A Childhood Dream Of Medicine

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My name is Gustavo Olivas. I'm an interventional radiologist, and my practice is Virginia Interventional and Vascular Associates. Awesome. Could you take us back through your journey and what inspired you to become an interventional radiologist? It took a while to discover that I loved interventional radiology, but I've wanted to become a doctor since I was a kid. I think I can remember since I was four or five years old, that was when I've always had that dream of becoming a doctor. I always go back to the story of me when I was a kid viewing my pediatrician as a magician. And the reason being is that I thought it was so cool that my pediatrician could listen to my story, my parents' story, do an exam, listen to my heart and lungs, and then just from that, figure out what was wrong with me. And so I thought that was the coolest- trick in the book, that's awesome. Yeah. I was on the on the end of being scared of my doctor as a kid, oh, yeah? It's always nice to hear when kids are-- have a positive view of like doctors, dentists, stuff like that. Yeah, I know. And I know some people have a huge fear of doctors and dentists- 'cause they're afraid of getting poked around or drilled and things like that. Yeah. But, we-- we're also human too, and we're here to help people. Yeah. And then could you share, what part of your journey inspired you to become an interventional radiologist?

Finding Interventional Radiology Through Mentors

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So it was during medical school, and I got a little bit of exposure to it during the first few years. I thought it was interesting, but never really thought too much about it. Then during the third year of medical school, you go through all the different rotations- surgery, medicine, psychiatry, neurology, et cetera, and I didn't like any of them. Th- there are little bits and pieces of each that I enjoyed- and I thought were very interesting, but none of them called, were calling to me. Okay. And so it wasn't until I met with one of my advisors in medical school who forced me to write down positives and negatives of each rotation, and then to kinda talk about what's, what it is that you really do and what you're passionate for. And when I came up with the list, I came up with I love doing procedures, but I don't like eight-hour operations. I like seeing patients, but I don't like an entire day of patients. And I also don't like to round in the hospital for five or six hours a day. And then when we drilled down everything, it interventional radiology popped up. It was this nice blend of surgery cutting-edge medicine, imaging, radiology, and patient care. And when I did a month of it in medical school, I fell in love with it. Awesome. And it's been this, it's been that way ever since. Yeah. That's awesome. Would you say having someone there to guide you through that process of finding what focus is right for you, would you say that made a big difference? Huge difference. I think it's important for everybody to have people they look up to- advisors, people in the field that they're interested in- to look up to because, we don't know everything, and we have to have our pe- mentors to guide us into where we need to go. Absolutely. And I've had several mentors throughout the years that I'm very grateful for. Yeah. And then looking back, what moments do you think had the biggest influence on the direction your career took? Oh, that's a good question. I think for me it was that month of interventional radiology at UVA- m- medical school. And just the people I interacted with were were all on the same wavelength. The s- the things I got to see, I got to experience, the wires, the stents, the balloons I got to touch and feel- and the impact it made on patients was such a life-changing moment for me. Yeah. And that's really when I said, "This is where I need to go." Awesome.

What Interventional Radiologists Actually Do

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And then for someone who is not familiar with interventional radiology, could you explain that a little bit? Yeah we're a tough specialty to pinpoint. Not many people know about us- and I'm trying to break that, and I wanna get more exposure about it. So we are radiologists that performs minimally invasive procedures and surgeries, and we use image guidance like X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, to help guide us in doing those little procedures. A lot of it's done through very tiny holes and incisions in the body, and then us seeing it under live imaging, whether it's ultrasound, X-ray, CT, and we can do a lot of things throughout the body without having to do a big surgery. Yeah. That's awesome. And then what do you find most rewarding about being able to offer patients that kind of approach? What I love... I love hearing the, this one story of, "I wish I heard about you sooner." Because there are a lot of patients that are suffering with diseases that they don't have a really good option for- Yeah and it's not until they hear through second or third opinion, or even through another physician, about things that we can do and offer them. And they ke- I keep hearing from patients, "I wish I came to you sooner," or, "I wish I heard about this sooner." Yeah.

Embolization For Fibroids And More

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And what are some s- procedures that you perform most often, and what, what areas of treatment have become a particular area of expertise for you? So I would consider myself a endovascular specialist but the one procedure that I really specialize in is called embolization. It's a mouthful, but what it is we can actually go inside of your body, inside the arteries, and cut off blood flow to non-cancerous tumors to t- cancerous tumors- to different organs in the body. Some of the most common things I treat are women with uterine fibroids, and we can perform an embolization procedure- to cut off the blood flow to those fibroids and then shrink them, and then have them feel a whole lot better. Yeah. 'Cause a lot of women come see me with pain and bleeding- and they're told, "You have to get a hysterectomy." And some patients, that's not the case. Yeah. And in some patients, doing this procedure saves them a big surgery. They keep their uterus- And their symptoms go away. Yeah. I also treat men with enlarged prostates. Same technique, but apply it in a different way. Shrinking the prostate so that men can pee better. We also do this procedure for patients with knee pain. You can cut off the inflammation to the knee and give patients pain relief in the knee. It's called genicular artery embolization. Awesome. And it's- So it's- Yeah. Yeah, so those are... That's my spec- my, my area of specialty. It's fascinating, Yeah it's cutting edge, and it's changing lives. Absolutely, and it's nice to hear that, patients have that option, not to go through a big surgery. Yeah, and I think more and more people are getting more attuned to their bodies. They're also... There's so much more information out there, so patients are coming to us with more knowledge of what's going on. Yeah. And people want the less invasive option.

Research-Savvy Patients And New Frontiers

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Yeah. And then with patients coming in with or having done a lot of research, how do you navigate those conversations? You have... You as a doctor have to be well-read as well too. And so it's my job to be an expert in my specialty and in diseases I treat. But even still, there are things that even I don't know. Maybe ChatGPT or Claude- can tell me. But I do my best to, impart my knowledge, my wisdom, and my experience- Right Which are things that, I've created and developed over the years. And what are some of the newer procedures you're most excited about, and how are they changing the way you approach patient care? The embolization- technique and procedure, we're- Yeah we keep applying it to different diseases. So we're only-- we're also applying it to patients with frozen shoulder. These are obviously still in clinical trials. Hip pain arthritis throughout the body, and we're also developing new ways of removing things like blood clots in the body. And I'll-- There's so much that's happening in the field that it's actually amazing. Yeah. That's awesome.

Reducing Anxiety And Building Trust

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And going back to that white coat syndrome that we were talking about, how do you create that sense of trust and comfort when patients tend to be anxious about a proc- a procedure? So the first thing I do is I take off the white coat. So it's just scrubs. So that, that's one way I try to get rid of white coat syndrome. Yeah. But I also start with just, a smile and a nice conversation, and I don't dive right into, somebody's issues. I start by, learning about them a little bit. And trying to be as relatable as you can. Yeah. I think that, that definitely sounds like it would help a lot- It- Getting to know your doctor first. It does. It helps a lot of people. You can't help everybody. There's some people that no matter what, it's white coat syndrome- Yeah it's, scrub syndrome you name it. Just that environment creates anxiety and tension, but you try your best to- Yeah minimize it. And then for- People that don't or haven't discovered interventional radiology, until another specialist refers them, what do you wish more people knew about when they might benefit from seeing one? What do you mean by, by that question? Like- Kind of giving people the option, what do you wish they knew like what their options were with seeing an interventional radiologist? Or do you wish that more people knew that this was an option? I just wish more people knew that this- Yeah was an option. Yeah. I think that's really where I think our specialty is at a bottleneck. And, having people come in, come out to just talk about our specialty, what we offer, not only just in our medical community, but also, in the general public. Absolutely. All right, and then for someone who's nervous about seeing a doctor for a procedure, what is the biggest thing that you would want them to know or understand? For me, it's that, I tell patients I don't bite, yeah. I'm not here to r- rip you- a new one or do anything crazy like that. I'm just here to help you. Yeah. It's... I think a lot of patients have this guard up. It's very difficult to talk about, things that are wrong with us- Yeah and, letting yourself be open to kinda telling somebody what's going on with you. Yeah. I think that kind of vulnerability, is tough for some people. And when I practice, I try and, try and minimize that as much as I can- Yeah and by creating a personal bond with somebody. And what I try and tell people is that, this, my option's actually the least invasive option out there. And you remind patients, "If you don't go, if you don't get treated by me, and if you go for a big surgery there's more risk-" there's more potential for complications." And you try and just give them all the information they need so you can make a good decision. Absolutely.

When To Seek IR Help

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And for anyone that is looking to connect with you, learn more about interventional radiology and the treatments you offer, where can they find you? They can find me on LinkedIn, so I post quite a bit there, and I also post quite a bit on my Instagram- dr.gustavo. And I try and, provide slight humor, yeah. I'm not a dancing TikTok doctor. I will never be- a dancing TikTok doctor. That's just not who I am. But I at least try and, make it more personable- and to shed some light on what I do. Yeah. Awesome. And then as we wrap up, is there anything you'd like to add that we haven't touched on today? I just want people to know that, when they come see me, it's not about, I'm not judging them. I try my best not to do anything like that. Yeah. I want them to feel comfortable, in our office, with our staff, and, my, my mission and my goal in life is to help as many people as I can. And if I can help you along the way, whether it's an actual procedure that I perform on you- or maybe even guiding you towards the right step- Yeah I wanna be there for you. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Gustavo, for joining me on the podcast and sharing your knowledge, passion, and inspiring story with us. I wish you the very best in all that comes your way in the future. Thank you so much. It was great to be here.