Back in 2006, radiologists Andrea Tompkins, MD, Kellie McDonald, MD, and Terri Samuel, MD graduated from their residency program at the Indiana University School of Medicine and became the founding members of the emergency radiology (ER) division within the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. The team was led by Jeffrey Dunkle, MD, current vice chair of finance and strategy for the department. In the early 2000s, emergency radiology divisions were not that common. IU Health Methodist Hospital led the charge with this division, hosting one of the first academic emergency radiology divisions that offered 24/7 coverage.
The group of four met for lunch and noticed a need for constant imaging coverage. “We had all rotated through enough ER rotations at that point to see that 24/7 readings were in demand,” explained McDonald. “With rapidly increasing volumes of advanced cross-sectional imaging at night, and the current staffing of the ER overnight with various on-call subspecialty radiologists with unexperienced first-year residents, we realized this was probably not sustainable.”
During the past 20 years, the division has grown from those four founding members to the largest division in the department, with additional coverage at other sites across the state of Indiana. This division is also the largest academic emergency radiology division within the country, with approximately 35 radiologists. In addition to growing in size, the division has also grown in internal specialization — adding overnight emergency neuroradiology coverage with Danny Leatherwood, MD, who joined the team as the founding emergency neuroradiologist. Most recently, Kent Hansen, MD, PhD, another member of that graduating class, joined the department and is working the overnight emergency radiology shift.
Other IU School of Medicine residency graduates have joined the division and have had long tenures. For example, Eric Westin, MD, Amy Rhodes, MD, and Jared Gayken, MD, all joined the group shortly after its formation and are still members of the emergency radiology division today.
“We have a lot of great people in the department,” Dunkle said. “I am particularly fond of those I work with in the ER division. It has always been particularly meaningful to me to continue to work with these friends and colleagues that I have known so well for such a long time. There is a great deal of trust and respect there.”
