We’re pleased to introduce Sam Plant, MD, a fellow in UVA Radiology’s Abdominal Imaging fellowship! Dr. Plant was previously a Diagnostic Radiology resident here, and we asked him about his decision to stay in Charlottesville, the difference between residency and fellowship, and more.
After completing your residency at UVA, what made you decide to stay for Abdominal Imaging Fellowship?
It was a no-brainer for me. Early on in my residency, I found that I easily connected personally with the faculty in the abdominal imaging division, and those connections only grew deeper with time. I was thrilled at the opportunity to work with my friends for another year after my residency training—I didn’t even consider another program.
What stood out to you about the Abdominal Imaging program when you were deciding where to fellowship?
There is never a shortage of interesting and unique cases that can be found in our abdominal imaging division. Over the course of my training in residency, I got to learn how each attending approaches a case, and while it may seem cliché, I genuinely take something unique from each individual that I sign cases out with—whether it is finding specific parts of my search pattern that need polishing, learning how to more efficiently move through certain difficult (or easier) cases, or how to effectively communicate with my consulting colleagues, each faculty has distinct talents that I have tried my best to learn from and emulate.
Now that you’re a fellow, what has been your favorite part of the experience so far?
That’s a tough one—honestly, I think the best part has been connecting with my co-fellows in a deeper way. Most of us completed our residency together, and during residency we were all busy forming and raising our families. When combined with the fact that we were frequently on different services, we didn’t always get the chance to work closely on the same service together. Now that we share the “cool kids space” in the reading room, we have been able to be a stronger team than what we ever had the chance to do during residency. Each of our fellows are such talented radiologists and all-around excellent people, and I am so glad that I have the chance to spend another year forming lifelong friendships with them.
What is something about the fellowship that you think prospective applicants might not fully appreciate from looking at a website?
No applicant can appreciate the quality of the people through perusing a website or watching a video. Some of the best parts of my day are spent in the reading room– laughing together with the faculty and residents as we work, getting to experience real collaboration in action between radiologists and other consulting clinicians, and getting to collectively appreciate the incredible skills and talents of each of the faculty and trainees as they help solve some of the most open-ended and challenging clinical questions in medicine. We have such a wide footprint in the healthcare system that there is NEVER a dull moment in the abdominal reading room.
What would you tell a resident who is considering applying to UVA for Abdominal Imaging Fellowship?
Be prepared to work! If you are going to take an extra year of your life (and an extra year of attending physician pay) to dedicate to further your training, you need to make the most of your time and “get in your reps” by working hard, seeing cases, and spending time to read the journal articles that you told yourself that you would get to later in residency (maybe I was the only one that did that last part). The good news is that there is never a shortage of interesting cases to learn from, and we have established a culture of working hard and playing hard. If you keep that culture and spirit alive, you are going to have a fabulous time and you will leave an incredibly well-trained radiologist.
What is one thing you would miss most about UVA if you had chosen to go somewhere else?
One of the things that I would have missed the most about UVA and Charlottesville is the beauty of the Charlottesville area. This is genuinely one of the most beautiful places I have ever lived, and my life has taken me from the mountains and plains of the Northwest US, to the coastlines of southern California, and many places in between. Charlottesville and this area of the country really does have so much uniquely beautiful landscape and architecture; it will be difficult to leave. During residency (and now in fellowship), I lived outside the city of Charlottesville, and as a big car guy, I loved driving the winding, forested roads and watching the sun peek through the trees on my way into work each morning. I don’t think there is a lot that can beat that.
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