Dr Missa Amin completed her 12-month fellowship in Wellington in February 2023. She enthusiastically attributes her success to the strong support given by all the RHCNZ* staff who are mentoring her along the way.
Q: What first attracted you to a fellowship with RHCNZ?
This fellowship offered me an excellent opportunity to subspecialise in advanced abdopelvic imaging. RHCNZ has such a depth of expertise in this area. Also, who can resist this beautiful city of Wellington!
Q: What types of experience are you gaining during your fellowship?
I get to experience a great mix of routine and acute abdopelvic cases, through our private clinics as well as an increasing volume of outsourced DHB scans. I work across CT/MRI/PET-CT. I’m very fortunate as we report for a few DHBs, so the range of pathologies is amazing.
The work is well balanced. I work across multiple sites. On Fridays, I focus on general radiology, which helps me maintain my general skills.
I also had the opportunity to upskill and learn Tier A interventional procedures, including ultrasound-guided biopsies and musculoskeletal US/CT guided injections (lumbar + cervical spinal injections).
Q: How do your supervisors guide your learning?
I have amazing supervisors. Each and every one of them is willing to spend time to go through cases with me and teach every day, no matter how busy the reporting list is for the day. I really value the in-person review sessions. Nothing beats the learning opportunities you get from these face-to-face sessions. I am never afraid to ask “stupid” questions. I am encouraged to read around the cases and discuss them with the supervisors, who also share interesting cases from their experience.
Peer support is also important – the supervisors facilitate great weekly teaching sessions with other fellows in Christchurch and Dunedin. We show each other interesting cases we saw that week, or have teaching sessions with consultants when they are available.
Q: Could you make your own decisions around workload?
My working hours are constant at 8am–5pm daily on weekdays. There is no on-call requirement, which was a bonus after five years of back-to-back on-calls as a trainee. However, you can choose to participate in afterhours/weekend reporting work at consultant level rates, to further supplement your income – this is nice, a little extra pocket money.
I really appreciate that all radiologists are very supportive and value work-life balance.
Q: When you graduate from the fellowship, what will you do?
I’m addicted to learning. I’m moving on to a second fellowship in interventional radiology in Christchurch Hospital in 2023. After that, I really feel like I’ve got a great foundation and the world is my oyster…
Q: Would you recommend an RHCNZ Fellowship to others in your fields?
Absolutely. The team is there giving their 110% to you as a fellow. I’ve gained all that I wanted and more out of this fellowship.
* RHCNZ is New Zealand’s leading private radiology provider. Our nationwide network includes more than 140 specialist radiologists working throughout our 73+ clinics, across our three iconic brands – Auckland Radiology, Bay Radiology and Pacific Radiology.
“We have the training systems and structures in place to inspire career-long learning, curiosity and commitment to research and innovation. We look forward to welcoming Fellows who aspire to be at the forefront of radiological practice in Aotearoa.”
Dr Rhian Miranda
Director of Clinical Training & Fellowships and Radiologist at Auckland Radiology Group
