Soundeffects news | Interview with Dr Alexandra Stanislavsky

Dr Alexandra Stanislavsky | GYNAECOLOGY & BREAST | AUS

Deputy Head of Women’s Imaging | Monash Medical Centre

Dr Alexandra Stanislavsky is the Deputy Head of Women’s Imaging at Monash Medical Centre and a Consultant Radiologist with Monash Health and Monash BreastScreen. After graduating from Melbourne University in 2004, she completed her radiology training and an MRI Fellowship at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, followed by additional fellowships in women’s imaging at the Royal Women’s Hospital and in breast imaging with BreastScreen.

Alongside her clinical work, Alexandra is actively involved in medical education. She has been an editor with Radiopaedia. org since 2010 and serves as an associate editor for the Australian Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (AJUM).

At ASA2025, Alexandra will discuss key innovations in gynaecological and breast ultrasound, the evolving role of sonographers in breast imaging, and the importance of balancing diagnostic precision with patient care. In this interview, she shares her insights on these topics and the most rewarding aspects of working in women’s imaging.

What are the biggest innovations in gynaecological and breast ultrasound that you will be highlighting at ASA2025?

I would say that rather than focusing on innovation, I hope to help develop depth of understanding. To invite my audience to think beyond the protocols and processes and consider why we do or label things in a particular way. To empower the sonographers with the skills to integrate multimodality imaging and clinical knowledge in a way that bolsters their practice.

What is the most rewarding part of working in women’s imaging?

For me, it is easily the interpersonal aspects of my job. In this role, I am often out of my seat and speaking with patients, sonographers, radiographers, nurses and clinicians. I get to be mostly the radiologist but also a little bit of a counsellor, clinician, sonographer, and proceduralist. And I get to work with women who might be feeling vulnerable or anxious about a procedure or scan that they are having and help them to feel reassured and understood.

My favourite words to hear from a patient at the end of a procedure are: ‘Is that all?’

How do you approach the delicate balance between providing thorough diagnostic imaging and being empathetic to patients who may be anxious or worried about their results?

When I was in university, I once sat in a lecture on ‘giving bad news’. I don’t remember the name of the lecturer or even what his main job was, but I think about it a lot. You must be doing something right as a teacher if someone is still hanging on to your words half a century later.

It started like this ... First of all, sit down. You may be frantically busy with all your other work, but while you are in the room with your patient, make them feel like you have all the time in the world. Even if it’s just for five minutes, give your time and your attention fully.

Remember that your patients aren’t patients. They are people who feel they have no business being patients. Everything else will follow.

Breast imaging is increasingly becoming a multimodality approach. How can sonographers enhance their role in breast ultrasound, and what are the key advantages of integrating ultrasound with other imaging techniques?

This is an excellent question. I look forward to answering exactly this in my talk on multimodality breast imaging. See you there!

Explore Dr Alexandra Stanislavsky’s Program

SESSION | PRESENTATION

FRI 12:30 – 2:30pm | Mullerian duct anomalies: diagnosis and clinical implications

SAT 8:45 – 10:05am | Multi-modality breast imaging for the sonographer

SAT 11:00am – 12:30pm | The pelvic ultrasound blind spot: imaging of the cervix in a non-gravid patient

SAT 3:45 – 5:05pm | Assessment of adnexal masses: an update and refresher