Bill Byrd, MD
(SWC-SNMMI President 2002-2003)

Please tell us about yourself.

I started out as a child. I grew up in Canyon Texas, attended West Texas State University (go Buffaloes), and then Southwestern Medical School. I graduated from Southwestern in 1977, and due to the Health Professions Scholarship Program of the US Army, did my internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. While a resident, I developed the habit of discussing cases with the Nuclear Medicine physician, who was another internist. Thus, I was pre-attended when I went to attending or Chief Rounds. It was easy to see he had the best job in the Internal Medicine Department. He got to see all of the interesting cases and went home at 5 o’clock.

My first assignment was RW Bliss Army hospital at Ft Huachuca Arizona for three years.

Give us your background information related to your professional training, including nuclear medicine, and what inspired you to enter this field.

While I enjoyed my time as a general internist, I still thought about Nuc, and was accepted for a fellowship at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. At my last assignment, Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, I presented one of those 10 minute abstracts we used to do. Later, a gentlemen asked me a question about my presentation. Noting he was from Amarillo, next door to my home town, I asked how he was able to practice in such a small setting. He replied that he was getting so busy that he needed to find a partner. “The sun has rise and the sun has set and here I am in Amarillo, yet”.

What do you consider your primary contribution(s) to Nuclear Medicine?

I started a Nuclear Medicine service at two of the three private hospitals in town, and I hope I brought a level of service that the community lacked before. Dr. Gonzalez and I established the Technologist Program at Amarillo College. In Texas, programs are funded based on prior enrollment. In order to finesse the requirement for new funding, we taught the first year for free. I have been medical director of the program until my retirement in 2021.

In what year were you a SWC-SNMMI President, and how did you first become involved with the chapter?

I have served the SWC as a trustee 1988-1992 and 94-97, historian 91-94, secretary 98-2001, and program chairman. I was the chapter president 2002-2003 and historian again 2005-2009. I was the program chairman for the OKC meeting in 91.

Please describe anything else that you would like for your Nuclear Medicine colleagues to know about yourself.

I’m retired now. I spend my time with photography, woodworking, music, science fiction, and eating too much