Eric M. Tao, M.D.

General Diagnostic Radiology

Board of Certification
American Board of Radiology
Diagnostic Imaging

Get to know Eric Tao

What qualities make up great radiologists? Understanding your referral physician as well as your patient. We need to spend time and effort to understand their wants and needs and to address the questions they are asking.

How long have you been with BICRAD? It has been 22 years. BICRAD has the most highly trained radiologists most of whom have fellowships from top notch universities. It has been fair to all its partners and employees. It is also technology driven and we have a state of the art IT department!

Tell us something that we probably don’t know about imaging? We diagnose many common cancers not only by imaging but also by tissue acquisitions (i.e. biopsies). The cancer center I have been working for many years, almost all breast cancers and most lung cancers (#1 and 2 most common cancers in US) are diagnosed and biopsied by radiologists.

What’s the biggest change or advancement that you’ve seen in radiology since you started? The most dramatic changes in radiology are technology driven. New and improving imaging modalities such as MRI, PET scan, breast imaging etc are recent developments. Computers have also made interpreting these studies possible and do so much more efficiently using the state of the art PACS systems.

What would you tell a patient that is anxious or worrying about a particular procedure or diagnosis? I have done probably more than two to three thousand procedures. Talking to patient and explaining to them the reasons behind the procedures is important. I will explain to them in many cases that most biopsies are benign. I will also explain to them what to look forward whether the results are positive or negative. I will also reassure them I have all the medications from local anesthesia to potent IV mediations to minimize any discomfort and that I have done similar cases many times and am pretty good at them.

What is something that we wouldn’t know about you? I have to stop everything and raise two girls for many years alone. I am now back to outdoor activities, including mountain biking and hiking. I am enjoying life as a “young senior” and can look forward to grandkids!

Where is your favorite vacation spot and why? Summer in pacific Northwest and in New Zealand (which is winter in California) for the same reasons. Green, clean air, outdoors, warm weather and quiet.

What is one food that you couldn’t live without? Thai and Chinese.

What is your favorite inspirational quote? Don’t try to be perfect. Just try to be better than you were yesterday.