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RLI Taking the Lead Podcasts

Episode 45: Richard Duszak Jr., MD, FACR


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Leading Health Policy and Practice


April 28, 2022

Think outside the box. Don’t just accept conventional wisdom. Ask good questions. Find good mentors and sponsors to help you navigate your career. Figure out your intrinsic motivator.

These are just some of the nuggets of advice shared by this month’s RLI podcast guest, Richard Duszak, Jr., MD, FACR. During this conversation, he shares his experiences growing up outside of Philadelphia, how his early interest in the intersection between the role of the physician and the broader political and economic ecosystem drew him to medicine and guided his career as well as some interesting consultantships he has been involved in.

After completing medical school at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and residency at Duke University Medical Center, where he was awarded the first J.T. Rutherford Government Relations Fellowship by the American College of Radiology (ACR), Dr. Duszak began his career as a diagnostic and interventional radiologist with West Reading Radiology Associates in West Reading, Pennsylvania, rising to practice president and CEO just eight years after joining the group out a fellowship. After a three year term, he was recruited south to practice in Memphis, Tennessee before going all in with an academic career at Emory university in 2014.

His scholarly pursuits focus on health policy (particularly as it pertains to medical imaging access, utilization, and payment systems) and practice management. In 2012, Dr. Duszak was named Founding Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Radiology’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, transitioning to the role of Chief Medical Officer after one year. Immediate past Council Speaker, and current member of Board of Chancellors of the ACR, Dr. Duszak serves as Chair of its Commission for Leadership and Practice Development which oversees Radiology Leadership Institute (RLI).

In July 2022, Dr. Duszak will become Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

View episode transcript »

Richard Duszak Jr., MD, FACR

The incoming Chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (effective 7/1/22), Richard Duszak, MD, FACR is currently Professor and Vice Chair for Health Policy and Practice in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at Emory University.

Immediate past Council Speaker and current member of Board of Chancellors of the American College of Radiology, Dr. Duszak serves as Chair of its Commission for Leadership and Practice Development and in that role oversees the Radiology Leadership Institute. An outspoken supporter of evidence-based policy and longtime leader in physician payment policy development, including former three-term member of the Executive Committee of the CPT Editorial Panel, he has served on the editorial boards of several medical journals as well as a daily metropolitan newspaper.

Recently recognized by the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research with its Distinguished Investigator Award and the Association of University Radiologists with its Radiology Alliance for Health Services Research Achievement Award, Dr. Duszak has been honored as a fellow of the American College of Radiology, a fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology, and as the first ever physician fellow of the Radiology Business Management Association.

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Did You Know?

Dr. Duszak and his wife of 33 years have two daughters who both live a few miles from their home in Atlanta. His favorite way of unwinding is by road biking, which has proven far too dangerous living in town, and so he is looking forward riding the Natchez Trace not far from their new home outside of Jackson, MS. During his fourth year of medical school, he was busy scheduling anesthesiology residency interviews when he did a rotation in radiology and had to start the whole application process over again. Second only to marrying Debbie, it was the best decision he ever made!

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