Professor Levon Nazarian is the person who made an invaluable contribution to the development of ultrasound diagnosis in Armenia. He was born in the United States, New Jersey. He is a Professor of Radiology and Vice Chair for Education at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, as well as the President of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.<\/p>\n
7 years ago, in 2015, a new MRI unit was inaugurated at the “Heratsi 1” University Hospital in Yerevan thanks to a $1.4 million donation by Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Board of Trustees member Nazar Nazarian, his wife Artemis, and their son, AGBU Central Board member Dr. Levon Nazarian. The MRI unit was an addition to the AGBU-YSMU Levon and Claudia Nazarian Radiology Center, founded in 2010, and would allow the center to perform medical tests unavailable at other hospitals in Armenia. The new device provided high-quality images that enabled accurate diagnoses.<\/p>\n
We have talked to the Professor about his dream of becoming a radiologist, challenges and privileges of the medical field, Dr. Nazarian’s family and hobbies, as well as his advice to future doctors. <\/p>\n
– <\/em><\/strong>Professor, let us start with your decision to become a doctor. How did it happen? Was that your dream?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – <\/em><\/strong>I was very interested in science and math throughout high school and college. So, I thought that maybe medicine might something I should look into. And there was a radiology professor who was the father of one of my friends. He was working at Columbia University. I said: “Your father is a doctor. Does he have anything for me to do during the summer?” And he had a summer project for me to work on. This was back when the CAT scan was a new invention. At that time, I was 18 years old. He gave me the job of looking through a large number of CAT scans and measuring the brain tumors. I thought that this was very interesting, and then I applied for medical school. Throughout medical school I enjoyed many rotations, but I kept coming back to the imaging. I really enjoyed making the diagnosis with imaging, and I found doing image guided procedures very interesting too. So I thought radiology was right for me, and I decided to apply for radiology. But if I look back, maybe one of the reasons I applied for radiology is because my first exposure in the field of medicine was to an academic radiologist which also is why I was drawn to academics. I looked at his life teaching, doing clinical work, and research, and I said: “That’s something I would like to do myself”.<\/p>\n Yes, becoming a doctor was a dream for me. There are no doctors in my family at all. Everybody is in business. So, yes, it was a dream because nobody in my family did it.<\/p>\n – Do you see any challenges in the medical profession? Can you mention some of them?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – <\/em><\/strong>In any medical field the most important thing is taking care of your patients and making sure they are taking care of themselves properly. And radiology is no different, even though imaging is our main tool; we still have to understand the patient behind every image. And we have to do our best for that patient.<\/p>\n One of the challenges over time is that imaging is being relied on so much more heavily to make diagnoses that the volume in radiology is getting larger and larger. So, one of the challenges is to be able to handle that increase volume and still keep up your level of work. So, over the years dealing with the increase popularity of radiology is fine, but that also means that we have to read our cases faster, and we have to make decisions faster.<\/p>\n Then, of course, radiology itself is challenging too, because there are more and more imaging tests, and all the time new things are being invented, plus more knowledge that you have to get about new disease processes, like with COVID during the last couple of years. Radiology always has to stay on top of the curve and know how all these different diseases will present.<\/p>\n Physicians in every specialty have to deal with more work that they have to do for less money and in less time. For example, here in the United States the reimbursement for imaging studies is being cut by the government. So, if you want to make the same level of income, you have to see more patients. That’s a big issue. <\/p>\n – What privileges do you enjoy in the medical field?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – <\/em><\/strong>It’s really the doctor-patient relationship that’s the main privilege. When I was a medical student, I had a professor; I will never forget what he said: “When you ask a patient why they are there, the next thing you are going to hear is the most important thing in the world to that person”. And you really have to keep that in mind, because when you are with a patient, they are bringing you into an almost sacred relationship where you are going to hear things they are not going to tell to anybody else. You have the ability to do something to help them in a way nobody else can. And that really is what the privilege of medicine is for me, to be given the responsibility and the opportunity to be the person to help people when they really need help the most. <\/p>\n – Professor, do you have an inspiration? Who did or still does inspire you on this path?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – <\/em><\/strong>I have been fortunate to have had great personal mentors and role models over the years. The most important mentor in my career is my professor Barry Goldberg, because he showed me the way to become an academic radiologist with ultrasound as my specialty – not only applying it where I work, but also taking it around the world. He suggested to me that we open up a training center in Armenia, because he already opened up ultrasound training centers in 60-70 different places. One day he said: “Let’s do it in Armenia too”. That’s how we opened up the Ultrasound training center at YSMU.<\/p>\n Also, my subspecialty is musculoskeletal ultrasound, that’s really my main love. And 30 years ago, Dr. Goldberg was the one who said: “This is going to be a very big thing in ultrasound. And I want you to learn it. It’s going to become very important”. So that advice helped me all through the way in the academic world, clinical world, research world, teaching. So, I really owe so much to him. He retired about 5 years ago, but I still keep in touch with him. <\/p>\n –<\/em><\/strong>You mentioned about the opening of the Ultrasound training center in Yerevan. The significant contribution you made to the development of ultrasound diagnosis in Armenia is truly invaluable. That has greatly contributed to the development of radiology and the training of qualified specialists in this field. What are your further plans regarding Armenia? <\/em><\/strong>– At what stage is the cooperation between Thomas Jefferson university hospital and YSMU “Heratsi 1” university hospital? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – We started with the Ultrasound training center. And then we also arranged to have MRI donation, which has been a nice addition. Then we have the radiology center which has my and my wife’s name, but AGBU and my parents’ donations helped to bring that about.<\/p>\n We are always looking for ways to improve the care and quality of imaging at YSMU in particular. But this is a never-ending thing, we are always trying. We always try to do our best. It’s an ongoing relationship. <\/p>\n –Please, tell a little bit about your family.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – I have a great wife, Claudia, and three kids. Claudia raised our kids, and she is the “glue” that holds our family together. My son Matthew is the oldest. He is a radiology resident. My daughter Daniela is a psychotherapist, she got married last year. And my youngest son Gregory is working in a consulting firm in New York. <\/p>\n – Do you manage to relax? Could you mention your hobbies?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – First of all, I like playing and watching sports. I like to play tennis, but my body doesn’t like me playing tennis so much anymore. I love baseball, I am a big baseball fan. I love all kinds of music. I like to sing karaoke when I get a chance. I used to sing in college. I also enjoy reading and spending time with my family and my dog. <\/p>\n – As an experienced professor, what advice would you give to your future colleagues? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – The most important advice is to make sure that you choose a profession that every morning you want to get up and go do it. The medical field is broad, and there is a need for every type of practitioner. You shouldn’t do something because you think you should do it or because somebody else told you are good at it. You should choose whatever profession makes you excited to get up in the morning because you are going to spend most of your life doing it and you want to make sure that is fulfilling and interesting for you. I have had the pleasure and opportunity to have that for my entire career. And that’s what I would wish for everybody in the medical field. I took my first job in 1992 – 30 years ago, but every day is some new adventure. And I will never get bored, never, partially because I made a right decision for me. I never regretted it, not one minute. My son is doing the same . Even though I gave him the same advice, this is funny actually, because when he went to medical school, he said: “I’m not becoming a radiologist: I am going to do something else. Do not make me become a radiologist”. I said: “I don’t care, do whatever you want”. Towards the end of medical school when he had to apply for residency, I get a phone call, and he said: “Dad, what are some good radiology programs?”. I said: “What? I thought you said you were not going to do that?” And I got very excited. It’s a good choice for him too, and my dream would be some day to work with him. That would be fantastic. I don’t know if that is going to happen, but that would be unbelievable. <\/p>\n -What is important for a doctor?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n – Number one advice is that you have to have empathy. Always understand that patient in front of you has a problem, and you have to take everything very seriously and understand that they need your help, and you have to look at them as an individual.<\/p>\n The next thing is to understand that if you want to succeed, you have to work very hard. There is no way to succeed without working hard.<\/p>\n And you have to be committed. Medicine is a field that requires commitment. You can’t do it as a hobby.<\/p>\n So – empathy, hard work and commitment. Notice, I didn’t mention brilliance. You don’t have to be brilliant, you have to be smart enough, but you don’t have to be a genius. If you really care for people and work hard, that’s what is important.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Author: Tatevik Ghazaryan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Professor Levon Nazarian is the person who made an invaluable contribution to the development of ultrasound diagnosis in Armenia. He was born in the United States, New Jersey. 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