RESIDENCY TRAINING PROGRAM
A Message from the Residency Director
Mary Scanlon, MD, FACR
Residency Program Training Director
Welcome to the radiology training program at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Nationally known for its unique training programs, Penn's Department of Radiology strives to train clinically outstanding radiologists and develop leaders in all areas of the discipline including academics, research, business and politics.
Our Educational Mission is to train clinically excellent academic radiologists who will demonstrate superb communication skills and professionalism; who are reflective about their abilities; and who are able to navigate any Healthcare System successfully for the betterment of patient care and -- through scholarly pursuits-- play a leading role in advancing the discipline of radiology
The program's structure provides a core curriculum of rotations over three years with an additional year available for electives. The purpose is to provide each resident with a strong background in all aspects of radiology, both clinical and non-clinical. Residents are encouraged to pursue creative individual interests and to develop an area of subspecialty expertise. Additionally, the program fosters and facilitates original research by the resident.
During the course of your career in radiology, medicine in general and radiology in particular will undergo enormous technical, clinical, organizational, and political changes. The radiology training program at The University of Pennsylvania is set to prepare the innovators and leaders of the medicine and radiology of the future. We invite you to apply.
The Training Program
The integrated training program is centered at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). It is a four-year diagnostic residency, available to graduates of a recognized medical school with at least one year of clinical postgraduate training (internship). Three training programs are offered: Clinical, Research and Direct Interventional. Admission to all three is through the NRMP match with separate match codes for each. Candidates may rank one or all. For the 2008 match we anticipate offering 1 Direct Pathway, 3 Research and 7 Traditional slots.
The Traditional Clinical Track
The traditional clinical track is a four-year program consisting of a core curriculum that includes basic and advanced instruction in radiological procedures and image interpretation of all radiological subspecialties. This includes two months at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Both of these institutions are a short walk from HUP and are staffed by faculty, residents and fellows from the University of Pennsylvania system. In addition, there is a three-month pediatric radiology rotation at the world-renowned Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and a four-week rotation on radiological pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC.
Divided into 52 four-week blocks, the four years of residency include essentially three years of required rotations covering CT, US, Chest, Bone, GI, GU, MRI, Neuro Radiology, Interventional Radiology, Pediatrics, Cardiovascular, Breast, Nuclear Medicine/PET, Nuclear Cardiology, Nuclear Medicine Physics, and Night Float. For each month of rotation, goals, objectives and suggested readings with progressive responsibilities and expectations are distributed to the resident.
The remaining months, essentially adding up to a year, are creatively available
for elective time in areas of clinical interest or special research both within
and outside the department. Mini fellowships or concentration areas can be put
together with an infinite number of possibilities in both traditional (Body MRI,
Breast, Neuroradiology, IR, Pediatrics, Nuclear Medicine/PET) and non-traditional
(Business, Operations, Health Service, Informatics) areas.
The Radiology training at the University of Pennsylvania program fosters and facilitates original research by the resident. It is an ACGME requirement that residents engage in a scholarly project during their residency the results of which must be published or presented at institutional, local, regional, or national meeting. This requirement is strongly embraced by the department and is considered achieving minimum satisfaction in meeting the research component of our educational mission.
Residents participate in a two week mini-rotation on “How to be an Academic Radiologist” during the first year of radiology residency. This begins residents’ research projects. Residents are then expected to present twice at Department Grand Rounds. The first is at the beginning of second year of radiology residency and is a brief overview of the rationale and goals of their research projects. The second Grand Rounds is at the end of the third or beginning of the fourth year of residency and is the results of the project. After the first year of radiology residency, residents can request the equivalent of one half day per week or 2 days per month dedicated research time. According to the needs of the project two to four week research elective time can be scheduled.
Specific program requirements on the Traditional Clinical Track include
| CLINICAL TRACK | ||||
| Chest | 2 | IR | 3 | |
| Bone | 2 | Neuro | 3 | |
| Total Chest/Bone | 5 | CHOP | 3 | |
| Body CT | 2 | Body MRI | 3 | |
| Ultrasound | 2 | Mammo | 2.5 | |
| Total CT/US | 5 | Cardiovascular | 2 | |
| Nucs | 1 | VAG (2nd yr) | 1.5 | |
| PET | 1 | Presby N (3rd yr) | 1.5 | |
| Cardiac Nucs (4th yr) | 1 | Night Float (2nd yr) | 1.5 | |
| Nucs Physics (4th yr) | 1 | AFIP (3rd yr) | 1 | |
| Total Nucs | 4 | Presby D (1st yr) | 1 | |
| GI (1st yr) | 1 | Rsrch Camp (1st yr) | 0.5 | |
| GU (1st yr) | 1 | Electives | 10 | |
| VAF (2nd yr) | 1 | |||
| Senior Fluoro (3rd yr) | 1.5 | |||
| Total Fluoro | 4.5 | |||
| TOTAL | 52 | |||
The Research Track
The research track allows candidates to spend an entire year (the third year) of residency pursuing research. It is a track designed for candidates who wish to make research an integral part of their residency training. Its aim is to train a generation of clinician scientists to populate leadership positions in academic radiology. Funded in part by a National Institutes of Health training grant, the research track integrates two years of research training into a five-year radiology training program and includes one year of fellowship.
The first two years of the research track (PGY2, PGY3) are spent in clinical radiology, similar to the traditional track. Third year will be spent working on a research project(s), or in one of our department’s many radiology research labs. During this year, candidates will also be able to pursue formal training in Biostatistics or other needed disciplines in Penn’s School of Clinical Epidemiology. Research Track residents will not be assigned weekday rotations during this year except for Presby nightfloat and AFIP. They are expected to attend morning conference daily and to spend one day per week on a clinical service.
Fourth year of radiology residency (PGY5), is a focused clinical year. It is a requirement of the Research Track that candidates undertake their fellowship training, PGY-6, at the University of Pennsylvania. Fellowships for the research track will include a large research component (80%) and can be tailored to an individual candidate's need.
In addition to the Program Director, residents on the research track are guided by a research mentor of his/her choice. That mentor will be required to do a semi-annual review of the resident’s performance during the third year and submit both to the Program Director and the Research Track Committee. The Research Track Committee is charged with the ongoing supervision of curriculum for the track and the supervision of progress of individual candidates.
Program requirements on the RESEARCH TRACK include
| RESEARCH TRACK | ||||
| Chest | 2 | IR | 2 | |
| Bone | 2 | Neuro | 3 | |
| Total Chest/Bone | 4 | CHOP | 2 | |
| Body CT | 2 | Body MRI | 2 | |
| Ultrasound | 2 | Mammo | 2.5 | |
| Total CT/US | 4 | Cardiovascular | 2 | |
| Nucs | 1 | VAG (2nd yr) | 1.5 | |
| PET | 1 | Presby N (3rd yr) | 1.5 | |
| Cardiac Nucs (4th yr) | 1 | Night Float (2nd yr) | 1.5 | |
| Nucs Physics (4th yr) | 1 | AFIP (3rd yr) | 1 | |
| Total Nucs | 4 | Presby D (1st yr) | 1 | |
| GI (1st yr) | 1 | Rsrch Camp (1st yr) | 0.5 | |
| GU (1st yr) | 1 | Electives | 6 | |
| VAF (2nd yr) | 1 | Research (3rd yr) | 10.5 | |
| Senior Fluoro (2nd yr) | 1 | |||
| Total Fluoro | 4 | |||
| TOTAL | 52 | |||
Direct Pathway Tract
Residents interested in Interventional Radiology (IR) can follow three different training pathways, all requiring a total of six years. The Traditional pathway is an internship, four-year diagnostic radiology residency, and a one year IR Fellowship. The Clinical Pathway is a subspecialty track within the traditional residency. You complete a traditional internship and then spend the first two years of radiology residency in the traditional manner followed by six blocks as an IR fellow, four blocks on medical and surgical electives, three blocks on research, and three blocks on vascular imaging. You then return to diagnostic radiology for the balance of the fourth year before taking the oral boards and then go on to complete a traditional one year IR fellowship. Penn residents have participated in this pathway for many years.
The newest track, the Direct Pathway, is designed for the medical student who intends a full-time career in image-guided therapy. The Direct Pathway starts with two years of surgery, followed by 19.5 blocks of diagnostic radiology, 22.5 blocks of IR (which incorporates the fellowship year), and finally 10 blocks back in diagnostic radiology rotations before taking oral boards. Penn has matched to this track since 2005. Matching into this pathway guarantees a spot in surgery at the University of Pennsylvania (no need for a separate application or match)
Applicants to the Direct Pathway follow the standard ERAS process for the radiology residency. There are separate match numbers for the Direct Pathway and for the Research tracks. Applicants can rank any or all. Please note that once a candidate is matched to the Direct Pathway, it is not permissible to transfer into the traditional diagnostic or research track.
Specific program requirements on the Direct Pathway include:
| DIRECT Pathway Tract | ||||
| Chest | 2 | IR | 22.5 | |
| Bone | 2 | Neuro | 2 | |
| Total Chest/Bone | 4 | CHOP | 1 | |
| Body CT | 2 | Body MRI | 2 | |
| Ultrasound | 2 | Mammo | 2.5 | |
| Total CT/US | 4 | CV (included in IR time) | 2 | |
| Nucs | 1 | VAG (2nd yr) | 1.5 | |
| PET | 1 | Presby N (3rd yr) | 1.5 | |
| Cardiac Nucs (4th yr) | 1 | Night Float (2nd yr) | 1.5 | |
| Nucs Physics (4th yr) | 1 | AFIP (4th yr) | 1 | |
| Total Nucs | 4 | Presby D (1st yr) | 1 | |
| GI (1st yr) | 1 | Rsrch Camp (1st yr) | 0.5 | |
| GU (1st yr) | 1 | |||
| VAF (1st yr) | 1 | |||
| Senior Fluoro (2nd yr) | 1 | |||
| Total Fluoro | 4 | |||
| TOTAL | 52 | |||
Conferences
There are two 45-minute conferences from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. daily. The faculty presents both clinical and non-clinical material in various formats, including didactic lectures and interesting case reviews. Core clinical curriculum, covering all subspecialty areas, is presented completely and repeated every two years. ER Radiology is repeated yearly. This combination of required rotations and formal conference curriculum insures the training of clinically outstanding radiologists.
Non-clinical curriculum is repeated every two years and includes topics covering Image Acquisition and Reconstruction, Image Processing, Informatics, Clinical Research (Study Design, Biostatistics, and the Art of Writing Papers and Grants) and Economics. This non-clinical portion of the curriculum gives residents the skill sets needed to own their discipline and be the future leaders of radiology.
HUP’s Radiology Grand Rounds are held weekly. The department has a resident journal club with faculty members facilitating discussion on a rotating basis. Many sections within radiology including Body CT, Body MRI, MSK and CVI and many departments outside radiology have subspecialty, weekly noon conferences as well.
National and Regional Societies
Residents are encouraged to become actively involved in organized radiology, by becoming resident members of and attending the meetings of the Philadelphia Roentgen Radiology Society (oldest radiologist society in the country) as well as the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Pennsylvania Radiological Society (PRS). The PRS funds two residents each year to attend the annual ACR meeting in Washington, D.C. For the last five years one of our residents have been one of two representing the state.
Duty Hours
Call responsibilities are the same for candidates on all three Tracks. First-year residents are responsible for supervision and interpretation of ER films taken from 5 pm to 7:30 pm Monday through Friday. First year residents are always on call with a staff attending radiologist present in the ER.
Second year residents are responsible for the overnight call, which begins at 7:30 pm and is done on a night float system in two-week blocks. A staff radiologist is present with the resident until 10 pm Monday-Friday. At 11 pm, seven days a week, a night-time ER radiology attending or radology fellow works with the resident.
The primary call responsibility of the third year residents is to perform and interpret emergency Ultrasound and CT cases on the weekends. This responsibility is shared with the body imaging fellows.
There is no formal call in the fourth year. However, residents on various subspecialty rotations also have responsibility for evening call according to the subspecialty rotation. In general, residents are encouraged to live "the life of the rotation."
Evaluation
Multiple assessment tools are used in the evaluation of resident performance. Faculty electronically complete global evaluations of each resident at the end of rotations. Residents can review these online or in hardcopy in the program coordinators office. Similarly residents do online anonymous faculty evaluation after each rotation as well as an annual on line anonymous evaluation of the program. Results and comments are taken very seriously at all levels within the department and institution and are used in faculty development and advancement and to make programmatic improvements.
Accreditation
The training program is accredited by the ACGME. The program fulfills the requirements for certification by the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Radiology.
Other Opportunities
The department offers fellowships in radiology subspecialties after a formal radiology residency. Fellowships, one or two years long, are tailored to the background, capabilities, and interests of the individual. Application is made directly to the Section Chiefs.
Affiliates
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Training in pediatric Radiology is undertaken at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the world’s premier children’s hospitals. CHOP is a 374-bed hospital which sits immediately adjacent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center
The VA, adjacent to the Penn Campus, is a 390-bed hospital with an all digital state of the art radiology department including DR, CR, two suites for Angiographic/Interventional and Neuroradiologic studies, two MRI’s, two CT units (40 and 64 channel), Ultrasound, Mammography and Nuclear Medicine with PET-CT. Approximately 40,000 diagnostic radiographic studies and 12,000 procedures in Nuclear Medicine are conducted here annually.
Presbyterian Medical Center
Presbyterian is a 325-bed hospital located at 39th and Market streets, a 10-minute walk through the Penn undergraduate campus from HUP. The Presbyterian Department of Medical Imaging performs approximately 65,000 examinations per year. Equipment includes a whole body 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner, a multidetector CT scanner, digital fluoroscopy, and full-service interventional radiology.
Benefits 
- All residents receive three weeks of vacation each year and a week during the winter holidays.
- The department pays for one professional conference during residency and additional conferences if you are presenting a paper.
- The department pays tuition for the rotation at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. A living allowance for this rotation is also provided.
- Residents receive annual book allowances.
- A home computer allowance is provided in the first year.
- Custom fit designer lead aprons
- Comprehensive health insurance is provided for residents, their spouses/domestic partners, and dependent children. Residents participate in a long-term disability plan and life insurance.
Application
Applications to our training program are made through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application System). Candidates for residencies are considered during their fourth year of medical school and (rarely) during or after their internship.
For the 2008 NRMP match, we will have separate match codes for the Traditional Clinical Track [1628420A0], Research Track [1628420A1] and the Interventional Radiolgy Direct Pathway [162842C0]. Candidates may choose to rank one, two or all three tracks.
A personal interview is a requirement for admission. After initial selection of applicants, from their applications, we invite candidates to our campus for interviews. We shall be conducting interviews during selected Mondays and Wednesdays in December and January. Applicants should expect to be contacted concerning the final status of their applications by November 22nd. Our positions are filled through the National
Residency Matching Program.
The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer, and invites applications from highly qualified individuals without regard to race, gender, age, physical disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, religious or political belief, or national origin.
-
Mary Scanlon, MD, FACR
Director, Residency Program
Pam Piccone
Coordinator, Residency Program
Department of Radiology
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215.662.3264 or 215.662.7558
e-mail: pam.piccone@uphs.upenn.edu
The University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, PA © 2006,
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, PA © 2006,
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
XHTML CSS