Timothy M. Farrell, MD

I chose a career in medicine because it combined my interest in science and a way to positively impact people’s lives. Before entering medical school, I was fortunate to be able to work in an operating room. I became enamored with surgeons and the various things that could be accomplished in the operating room. Once in medical school, I was introduced to interventional radiology, which combined cutting-edge technology and procedural care. I believe that we as physicians owe it to our patients to provide the best treatment as possible based on the available research. We should involve our patients in their care and help them understand what we are doing and why.

I was majoring in engineering during my undergraduate education. During that time, I worked on image-processing projects. That was my first introduction to radiology. While collaborating with some doctors on those projects, I realized there needed to be more connection between people who practice medicine and those who create medical devices. I intended to bridge that gap as much as one person could. That is where my interest in radiology originated. I thought that of all the fields in medicine, it’s the one that relies heavily on technology and advancement. During medical school, I was in a unique small group of people that wanted to do radiology from the beginning. So many of my peers and colleagues didn’t even know what radiology was when they entered medical school. I eventually chose to pursue interventional radiology as my specialty because the beauty of IR is that you get to do life-saving procedures. Many areas of radiology are heavily diagnostic and have no interaction with patients. However, IR is integral to many treatment teams for cancer or non-cancer-related diseases. My philosophy of care is simple: to treat the patients as if they are your loved ones.

Growing up, I was fascinated by science and problem-solving. I interned at a local community hospital in San Francisco during high school and fell in love with clinical care and the magic behind medicine. I decided to pursue a career as a physician to help patients from various backgrounds and give back to my community. During medical school, I was drawn to procedural specialties. During surgery rotation, I observed a repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair performed through the endovascular approach— the most novel approach at that time. I was amazed by the elegance of the transarterial deployment of the AAA stent graft, the patient’s quick recovery, and speedy discharge from the hospital. This experience introduced me to the innovative field of interventional radiology. I then learned more about diagnostic radiology and was fascinated by the field’s central role in patient care and knew I wanted to be a radiologist. I embody a patient-centered care philosophy. While many interventions may work for a variety of patients, each patient is unique, and he/she ought to get the care that is ideal for him/her. I believe that clinical excellence can only be achieved if the patient is the sole focus of our actions.