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RLI Taking the Lead Podcast

Episode 56: Yoshimi Anzai, MD, F黑料网


Leading with Joy

Yoshimi Anzai, MD, F黑料网June 22, 2023

In this episode, host, Geoffrey Rubin, MD, MBA, F黑料网, talks with Yoshimi Anzai, MD, MPH, Professor of Radiology, co-director of Women in Health, Medicine, and Sciences and Director of Value and Safety for Enterprise Imaging at the University of Utah.

Born and raised in Japan, Dr. Anzai blazed her own trail from an early age, veering a bit from the traditional path.  After completing medical school and a radiology and otolaryngology residency at Chiba University in Japan, Dr. Anzai immigrated to the United States where she completed a full radiology residency and neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Michigan followed by earning a master's degree in public health from the University of Washington.  A passionate promoter of Health Services Research, Dr. Anzai has been a leader in training academic radiologists to establish the value of radiology through comparative effectiveness research and in establishing appropriate use criteria. 

As past President of the Association of University Radiologists (AUR), the American Society of Head and Neck Radiology (ASHNR), the American Association for Women Radiologists (AAWR), soon to be president of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) and recent recipient of gold medals from both the RSNA and the ASHNR, Dr. Anzai has carved a unique leadership path in American radiology, strongly advocating for gender equity and inclusivity. 

Don’t miss this inspirational episode to learn the unique influence each member of her family had on Dr. Anzai’s path, why she chose radiology, and the importance of finding the joy in helping others.   

View episode transcript » (Coming Soon)

Episode 56: Yoshimi Anzai, MD, F黑料网

Dr. Yoshimi Anzai is a Professor of Radiology at the University of Utah, an Adjunct Professor of Population Health Sciences and Neurosurgery, and the Director of Value and Safety at Enterprise Imaging and oversees the quality and safety of radiology and imaging services.  

Dr. Anzai graduated from Chiba University in Japan, completed a radiology residency and neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Michigan, and obtained a Master of Public Health at the University of Washington. Dr. Anzai has 25 years of experience in neuroradiology and served as the president of the ASHNR, AUR, and AAWR. In addition, she has served as co-director of the Comparative Effectiveness Research Training (CERT) program to foster health services research within radiology disciplines.  Currently, she serves as the chair of the RSNA R& E Foundation Grant study section and Deputy Editor for Radiology.

Full bio 禄

Did You Know?

I have been married to my husband for 31 years. We met in medical school. He was a class behind me. I did not know him in the beginning, but I heard from someone that there was a genius in the class. When I was a first-year radiology resident, our department wanted to recruit him as he had published three computer graphic books during medical school. Radiology needed someone savvy in computational work. I was told to sit beside him and recruit him to Radiology. He initially wanted to be an internal medicine doctor, but for whatever reason, he changed his mind and chose radiology.

We have one daughter, she is 23. We are very close. We do things together, shopping, spa, girls’ night out, movies, concerts, etc.

In addition to spending time with my daughter, I love taking care of plants. I have 20-plus indoor plants in my condo. They are like my children. Everyone is different, some need more TLC than others. But I enjoy seeing them thrive and grow. I am a nurturing person. I also exercise; I do a Core Exercise, Pure Barre, a mixture of Pilates, yoga, and ballet. I am building deep core muscles, not being muscular. It gives me strengths, not necessarily losing weight, though. I am the oldest in the class, many are 20’ and 30’. I am very proud of taking the class with people my daughter’s age.

I love traveling and I am so happy that we are back to traveling again after 3 years of the pandemic. Besides Japan, I love Italy and Spain. Beautiful foods, very relaxing.

Ever since I was a medical student, I was always interested in the complex anatomy of the head and neck, face, and skull base. I wanted to be a plastic surgeon, not a cosmetic plastic surgeon, but to create a new ear or nose for someone with a developmental disease or injury. I thought those were a very creative jobs, rather than a big surgery, taking out a big liver tumor or cancer. Restoring function and making people happier- what a great profession. I visited the Tokyo University Plastic surgery residency program but was rejected because I was a woman. They said they do not take women. In fact, I went there with my friend, who was a man, he was not anywhere at the top of the class, but he was good looking. They took him and he became cosmetic plastic surgeon, doing face lift, lip and cheek injection, etc. 

I was recruited to the Department of Radiology, as Radiology training in Japan also combined Radiation oncology. They convinced me that I could diagnose and treat patients with HN cancer. Besides, they did not have any female residents; I was the first female radiology resident at my university. Professor Arimizu was super excited that I chose Radiology. He was my first mentor and sponsor. He gave me lots of opportunities and encouragement. Create your own niche, not follow the crowd. That was a lesson learned from him.

My favorite cuisine is Tapas, kind of small plates. Not a large quantity but creative, healthy foods and flavors. Quality over Quantity. I love the Japanese course dinner called Kaiseki. It usually has 10 courses of small plates; many are based on vegetables and fish. 

I believe that beverage and food go together—Cheese and Wine, Sake and Sushi, Donuts, and Coffee, etc. I drank lots of wine in the past, but now I like Old Fashioned with Bourbon, orange peel, and dark cherry. When I feel like avoiding sugar, then I go to Gin Tonic with a piece of lime. 

On rainy days, I like listening to audiobooks, podcasts, Ted talks, Headway, etc. I usually listen to Audiobooks while getting ready in the morning. It is relaxing and I learn something while I am doing a morning artwork which is called Make-up.  When weather is nice, we like to go low-key hiking.

 

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