Peggy J. Fritzsche, MD FACR – 1990 President of AAWR, 2006 Alice Ettinger Awardee

Blessed, loved, and appreciated

Never underestimate your influence on another person; especially on a younger person. The idea to become a physician was planted when I was eight years old during a conversation with a family friend. The friend said, “Peggy, a girl who gets all A’s can be anything she wants to be. You could grow up to be a doctor.” At that time, I didn’t know what it would require to be “a doctor,” but I was motivated to find out about the necessary steps. In spite of social distractions, my goal to become a doctor remained clear. During medical school I was attracted to radiology as a specialty. The variety and challenge of the rapid changing focus and cutting edge technology intrigued me.

I had the good fortune of having a faithful career mentor, my husband Anton Hasso, MD. He encouraged me to excel in academics, to try new things, and to participate in organized medicine and radiology. Through these endeavors I was able to reposition my career into multiple subspecialties of radiology, including MRI and PET, both of which developed later in my career. I was also able to transition from academics to private practice to my current role as consultant to improve the perception of radiology and medicine to the lay public.

What would be your most important advice to your junior colleague?

Be ready to remove obstacles in your pathway to any position you desire

Carry a ‘can-do’ attitude with you all the time

Create alliances with your colleagues by being inclusive rather than exclusive

Be a good team player

Be quietly confident of your skills and talents; aggressiveness may lead to negative impression of your capabilities

In my acrobatic flying days, red was a favorite color	My feisty little Shiba Inu named Kyushu

Peggy J. Fritzsche, MD, FACR is medical director of Riverside MRI Center and clinical professor of radiology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUMC) in California.