The cases that the residents are expected to interpret correspond to their level of training – lower level residents read more basic cases and modalities and upper level residents select or are assigned more advanced cases. The case volume available is high, and the complexity of cases (as a transplant center, tertiary care referral center and comprehensive cancer center) provides an outstanding environment for learning. The residents’ responsibility also is to choose cases that commiserate with their experience and background to maximize their education, i.e. particularly with regards to interventional cases. The attending radiologists provide case-by-case teaching at the workstations and are responsible for ensuring all clinical work is completed.
Rotations
Our Emergency Department shift covers the Emergency Department from 4 p.m. – 2 a.m. Monday through Friday. Our night float shift covers the Emergency Department from 8 p.m. – 8 a.m. Sunday through Friday. On weekends, resident shifts run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., as well as 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on Saturday. The Emergency Department and night float residents work closely with our remote Emergency Department attending faculty, who provide support and supervision while providing final reads overnight. Residents have the opportunity to review, dictate, and draft all cases independently before attending review.
Emergency Department Schedule Structure (subject to change):
- No call for R1 residents during the first 6 months of radiology residency
- The primary call responsibility falls on the second-year residents who each cover approximately 12-14 weekend shifts (10 weekend days, 4 weekend nights) per academic year.
- Third year residents are not scheduled for call shifts in the spring, in accordance with ACGME requirements, to allow maximal time for studying for the Core Exam.
Our new residents will have access to an online curriculum for each core subspecialty area, in preparation for call. This curriculum details expectations for each rotation, weekly learning objectives, recommended reading assignments, supplemental videos, suggested cases to review, and recommendations for learning.
Curriculum material can be reviewed and completed during the corresponding clinical rotation to build a strong foundational knowledge of basic search patterns, normal anatomy, emergent/critical pathology, and common benign findings.
The primary goal of the first year of Radiology residency is to prepare the resident physician for care of the emergency and critically ill patient. The emphasis, therefore, for first-year residents is on the diagnosing, managing, and subsequent caring for patients in the emergency department and inpatient setting. This is emphasized by the Goals and Objectives for the first two rotations in each of the core specialties. Those specialties are: Abdominal Imaging, Thoracic Imaging, Musculoskeletal Radiology, Neuroradiology, and Nuclear Medicine. The residents also gain experience in Emergency Radiology (with direct faculty supervision), Ultrasound, Vascular Interventional Radiology, and Body Interventional Radiology.
The second year is a time of significant growth for residents. During this year, the resident will mature the expertise they have acquired dealing with the critically ill patient and complement it with new expertise in the remaining subspecialties of radiology that are not necessarily relevant to diagnosis of the critically or acutely ill patient. During this year, the resident will: gain proficiency in vascular interventional radiology, enhance skills in body interventions (CT- and ultrasound-guided), gain experience in Pediatric Radiology, gain experience in Breast Imaging and Interventions, and enhance their skills in the core rotations of Abdominal Radiology, Chest, Ultrasound, MSK and Nuclear Medicine.
During this year, the resident’s knowledge acquired over the first two years of training is nearing maturity. The focus is on refining knowledge through continued experiences on regular clinical rotations and participation in the AIRP Radiology/Pathology correlation course. The resident is expected to take on a leadership role in the section to which he/she is assigned, mentor more junior residents and medical students, and take primary responsibility for providing consultations with referring physicians. During this year, the resident will: gain additional expertise in Vascular and Body Interventional Procedures, gain additional experience in each of the six core rotations including exposure to cardiac imaging, attend the AIRP, and gain experience in an elective rotation.
Fourth-year residents are expected to be leaders on the rotations to which they are assigned, assisting the faculty with the primary duties of running the section, and mentoring the more junior residents. The fourth year of residency is focused on the resident’s primary area(s) of interest and on the resident’s area(s) of improvement. The residents are given the opportunity to plan the second half of their fourth year by scheduling up to three “mini fellowships,” one lasting three blocks, a second lasting two blocks and a third lasting one block. The program remains committed to providing flexibility in the fourth-year resident schedule to ensure that the resident’s primary area(s) of interest may be explored.
Our residents are given 30 days of time for research projects that can be taken in one-day increments. While on a research day, the resident is excused from other clinical duties and these days can be taken at any time throughout the four year residency (and is in addition to our yearly conference time and vacation time). This allows our residents to take days to prepare and perform research projects as needed throughout their residency. As an example, if a resident is notified that revisions are needed to an IRB, that resident can request a research day to meet the time sensitive deadline as needed.
Learn more about Imaging Research in the Department of Radiology and find out about our faculty members representative research interests.