Department Spotlight: Meet DR Residency Program Coordinator Kavya Patel

Last summer, the Department of Medical Imaging (MI) welcomed a new Diagnostic Radiology (DR) Residency Program Coordinator, Kavya Patel, who has long wanted to work within medicine and healthcare.

Kavya’s interest in healthcare initially leaned more towards practice versus education, originally aspiring to become a healthcare professional. But as she pursued her Honours Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences at McMaster University, she was researching health innovation and entrepreneurship for her thesis and found herself drawn to the administrative and education side of healthcare.

“It wasn’t until I was near the end of undergraduate degree that I realized I was leaning more towards education than practice,” Kavya says. “I became really interested in medical education and health policy and ended up getting my Master of Education in Higher Education.”

While completing her degrees, Kavya gained experience in university settings, working in the Office of Alumni Engagement at McMaster and as a Program Assistant at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto (U of T). After completing her Master’s degree in 2024, Kavya joined the Department of Medical Imaging as DR Residency Program Coordinator, where she’s been diligently supporting the Department’s many residents.

While Kavya didn’t have any specific area of medicine she wanted to support through higher education, she had a chance meeting with one of MI’s faculty, Dr. Heejun (Tony) Kang, Neuroradiologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, at the beginning of 2024, when the two were taking the same Education and the Professions course.

“We were taking the same course and ended up working on a project together looking at challenges and innovations in post-graduate medical education, specifically in Radiology,” she recalls. “I didn’t realize that towards the end of the year, I would end up getting a position within the Department of Medical Imaging.”

Whether fated or not, Kavya has been a crucial member of the team since last September, playing an integral role behind the scenes on everything from organizing the OSCE and mock oral exams, which take place twice a year, to MESH AI, POWER and staying on top of rotation schedules.

Working with the MESH AI and POWER systems, Kavya manages all resident vacation and leave requests, changes in rotation schedules or blocks, updates rotation supervisors and disseminates rotation schedules to residents and supervisors. She also manages faculty evaluations and numerous administrative tasks and requests to support residents and program faculty.

“A lot of my role is just supporting residents however I can, whether it’s troubleshooting in MESH AI or POWER with them, helping them with letters they might need, answering their questions and anything else they might need,” Kavya says. “I’m also working with faculty, recruiting for exams and supporting with resident evaluations.”

The highlight for Kavya since joining Medical Imaging? “Interacting with residents and faculty,” she says. On top of that, she’s enjoyed learning behind the scenes how an accredited residency program is run, from policies and guidelines to the details required for certification.

Looking ahead, Kavya is excited about the Department’s upcoming event season, including graduations, welcome events, award ceremonies and coming up soon, the AI in MI Fundraising Dinner on May 29, where she’ll get to meet the many residents and faculty members she communicates with virtually every day.