WIS Interventional Radiologist, William Crenshaw, MD, was born in Seattle and, “lived in Medina before Medina was Medina.” His father, a new physician, couldn’t afford to live in Seattle so he purchased a house in the small, upcoming community of Medina. Goodness, how times have changed!

The family moved to Tennessee where he did most of his growing up, but Bill's love for the outdoors and the laidback attitude of Seattle would ultimately bring him back to the Pacific Northwest.

When it came time to make a decision for college, Crenshaw was torn. His entire family attended UVA for their undergraduate studies, but he fell in love with Dartmouth while on a campus visit. It was down to the last day to make a decision and his parents were traveling in Europe. Bill received a call from his father who rarely offered advice. He recommended that his son attend Dartmouth since he loved it so much. Eventually, Crenshaw continued the family tradition and went to UVA for medical school.

He started as a surgery resident, but became very interested in the developments he was seeing with Interventional Radiology. “Everything was new—it was an amazing time to be trained!” IVR guru Dr. Bob Vogelstein was aware of Crenshaw’s interest and asked him if he’d thought about switching from surgery to Interventional Radiology. If so, Dr. Vogelstein was prepared to offer him a spot at Massachusetts General. It was an incredible opportunity and Bill seized it.

Dr. Crenshaw’s professional endeavors took him from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to Baltimore and then on to Arizona where he became partner in a well established radiology practice. It wasn’t until he ran into his friend, Dr. Frantz Pierre-Jerome, and was informed of a possible IVR position at Washington Imaging Services, that Dr. Crenshaw’s desire to return to Seattle became a reality. When he told his wife C.C. of the opportunity, she was 100% onboard and it’s been, “the best decision [he] ever made.” He continues, “I’ve worked in enough venues to know we have a truly amazing group at WIS! We are so lucky!”

When he’s not at WIS, you’ll find Bill with his family (wife C.C., 3 children and “the coolest dog in the world” Pepper) enjoying the full spectrum of outdoor activities that the Northwest has to offer—hiking, biking and skiing are the family favorites. The Crenshaws also enjoy traveling abroad, with their most recent trip taking them to Switzerland. It was an interesting adventure as everyone was limited to one roller suitcase. “My kids think we’re terrible parents because we don’t have a Wii and we limit their packing, but I think they’ll appreciate it one day.”

What Is an Interventional Radiologist?
Radiologists who specialize in Vascular & Interventional Radiology use fluoroscopy, CT, PET and ultrasound to guide catheters, needles and balloons through the skin by needle puncture to perform a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. These include angioplasty/stent placement, chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, vertebroplasty and many others.