Ryan Bahar

Ryan Bahar is a fourth-year medical student at Yale School of Medicine and aspiring diagnostic radiologist and clinician-educator. Upon graduating, he will stay at Yale for a preliminary medicine year in 2024-2025 before pursuing residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of California San Francisco.

Ryan proudly descends from Michigan farmers on his mom's side and, on his father's, Iranians who fled to the U.S. after facing persecution in the 1980's. He grew up in Georgetown, MA, where he was valedictorian of his high school class and went on to study Neuroscience at Brown University. At Brown, Ryan worked full time while completing his studies, teaching in the Providence and Brown communities, conducting sleep research, and volunteering as an EMT. He graduated magna cum laude as the Department of Neuroscience prize recipient in 2018. In between college and medical school, Ryan pursued a Fulbright Scholarship as a cultural ambassador and English teacher in rural Czech Republic.

At Yale, he has been heavily involved with radiology and medical education scholarship. Under the mentorship of Mariam Aboian, MD, PhD, he studied diverse applications of artificial intelligence in neuro-oncology, focusing on machine learning tools that can predict glioma tumor grade as well as volumetric tools for assessing treatment response in pediatric low-grade gliomas. Additionally, Ryan has engaged in projects aiming to uplift the role of the clinician-educator in academic medicine, namely a study of clinician-educator track-like programs in U.S. medical schools (mentored by Janet Hafler, EdD) and another study quantifying and evaluating faculty educational activities (under Jeremy Moeller, MD, MSc). His scholarly efforts have culminated in first-author publications in Cancers, Frontiers in Oncology, Medical Education Online and Neurology: Education. Most recently, advised by Thilan Wijesekera, MD, MHS, he completed his doctoral thesis entitled, "Radiology Education for U.S. Medical Students in 2024: A State-of-the-Art Analysis."

Outside of research, Ryan has held extensive leadership and teaching roles at Yale. During his final year, he produced and oversaw the Fourth Year Show ("YSM: Yale School of Mystery"). Earlier in medical school, he reestablished the Medical Education Interest Group, co-developed a Medical Education elective, and collaborated on the blueprint for the new Medical Education Concentration. He also enacted changes to class recording and attendance policies and developed a protocol for responding to national incidents of trauma as one of four Medical Student Council officers representing the student body in Deans meetings. As Head Admissions Ambassador, he shaped the applicant interview day experience as well as post-acceptance recruitment through the Second Look Planning Committee. He has co-led the Diagnostic Radiology Interest Group since his first year and is the medical student liaison for the Radiological Society of Connecticut Resident and Fellow Section. He has engaged in near-peer teaching as a peer instructor for ultrasound workshops, session facilitator for the Introduction to the Profession course, associate course director for the Clinical Reasoning course, and interview instructor for the Clinical Skills course. He helped developed curriculum on caring for transgender and gender diverse patients for the Clerkship precedes. He has also served the broader New Haven community co-leading the Anatomy Teaching Program for high school students and volunteering as a patient navigator.

In his spare time, he is an avid amateur long-distance runner (having finished the Newport Marathon and REVEL Mt. Charleston Marathon in 2023), downhill skier, and bell collector.