Teacher of the Year Award

Dr. Charu Desai Honored by Residents as Radiology Teacher of the Year

The UMass Radiology Department Teacher of the Year Award was started in 1986 by the residents in the department who wanted to honor Dr. Umali for her teaching.  Each year the radiology residents select - by vote - the Teacher of the Year.  This year the radiology residents voted to honor Dr. Charu Desai as the 2017 Radiology Teacher of the Year.

Graduating residents pose with Dr. Desai. L to R Jeffrey Rappleye, Matthew Peckham, Dr. Desai, Hemang Kotecha and Staci Gagne.

The Resident's presentation text:

We would like to start by thanking all of our hardworking faculty for your dedication to resident education. The countless hours you have spent with us at the workstation, in lectures, at journal clubs and interdisciplinary conferences have been invaluable to our training and experience at UMass. You have all shaped us as radiologists in one way or another, and we will be forever grateful.

While there are many of you who are deserving of this award, this year, we want to acknowledge the efforts of one faculty member who has influenced UMass residents for almost three decades. She has taught us residents how to pick up anterior diaphragmatic lymphadenopathy, a solitary spinous process metastasis, and how to properly identify chubby pulmonary vasculature. Thanks to her, we’ll be less likely to miss big gumbas and do-dads. By now, I’m sure most of you know that we’re talking about Dr. Charu Desai.

It seems that no matter how busy the day, you always take time to store away interesting “WOW” cases and make a point to go through them with the resident on service. Perhaps more importantly, you have also taught us that the job is not just about how to read an imaging study well but how to be professional, accessible, and open-hearted to all. You remind us every day that job satisfaction comes from dedicating ourselves to the patient in front of us. You are an inspiration and an incredible mentor, in addition to your role as an educator.

Your support means the world to us residents and your lessons will be everlasting. It is our honor to present to you the award for Teacher of the Year.