Radiology Residency Clinical Rotations

The American Board of Radiology requires ten months of clinical medicine as part of the certification process. The majority of the clinical experience is in the third through the fifth years of residency and is tailored to the individual resident. Radiology residents spend a required month in the emergency department during their first year and a month each in obstetrics, vascular surgery, and cardiology during their third year. Six additional months are spent on elective rotations, primarily in the fourth and fifth years. This allows the resident to select clinical rotations in order to develop competence in the subspecialty area that he or she wishes to pursue in radiology.

Current clinical rotations include:

  • Emergency Medicine - Soon after arrival, first year radiology residents spend a month working side-by-side with interns from other departments in the emergency department. Residents are supervised directly by the emergency department attending physicians and gain experience with clinical management of emergency and trauma room patients at UNMH. This experience and the relationships that are created with emergency department staff prove to be helpful when residents begin taking overnight call at UNMH during their second year.
  • Vascular Surgery - As one of the required rotations during the third year of residency, this popular rotation has also been revisited as an elective rotation by many residents. Radiology residents are assigned to the UNMH Vascular Lab, where they are supervised by attending vascular surgeons and work closely with the vascular technologists. Residents gain experience with the clinical management of vascular disease and learn the techniques of non-invasive imaging of the vascular system, including Doppler ultrasound and plethysmography.
  • Obstetrics - The second required rotation during the third year of residency exposes residents to the clinical management of obstetric patients and fetal imaging. Radiology residents are supervised by attending physicians from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Residents are invited to participate in daily rounds with the obstetrics service, attend meetings between genetic counselors and patients, participate in high-risk obstetric patient assessments, and observe real-time general fetal ultrasound examinations.
  • Cardiology - The third required rotation of the third year of residency occurs at both UNMH and the VA medical center. Radiology residents work under the supervision of attending cardiologists and fellows. Residents attend twice weekly cardiology conferences that include topics such as EKG interpretation, nuclear medicine myocardial perfusion imaging, cardiac angiography, and echocardiography. Residents will gain experience with clinical management of cardiac patients at UNMH and the VA.
  • Internal medicine - As a popular elective rotation for fourth and fifth year residents, radiologists become members of the internal medicine inpatient clinical services, where they attend daily rounds with the ward or intensive care unit teams.

Radiology residents can tailor additional clinical electives to meet their personal educational needs.  These electives must be approved by the radiology department and the clinical service.  Residents in the past have requested electives such as Pediatrics, Surgery, Anesthesiology, Surgical Oncology, Orthopedic Surgery, ENT, and Gastroenterology.