DEI in Pediatric radiology: a conversation with ashish parikh
By Sam Marie Engle
So, where are you from?
If you’re Ashish Parikh, an assistant professor in Emory Radiology’s Division of Pediatric Imaging, the question does more than spark polite chit-chat at a social function. It’s the gateway to understanding who he is.
“I’m from the Stone Mountain area. I grew up with people from all backgrounds and nationalities and went to Clarkston High School,” he says.
Clarkston, often described as “the most diverse square mile in America” and “the Ellis Island of the South,” is a small city of about 13,500 people east of Emory’s Druid Hills campus best known for its incredible ethnic diversity. Since the early 1990s, Clarkston has welcomed thousands of individuals and families fleeing war and persecution in their homelands and seeking to build new lives in the United States as resettled refugees.
If you’re Ashish Parikh, an assistant professor in Emory Radiology’s Division of Pediatric Imaging, the question does more than spark polite chit-chat at a social function. It’s the gateway to understanding who he is.
“I’m from the Stone Mountain area. I grew up with people from all backgrounds and nationalities and went to Clarkston High School,” he says.
Clarkston, often described as “the most diverse square mile in America” and “the Ellis Island of the South,” is a small city of about 13,500 people east of Emory’s Druid Hills campus best known for its incredible ethnic diversity. Since the early 1990s, Clarkston has welcomed thousands of individuals and families fleeing war and persecution in their homelands and seeking to build new lives in the United States as resettled refugees.
“It was a very diverse environment. Many of my classmates came from war-torn countries and low-resource backgrounds. When I graduated in 2001, there were tensions in Clarkston based on a lack of understanding and exposure to diverse people. People are afraid of change, but I find that kind of diversity allows you to better understand your place in the world. It’s been a passion for me to foster what I grew up with and use what my experiences have taught me to show how beneficial it is to have diversity around you."
Dr. Parikh recognizes the power of his privilege. “Where we come from affects our choices and our opportunities,” he says. “Being a radiologist usually requires a decent amount of support from family, friends, and not all people have that. Not everyone has that. There’s more socioeconomic homogeneity in medicine. Rarely do we see people from significantly low-resourced backgrounds.”
Dr. Parikh recognizes the power of his privilege. “Where we come from affects our choices and our opportunities,” he says. “Being a radiologist usually requires a decent amount of support from family, friends, and not all people have that. Not everyone has that. There’s more socioeconomic homogeneity in medicine. Rarely do we see people from significantly low-resourced backgrounds.”
Once he completed his own training, Dr. Parikh joined the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to begin putting his experience into practice. “We started this work through SPR in 2020, at the height of the racial unrest in America, so we felt as part of the community that it would be important to have a mini symposium on DEI in Pediatric Radiology. A lot of the medical journals are geared toward bench research, but this is just as important because it affects our personal and professional lives, as well as the lives of our patients. We were pleased the editor gave us the opportunity."
In March of this year, Dr. Parikh co-authored a piece in the SPR DEI Mini-Symposium titled “Re-defining gender diversity through an equitable and inclusive lens.” His co-authors are Vaz Zavaletta, MD, PhD, who completed fellowships in pediatric interventional radiology and vascular and interventional radiology with Emory Radiology and who now is an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus, and Brittany J. Allen, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and co-medical director of the Pediatric and Adolescent Transgender Health (PATH) Clinic at American Family Children’s Hospital.
“It’s imperative we acknowledge gender is more expansive than a binary category because it represents a spectrum of gender identities. The discussion of this spectrum is lacking in our conversation around gender diversity and equity in radiology.” The piece has sparked lively discussion online and in meetings.
He additionally co-authored "Microaggressions in our daily workplace encounters: A barrier to achieving diversity and inclusion" with Jessica Leschied (available here) as part of the minisymposium.
Dr. Parikh now serves as vice chair of the SPR DEI Committee. Because SPR has made DEI a significant focus, he and the DEI committee are planning sessions on DEI for the annual meeting May 16-20, 2023. They also are planning other mini courses and webinars.
He says work is happening now, too, on gender diversity. “This is important for both our members and our patients who are non-binary and transgender. We are working on an image equity campaign for transgender and gender diverse pediatric patients. It’s a really challenging and essential issue, because while children are very resilient, they still carry trauma from childhood into adulthood.
In March of this year, Dr. Parikh co-authored a piece in the SPR DEI Mini-Symposium titled “Re-defining gender diversity through an equitable and inclusive lens.” His co-authors are Vaz Zavaletta, MD, PhD, who completed fellowships in pediatric interventional radiology and vascular and interventional radiology with Emory Radiology and who now is an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus, and Brittany J. Allen, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and co-medical director of the Pediatric and Adolescent Transgender Health (PATH) Clinic at American Family Children’s Hospital.
“It’s imperative we acknowledge gender is more expansive than a binary category because it represents a spectrum of gender identities. The discussion of this spectrum is lacking in our conversation around gender diversity and equity in radiology.” The piece has sparked lively discussion online and in meetings.
He additionally co-authored "Microaggressions in our daily workplace encounters: A barrier to achieving diversity and inclusion" with Jessica Leschied (available here) as part of the minisymposium.
Dr. Parikh now serves as vice chair of the SPR DEI Committee. Because SPR has made DEI a significant focus, he and the DEI committee are planning sessions on DEI for the annual meeting May 16-20, 2023. They also are planning other mini courses and webinars.
He says work is happening now, too, on gender diversity. “This is important for both our members and our patients who are non-binary and transgender. We are working on an image equity campaign for transgender and gender diverse pediatric patients. It’s a really challenging and essential issue, because while children are very resilient, they still carry trauma from childhood into adulthood.
Dr. Parikh enjoys strong support from both Emory Radiology and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where he practices. “They’re very receptive to the work I am doing and acknowledge how important it is.”
When asked what he considers the biggest challenge and the greatest opportunity, he doesn’t hesitate to give a single answer to both: “Dialogue. The challenge is to disseminate our message in a way that feels welcoming and not condescending because not everyone will agree with us. You turn people off and they won’t listen if your tone is condescending or demeaning. Invite a dialogue instead of giving a lecture. It’s really hard now because things have become so tribal, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reach out to people who are different or who have opposing viewpoints.”
"What I want people to understand is that diversity, equity and inclusion are good morally and professionally: diverse opinions allow for more progress and more innovation, and that’s better for business. Most importantly, it’s better for us as human beings. I am better because of the friends I made in school who came to the US as refugees, friends I still talk to today. I am better because of where I’ve come from and where I’m going as a result.”
When asked what he considers the biggest challenge and the greatest opportunity, he doesn’t hesitate to give a single answer to both: “Dialogue. The challenge is to disseminate our message in a way that feels welcoming and not condescending because not everyone will agree with us. You turn people off and they won’t listen if your tone is condescending or demeaning. Invite a dialogue instead of giving a lecture. It’s really hard now because things have become so tribal, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reach out to people who are different or who have opposing viewpoints.”
"What I want people to understand is that diversity, equity and inclusion are good morally and professionally: diverse opinions allow for more progress and more innovation, and that’s better for business. Most importantly, it’s better for us as human beings. I am better because of the friends I made in school who came to the US as refugees, friends I still talk to today. I am better because of where I’ve come from and where I’m going as a result.”