The program is structured on four-week rotations so that 52 such blocks are available during the four-year program. Most of these rotations are assigned and form the “core” curriculum; several others may be "elective" and are chosen after consultation with the Program Director.

Nuclear Medicine, neuroradiology, pediatric radiology and angio/interventional radiology are given in contiguous blocks which extend over eight or 12 weeks. All other subspecialties are distributed throughout the Program in four-week blocks. Assignments in a particular subspecialty, such as GI radiology, are spaced as evenly throughout the training program as possible so as to provide the resident with an opportunity for graded responsibility from junior to senior years.

There are no fellows in the program so residents achieve a high level of responsibility in each rotation.

First Year

The primary objective of the first two years is for the resident to accumulate data and acquire facts; that is, these two years are critical for the resident to read, listen, experience, and gather as much information as possible.

The Orientation Program is integrated into the first six rotations. It is designed to introduce the residents to the fundamentals of radiology through didactic presentations, lectures and conferences given by the staff radiologists who focus on the entities the resident is most likely to see. At the same time, the residents rotate through six fundamental areas of radiology: emergency radiology, body CT imaging, neuroradiology, critical care radiology, abdominal radiology (GI/GU) and ultrasound. Every first-year resident should have had four weeks experience in each of these areas by the end of the sixth month of training.

The Department’s philosophy throughout the residency is that the resident learns best through supervised performance of a particular study. Besides introducing the fundamentals of radiology, one of the main objectives of these early months is to prepare the resident for trauma/critical care radiology.

The remainder of the first year is occupied by repeat rotations through abdominal radiology, body CT, general radiology (plain film musculoskeletal, chest) and ultrasound as well as rotation through critical care radiology (chest).

First-year residents take no overnight, in-house call. They do have “buddy-call” with a more senior resident starting in the second half of the first year.

Second Year

During this year, the resident spends 12 weeks in angio/interventional radiology, up to12 weeks in neuroradiology including CT of the head, MRI and MRA of the head and myelography, and up to 12 weeks in the Section of Nuclear Medicine.

In Nuclear Medicine, the resident participates in all aspects of the clinical and laboratory aspects of the specialty.

Daily review sessions of general nuclear imaging studies are augmented by combined review sessions with the cardiologists for nuclear cardiology, and with the diagnostic radiologists for bone scans. The resident also participates in the evaluation of all thyroid patients.

The resident also receives additional training in abdominal radiology (GI/GU), body imaging, critical care radiology and ultrasound sometime during this year.

Overnight, in-house call is taken mostly by the second-year residents and, at the start of the academic year, the third-year residents. We use a week-long night-float system. The call frequency is no more than one week every six. We comply with all of the ACGME duty-hour restrictions.

Third Year

The third year allows for an opportunity to integrate the factual material and experience accumulated earlier in the Program. The resident spends most of this year returning to, and refining skills in, many of the earlier rotations, bringing to these rotations additional responsibility and increased experience at this time. The resident rotates through abdominal radiology, ultrasound, general radiology (musculoskeletal, chest), emergency radiology, critical care, mammography, MRI (body and musculoskeletal) and out-patient radiology.

Training in pediatric radiology usually takes place this year with 12-weeks of rotations at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.

At St. Christopher’s, our residents function in the same capacity as they do at Einstein. That is, they are responsible for the performance and interpretation of the pediatric procedures under the guidance of the full-time, Board-certified pediatric radiologists there. Much of the dictation is done by the resident with staff supervision.

In addition, the resident spends three assigned months of concentrated training in mammography, during this year and the fourth year. These three months supplement the 50-60 hours of clinical mammography conferences all residents receive throughout the Program as well as additional experience garnered on their out-patient radiology rotation at one of our out-patient imaging facilities.

The residents obtain their training in cardiac radiology from several different sources. The residents receive 52 hours of lectures and conference on congenital and adult cardiac disease during the course of the program at the Medical Center. These conferences include cardiac anatomy, physiology and pathology including cardiac MRI. These 52 hours of conference are augmented by additional conferences, which include pediatric angiographic studies, given by the staff at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Further, the residents see congenital cardiac lesions on their three-month rotation at St. Christopher’s where they are also exposed to cardiac MRI. Adult nuclear cardiology is enhanced by the presence of a cardiologist who, along with the radiologist, helps the resident with the clinical aspects of nuclear interpretation.

Residents attend the four-week Radiologic-Pathology Course at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology during this year, subsidized by the Department. During the third year, the resident frequently works on a scholarly project which can be executed sometime during this or the next year. Such projects may take the form of research leading to a publishable paper, but others may also include preparation of a scientific exhibit, an oral presentation (such as at a local society meeting), synthesis of clinical material into an intramural presentation or report, or the like.

At the beginning of the third year, residents take some overnight, in-house call on the night-float system. For the remainder of the year, the third year resident participates in the short-call rotation (5pm-9pm), which occurs about once every 10th night on average.

Fourth Year

The fourth-year resident is asked to focus on the application of the information and skills acquired during the previous three years.

The fourth year allows for greater individual freedom while providing some time to refine diagnostic skills. Senior residents serve as true consultants and active educators.

The program for a fourth year resident may vary according to future fellowship or job requirements or areas of particular interest or expertise. In general, the fourth year curriculum emphasizes the newer imaging modalities—MRI, Body CT and ultrasound.

At the discretion of the Program Director, assignments may be made to certain areas in which the resident may need additional experience. If appropriate, this could include returning to the angio/interventional section for certain interventional procedures in which, according to the resident’s log, the resident may benefit from additional experience. Residents are not assigned to any given subspecialty for more than two or three months during the fourth year and no more than six months in the Program.

Additional training in Nuclear Medicine to meet Board requirements occurs during this year.

Fourth-year residents take no overnight, in-house call in our Program. Fourth-year residents serve as back-ups to the in-house resident by beeper call from home one week out of every six and take infrequent short-calls (5pm–9pm) during the first nine months of the academic year. Fourth-year residents are relieved of all call responsibilities for the three months preceding the Oral Examination of the American Board of Radiology.