about peter Moskowitz

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Professional and Painting Bio of Peter Moskowitz, M.D.

The unusual professional career of Dr. Peter Moskowitz has included multiple career transitions inside and outside of clinical medicine and into the world of acrylic painting.

EDUCATIONAL AND MEDICAL PRACTICE HISTORY:

Peter Moskowitz was born in 1945 and raised in Brigham City, Utah, the son of a family practice physician. He was educated in public schools, did his pre-med studies at the Univ. of Utah, and attended medical school at UCSF. His residency training in diagnostic radiology was at UCSF, and his subspecialty training in pediatric radiology was completed at Harvard’s Children’s Hospital, Boston. His academic career started in 1975 as Asst. Professor of Pediatric Radiology at Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford School of Medicine. Over the course of his 41-year radiology career, he was widely respected for his clinical and research acumen. He held numerous hospital, regional, and national leadership roles. In 2001 he was promoted to Clinical Professor and reduced his clinical teaching at Stanford to half-time. In 2016 he retired from Stanford Radiology and was given the honor of Emeritus status from the School of Medicine.

CAREER AND LIFE COACHING FOR PHYSICIANS

In the mid 1990’s, at age 50, Dr. Moskowitz became interested in and concerned about the growing epidemic of physician burnout in the US. This led him to seek certification training in Professional and Organizational Coaching at the Hudson Institute of Coaching. In 1998, he completed coach certification training and launched a career and life coaching practice for physicians, The Center for Professional and Personal Renewal, in Palo Alto. Since then, he has provided career and/or life coaching to over 400 individual physicians, over 4000 physicians in groups, workshops and keynote lectures, published 10 feature articles on physician coaching topics, and co-authored two popular textbooks on strategic career management for physicians. He currently continues his physician coaching practice.

ACRYLIC PAINTING

In January 2024, at age 79, he decided to challenge himself to develop a new hobby by trying his hand at painting. He had never been an artist or taken an art class. Over the past 2 years, through acrylic painting classes at the Palo Alto Art Center, he has found a new passion: Acrylic Painting. His artwork reflects a deep appreciation for life by blending vibrant colors and expressive brushstrokes that capture both emotion and imagination. What began as a therapeutic hobby has evolved into a meaningful, creative outlet. His paintings are inspired by nature, memories from his extensive travels, other hobbies, and the quiet introspection of his retirement from academia and medical imaging.

Short Interview with the Artist

(Interview with Dr. Vicki Feldstein, UCSF Radiologist, 10/14/25)

Q: What inspires you as an artist?
A: What inspires me with respect to my painting is the process of creating something of

beauty with my hands and my eyes. It excites me to watch what starts out as a simple line sketch come alive with color, texture, and style.

Each new painting challenges me to improve my skills, take risks, and learn new approaches. Painting is like meditation to me: it clears my mind of everything and everyone while I paint. I focus only on the next paint stroke.

Q: Is the art you create connected to your work as a radiologist? If so, how?

A: Absolutely, although that fact was not immediately apparent to me. People and fellow art students comment that my paintings show skill at creating depth, distance, and shadows. I tell them I come by those skills naturally because radiologists need good depth perception, accurate assessment of distances, and radiologists are always “in the shadows”, interpreting shadows!