Amit Sura '00 visits Upper School for PolyConnect lunch

Amit Sura ’00 returned to campus on Wednesday, Oct. 12, to speak with 35 Upper School students for Poly's first PolyConnect lunch of the year. Amit knew he wanted to be a doctor from a young age. His mother was a pediatrician, and he grew up with the hope of being able to help people and care for their health. He came to Poly in eighth grade from Chandler, and after helping his tennis team reach two CIF finals, he went on to the University of California Berkeley.

Coming from a smaller school, Cal was a difficult adjustment. Bigger class sizes and a flurry of on-campus activity, Amit says it was a difficult transition from Poly. He decided to double major in business and biology. Despite struggling in some of his classes and the notoriously competitive discipline of medicine, he was determined to continue on his path toward becoming a doctor. He applied to nearly 70 to 80 medical schools, hoping one would take the chance to let him in. He received denial after denial, until he started thinking of alternative programs that did not involve medical school, but were still within the medical occupation. Finally, he flew to Boston where he met with the director of the Tufts medical school, who gave him a chance to enroll in the program. It was the only medical school that accepted him.

He shared, “You will face multiple obstacles along the way. If you have a vision, you will get there, even if it means taking a different path to do so.”

Tufts ended up being the perfect match for Amit, with a radiology program that he was deeply interested in. He started in interventional radiology, which deals with non-invasive methods of diagnosis and treatment of diseases. After exploring the world of radiology at Tufts, Amit went on to a program at NYU and Mt. Sinai St. Lukes Roosevelt for internship and residency in diagnostic radiology. He claims he took around 200 to 300 exams while in medical school, as well as six board exams, to get to his residency.

While at NYU, he met his wife and together they now have a small child, Rayan. He has been practicing pediatric radiology for three years at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, where he is also an assistant professor and a fellowship director.

His main responsibility is to study the pathology and diseases that can be detected using images from radiology procedures. Amit prepared a presentation for the students featuring different cases he’s worked with, including bone abnormalities and brain scans. He reconstructs algorithms to look at bones and to view the normal versus the abnormal. Amit says, “A large part of being a radiologist is using and learning what’s normal to find pathology in the images from our patients.”

In the past, radiology was seen as a field best suited for introverts, who would mainly work in dark labs looking at different images. Now, Amit says radiologists are “required to interact with families and patients, especially in pediatric radiology. It’s not like a typical doctor who deals with many patients throughout the day, but it’s still a social job.”

Amit welcomes any Upper School students or alumni to job shadow him at the Children’s Hospital, where he can share a day in the life of a radiologist. Please contact Katherine Vieser, director of alumni and community relations, to connect with Dr. Sura. 
Back