Michael (Mike) Clemenshaw, MD, MS
(SWC-SNMMI President 2017-2018)

Please tell us about yourself.

I grew up in the Atlanta, GA, metro area attending undergraduate studies at North Georgia College, now the University of North Georgia, and graduate studies at Georgia Tech. After completing a Master of Science in Health/Medical Physics, I joined the US Army as a Nuclear Medicine Science Officer (Radiation Safety Officer).

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

My evolution to become a Nuclear Medicine Radiologist evolved from the science and radiation safety aspects of imaging to the clinical diagnostic and therapeutic applications over the years starting with the death of my mother from cancer in 1995. During my first US Army assignment in Germany as a Radiation Protection/Safety Officer, my mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. I had the opportunity to share her story with, and received support from, my early career colleagues, many of whom were Nuclear Medicine Physicians, Radiologists, and Oncologists. All of this kindled a desire to do more in medicine and oncology imaging beyond the science. I applied and was accepted to medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and then attended Diagnostic Radiology Residency and Nuclear Medicine Fellowship in San Antonio, TX.

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

I consider it an honor to have had the responsibility to train the next generation of Nuclear Medicine Physicians serving in graduate medical education as a former Nuclear Medicine Program Director and past Chair, Department of Radiology. Additionally, I think it is very important to have a high level of quality imaging patient care, so I have enjoyed influencing imaging quality as a Physician Reviewer for the American College of Radiology Nuclear Medicine and PET Accreditation Programs since 2019.

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

I was the SWC-SNMMI President in 2017-2018. I first became involved with the Southwest Chapter by attending my first meeting with friends and colleagues in 2013. From the beginning, I found the members and meeting to be of the highest caliber, and I knew I wanted to part of this organization. I was elected as a Chapter Trustee in 2014 and then served as the 60th Annual Meeting Physician Program Co-Chair held in Austin, TX.

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

While I still practice “general” Nuclear Medicine, I mostly consider myself a PET and Oncology Nuclear Medicine Radiologist actively participating in as many multidiscipline patient care meetings as I can. I am inspired daily by our important role in patient care and excited about the future of nuclear medicine, especially theranostics.