists have learned how to become baristas. I also enjoy hiking. We live in a great neighborhood with ancient redwoods near us, so we can get there within a short period of time. I enjoy having people over; I grew up in a joint family in India, and that experience of being social really stayed with me.

How do you maintain your work-life balance, with your hobbies and your leadership roles at RP?

It is a challenge, but RP makes it easier by giving you the ability to work remotely. My mother recently had knee surgery, and I needed to keep an eye on her. I still wanted to work the daytime shift, so RP installed a workstation in my parents’ house, allowing me to read studies and check up on her. On the work front, RP has meetings and events throughout the year that help you mingle with other radiologists and get ideas from them. RP has really built a community around the whole concept of a large practice, which is great.

Talk to me a little bit about flexibility and burnout. With increasing volumes, radiologists are feeling a lot of pressure to read and keep up. How do you manage and deal with that?

I think we all go through it in different phases. All of us have exposure to events and things that make it a high-pressure environment. My whole philosophy is that happy radiologists will read films well. You have to find ways to de-stress and compensate for that pressure, and I think a lot of that comes down to having supportive colleagues – a great team, support teammates, practice directors and the backbone of an organization that can support you. RP offers Coaching Circles, which provide a way to share your thoughts in a forum and get life coaching on how to decrease stress levels. We have an associate chief medical officer, Dr. Chris Mattern, who is deeply involved in this. I often refer to his material in the hopes of improving the morale in our hospital. For example, during the pandemic, one local practice would get all the radiologists together and celebrate events like graduations and birthdays, just so that they had a chance to meet, even in a social vacuum. Things like that are really important, and we’ve tried to implement that, both with our own radiologists and also with support teammates and hospital partners. Those things help take the edge off the stress.

Dr. Ramesh Gopi earned his medical degree from the University of California, Irvine; completed his residency at UCLA Medical Center; and completed a fellowship in magnetic resonance imaging at the University of California, San Diego.

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.

Dr. Durick shares how RP connects patients in rural communities to high-quality radiology care.

Dr. Nathan Durick is a practicing diagnostic radiologist and president of Advanced Radiology (ARSC) in Moline, Illinois. Outside of his professional commitments, he is a devoted father to three teenage daughters and enjoys spending time with them boating and waterskiing at their family cabin. He also indulges in his passion—and occasional bad habit—of golf.

 We talked to Dr. Durick about his career and how RP offers radiology services to smaller communities lacking access to specialized care.

What inspired you to become a radiologist?

I grew up in a small town, Genesee, Illinois, idolizing my primary care doctors. Initially, I aspired to be a family practitioner or pediatrician. However, during my second year of medical school, I sought a broader scope of medicine that would allow me to collaborate with specialists across various fields. Radiology emerged as the perfect fit. Despite moving away from family practice, I regularly visit Genesee, maintaining connections with the primary care physicians who inspired my journey—a fulfilling, full-circle experience.

Why did you choose body imaging as your specialty?

While training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I had the opportunity to rotate through various specialties. Among those specialties, I found a connection with body imaging. Two of my mentors came from this department and witnessing their approach to medicine, dedication to radiology and collaboration with other specialists inspired me to follow in their footsteps.

How did you connect to RP?

My practice connected with RP a few years ago. As an independent local practice in the critical-access areas of our community in the Midwest, we were experiencing significant growth challenges. We reached a point where we didn’t know how to support that growth on the technology side. Despite having our own IT and PACs company, we seemed to have outstripped our resources. Recognizing the need for technology support to sustain our growth, we started looking for partners who could align with our vision. We connected with RP, initially for IT and PACs support, but soon realized RP offered much more behind the scenes, especially concerning patient care.

What excites you about RP?

My excitement about RP stems from more than just the IT side. Our leadership, teammates, values and commitment to patient care make RP a valuable partner in a care delivery system. RP allows our practice to extend high-quality radiology services to smaller communities lacking access to subspecialists or advanced radiology. Caring for these communities, whether in hospitals or outpatient settings, is a daily driving force for me. Having grown up in a small town with a critical-access hospital, the significance of delivering high-level radiology subspecialized care to such communities remains a key motivation.

What does the future of radiology look like to you and how will RP contribute to that?

RP plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of radiology by addressing the growing imaging volume and challenges in delivering care to smaller communities. The technology RP provides connects subspecialty radiologists across the country, benefiting areas where specialists are scarce. The transformative use of AI ensures prompt care for those in urgent need, efficiently handling overwhelming case volumes and facilitating essential procedures without transferring patients to higher levels of care.

Beyond technology, RP contributes significantly to leadership development within the practice. Fostering collaboration among practice presidents across the country provides a platform for sharing ideas and addressing everyday challenges. This collaborative approach is a valuable resource for solving issues and advancing the field. RP excels in identifying and nurturing individuals with the potential to contribute at higher levels, benefiting both the practice and radiology.

Despite uncertainties in the broader healthcare landscape, RP’s focus on recruitment and innovative practices positions it as a key player in reshaping the trajectory of medicine. It impacts radiology and elevates the overall standard of care.

Dr. Nathan Durick earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago; completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and completed his fellowship in body imaging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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.