Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/863733
Chuck Ray, MD, PhD, MS, radiology department head and immediate past president of the Society of Interventional Radiology, became acting dean of the College of Medicine on July 16 when Dimitri Azar, MD, MBA, took a one-year leave of absence (see Dean's Message, p. 1). Ray plans to continue the College's progress toward fulfilling its mission, centered around the four pillars of education, research, clinical expertise and service. What inspires you about accepting the position of Acting Dean? Dean Azar has been an exceptional dean and leader. I looked at the void left by Dimitri as daunting, but the more I have learned in these last few weeks about how the organization works and some of the opportunities we have each and every day, the more excited I have become. We are so well-positioned for major advancements in all four of our missions that one can't help but be excited. What are your main objectives in the coming year? We will be moving forward on our curricular transformation, finding additional space wherever we can and continuing to promote research and service among our faculty. On the clinical side, we will continue to recruit top-notch clinicians and maintain vital access to care — which comes with challenges, from patient demographics, to socioeconomics, to geography in Chicago. On the educational side, instituting our new curriculum is going to be full of opportunities. How will the major fundraising campaign that the COM is about to launch help capture the excitement of what is happening around the school? Now is a great time to go out and ask people for generous contributions because of all the changes that are occurring, many of which have to do with the medical student education mission. Senior Associate Dean Ray Curry has spearheaded an effort to make us one of the earliest adopters of the first substantial changes in medical curricula in decades. Once alumni and donors see the changes, and particularly once they see the fruits of those changes, they will be only too happy to give for the greater good of the institution. As a physician scientist, what has been the focus of your research and teaching in recent years? My clinical duties and research have focused on regional treatments of liver cancer. That includes doing cost-effectiveness analyses and evidence-based research as well as primary research. My teaching has been largely at the Fellow level, but I also have done resident and medical student teaching for both interventional and diagnostic radiology. What have been your main accomplishments in leadership, both on campus and nationally? We've always had a strong clinical service in radiology, which I believe we've maintained. Our educational program in the radiology department, which consists of a large residency program and small fellowship program, provides a very hands-on approach. We've developed an MS-resident program and an interventional radiology residency program that had its first match this year. My work as president of the Society of Interventional Radiology culminated my 11 years on the executive council. I have been involved in the American College of Radiology decision support initiative and Radiological Society of North America annual meeting. We were able to launch the new training paradigm, and interventional radiology represents the first new medical specialty since emergency medicine in 1982. The other main thrust during my year as president was trying to position society members to handle the changes due to MACRA [Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act]. Now I have the post that everybody really wants, which is immediate past president! Q A 5 QUESTIONS 1 2 3 4 5 P H O T O : D I A N E S M U T N Y 52 | S U M M E R 2 0 1 7