Informational Interview with Dr. Frank Ricaurte
Why did you select this individual to interview:
Having a large interest in the medical field, I knew that I needed to gain more insight into different specializations in the medical field. In high school, as well as my first year of college, I had a high interest in becoming a dermatologist. This past summer, however, I had the privilege of shadowing Dr. Ricaurte, a radiologist for the Cleveland Clinic. I gained so much more insight into different aspects of the medical field, and how much responsibilities change for different doctors under different specializations. Dr. Ricaurte’s job was unlike anything I had imagined, and I was so lucky to gain an insight in the day-to-day tasks of a radiologist. He has great knowledge on the specialization, as well as how it has changed throughout the years, and how radiologists’ roles will change in the future. This is why I contacted Dr. Ricaurte to learn more about his role, as well as any advice he has for me during my undergraduate and graduate years.
Describe the major responsibilities associated with their current role:
From the interview, Dr. Ricaurte explained his main role as a radiologist is providing an accurate interpretation of the scan to give to the clinician. Therefore, the clinician can give the patient an accurate interpretation of what is going on in their body. This includes looking at CT/PET and MRI scans, as well as x-rays. In addition to looking and analyzing the information from the scans, Dr. Ricaurte is also responsible for some minor procedures, including biopsies, retroperitoneal of the pelvic bone, paracentesis, and lumbar punctures. His day is combined with both looking at scans, as well as providing procedures to patients, something I did not know occurred for a radiologist. I assumed that radiologists only analyzed scans for patients. Dr. Ricaurte explained, radiologists could also be involved in other aspects of radiology, such as becoming a department head, which he is, or using time for research and publishing journal articles.
Discuss how the person prepared for this role, and if they provided you with any advice as what you might be able to do to prepare for a similar career:
Dr. Ricaurte explained he completed his prerequisites for medical school in his first two years of undergraduate education. He then switched his major to accounting and finance, and worked an accounting job out of college while studying for the MCAT. Once he entered medical school, he completed three years of residency in internal medicine and then switched to radiology, realizing that internal medicine was not for him. He continued to work in radiology, and realized he loved the job. He also explained that he was able to find a job right out of residency, as radiologists jobs were in high demand. He explained he did not even know what radiologist was before entering medical school. Therefore, he explained, as long as an individual likes medicine, he or she will be able to find a job and suitable specialization. He also explained it is okay to not know what specialization you want in undergrad and even your first years in medical school. He explained that most likely, you will change your mind after entering medical school, which is something I thought was very important to remember, when thinking of my career path.
Summarize any insights from the interview that might be helpful in your academic or career preparation:
My interview with Dr. Ricaurte was very helpful, as he helped me understand much more of what goes into being a radiologist and a doctor in general. He explained the importance of social skills when being a doctor. However, he also explained that one of the great things about radiology is that it has both work with direct and indirect patient contact. He also explained to me the importance of really exploring your interests to many different medical fields and keeping an open mind about what specialty would be the most suitable for myself. Even within certain specialties, there are also many subspecialties. For instance, I learned that some of the subspecialties of radiology are pediatrics, neuroradiology, and nuclear radiology. Through the interview and shadow opportunity with Dr. Ricaurte, I have gained insight into the specialty and currently have equal interest in both dermatology and radiology!