NEW RADIOLOGY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR DISCOVERS "DEFINING MOMENT" AT UMC

Based on visits to the region, Dr. Wade Banker wanted to move from Ohio to the southern United States to continue his career in interventional radiology. His focus was on the Southeast, mainly the Carolinas.

Then the unexpected call came from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “Mississippi?” he asked.

He decided to visit the campus, and as many stories go from people who visit UMC, Banker decided to stay.

“The people were really nice. It was a good opportunity and it just felt right,” he said.

Banker, assistant professor of radiology and director of the Section of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, joined the Medical Center in February. He said it was a rare opportunity for a physician of his age to lead a section.

"There are people who have practiced 10-12 years who aren’t chiefs of a section,” Banker said. “I saw an opportunity to prove myself. It was a defining moment.”

A Cincinnati native, Banker earned the BS in 1992 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and the MD in 1996 at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. He completed a surgical internship in 1997 at Akron General Medical Center. He was a surgical resident in 1998 at Mt. Carmel Medical Center before entering radiology.

Banker completed residency training in radiology in 2002 at MetroHealth in Cleveland and a fellowship in 2003 in vascular/interventional radiology. He had worked for MetroHealth for three years before joining the Medical Center faculty.

Dr. Timothy McCowan, professor and chair of the Department of Radiology, said he was pleased to have Banker join the staff and that interventional radiology has become one of the most prominent and valuable subspecialties of radiology over the last 20 years.

“It’s a great blend of both imaging and patient care,” said McCowan, an interventional radiologist. “Interventional radiology has been one of the leaders in minimally invasive treatment through the use of smaller devices and image guidance to reduce the amount of trauma a patient has to go through to receive their medical care.”

Banker said not many people know what an interventional radiologist does, but the work includes angioplasty, biopsies, stents, and arterial and venous work. 

“We do a lot of oncology and almost anything that’s a minimally invasive procedure,” Banker said. “We have the skills. We have the technology to do anything under the scope of interventional radiology.”

He said he sees a lot of potential for growth in interventional radiology here, and the department is recruiting another interventional radiologist. Banker said he has been well received at the Medical Center and the staff is top notch.

“The techs and nurses are some of the best I have ever worked with, if not the best,” Banker said.

—Patrice Sawyer Guilfoyle (9-17-07)

2007-09-14 00:00:00 17329