Where are you going, where have you been

UT Southwestern: a moving experience

I visited UT Southwestern’s Department of Radiology last week in Dallas, and had the pleasure of spending time with the Chair, Neil Rofsky, who has been busy building a progressive, innovative department over the last 3 years. He has recruited some top notch talent who will soon have the unique opportunity of moving into two brand spanking new hospitals brimming with the latest state-of-the-art equipment. While the renewed emphasis on academics and original investigation was refreshing, I was particularly impressed with the role that mentorship, particularly leadership mentoring, plays within the department. In my opinion, adequate leadership training is lacking in most radiology departments despite being critical to the survival of our specialty, and I think that UTSW is putting its eggs in the right basket. I was left with the impression that UTSW will rapidly become a breeding ground for future Chairs and other leaders within our specialty.

There’s an expression down in Texas for big talkers who can’t deliver the goods that goes something like, “He’s all hat and no cattle”. Well UT Southwestern has the hat AND the cattle AND a few oil wells to boot. A little known secret is that the UT system benefits from revenues produced on a 2.1 million acre piece of west Texas set aside in the 1800s to fund public education. And when that land’s main source of revenue went from cattle grazing to oil drilling, well, Yeeeehaw!

Everything is big in Texas, and the new Parkland hospital is no exception. It’s so huge; it could hold all of T. Boone Pickens’ cash (a big pile of which has gone to UT Southwestern in the past) and still have room for all his ex-wives. At almost 1.3 billion dollars to build, it also approximates T. Boone’s net worth. Regardless, it’s a really cool looking building that dominates the local skyline. At around 2 million square feet and over 800 beds, I’m pretty sure it is visible from the international space station. Parkland is best known for being the place where President John F. Kennedy, his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, and Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassin Jack Ruby, all spent their final hours. For conspiracy theorists, Parkland is where President John F. Kennedy was abducted by aliens after faking the moon landing to hide their existence (because, as we now know from the post-Kennedy Apollo 18 mission, aliens live on the moon).

It was fun to see Texas again, as I’ve spent a significant part of my life there. My wife and I met in Texas, and both of my kids are native Texans. I still root for the Spurs (no offense, Dallas). However, things have changed since I left in 2004- the world is just a scarier, less friendly place. North Texas is so flat, there was a time when I could see Mexico from any tall building. Now all I can see is a big fence. I tried to bring my 10 gallon hat on the trip with me, and it was confiscated by airport security because it wasn’t 3 ounces or less. In the two days I was there, not one person said, “Howdy” to me. At least some things are the same- I almost got gored by a pickup truck sporting a set of horns on the hood at the airport.

Because I visited when the new residents were orienting, I didn’t get to spend as much time with the residents as I would have liked. The ones I met seemed bright, enthusiastic, and happy to be there. While the institution will likely continue to face some significant challenges inherent to integrating a county hospital with a state academic institution, the program has palpable energy flowing from the top throughout every corner of the department that will ensure its success.