Brad Roberts, ACS, RCS, RDCS, FASE

Describe your career and current position, role and responsibilities.

Fresh out of school, I took a job for a mobile company, Advanced Cardiovascular Technology (ACT), and drove all over the great state of Oklahoma performing echocardiograms and vascular exams.  Almost one year later, I received a phone call from one of my best friends in high school, Greg Naylor, who happened to graduate one year ahead of me from the OU program.  He was calling from Durham, North Carolina where he worked at Duke University Medical Center.  He said, “There’s a job for you here if you want it.”  I jumped at the chance, got the job, and worked with some of the best echocardiographers in the U.S., including Drs. Joe Kisslo and Tom Ryan (both past ASE presidents and echo gurus) as well as Mr. David Adams.  I spent 5 years there before being offered a chief cardiac sonographer position by Dr. Paul Grayburn at the UT Southwestern-affiliated V.A. Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.  I’ve been working with Dr. Grayburn ever since, spending 3 years at the V.A. before moving to Baylor Scott and White Health in 2002, were we still work together.  I have had a number of roles since moving to Texas including clinical echocardiographer, research echocardiographer and technical director for Dr. Grayburn’s Cardiac Imaging Core Lab.

Describe your personal life, family, hobbies, and interests.

I have been happily married to Mrs. Marsha Roberts for the past 9 years and we have a wonderful blended family of four “children” – Jacob, 17, Brandon 19, Taylor, 24 and Tristan 27.  I enjoy playing the guitar, doing projects around the house, cooking and travel.

What are you most proud of professionally and personally?

Professionally, I am most proud of the volunteer work I’ve done for both the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI).  I have served on many ASE committees, including Board of Directors and Guidelines and Standards, and I’ve been very involved with CCI’s Registered Cardiac Sonographer (RCS) examination committee and served on its Board of Trustees.  I have also spoken extensively at the ASE annual scientific sessions, at the SDMS annual meeting in 2015, and was first author on a manuscript in 2003 and a recent editorial in JASE just this month.  Personally, I’m most proud of my wife and children.  They’re an amazing bunch.

How has your education from the Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences (formally Radiologic Technology) impacted your career?

I didn’t realize until I got out into the workforce just how well the OU Sonography Program would prepare me to do my job.  Thank you, Dr. Kari Boyce and Prof. Jean Spitz! The program was extremely challenging for me at the time as I was living in Norman and putting myself through school, but I am thankful to have persevered and graduated.  It laid a great foundation upon which to build a career.

Describe a special memory from when you were a student in the program.

Scanning each other for practice with ancient mechanical transducers was a hoot!  I hope the program still has some of that equipment for historical purposes.  I also enjoy looking back on our “computer” class, which involved a mainframe computer since the PC had yet to become prevalent.  I had to type a mile of code to send my neighbor a note that said “Hi!” and using punch cards in the thing.  I remember thinking, “THIS is the future??”  We’re doomed.

What would you like prospective students to know before they select a career in your profession &/or any healthcare career?

Two bits of advice:  1. Get ready, because the only thing constant in this field is change!  Technology and knowledge are constantly shaping and transforming all areas of medicine, and you better keep up or you’ll get left behind 2. If you want to advance your career and be your best, learn to forget the word “No”.  If an opportunity comes your way – giving a presentation, taking a step up in the department, joining a committee – do yourself a favor and take on the challenge.  It has opened more doors for me than I know.

Given what you know now, is there anything you would do differently if you were just starting your healthcare career?

Given what I know now, I would probably have worked toward getting into medical school somewhere.  In any event, I am completely happy and content with my career choice and I have enjoyed it immensely.  I’ll be interested to see where it goes from here…

Is there anything else you want us to know about yourself?

Thank you for a wonderful education.  Boomer!!