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Philosophy
Following the principles and ideals of Rush University Medical Center and Rush Medical College, the training program in Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine provides educational opportunities in an environment that emphasizes individual competence and compassionate patient care. Our radiology faculty seeks to foster logical, orderly thought and the sound application of knowledge in the diagnosis of disease, while encouraging a sense of responsibility for humanitarian and ethical concerns.
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General Information
Rush is located on Chicago's near West Side. For more information about the Medical Center, see the About Rush section of this site. Physicians and scientists at the Medical Center are involved in more than 1,600 separate research projects, which bring in nearly $60 million annually to support investigation in basic science, clinical science and combined activities. These endeavors are essential for fostering an intellectually stimulating atmosphere and a scholarly approach to the practice of medicine. Rush and its affiliated institutions offer students the opportunity to observe and experience the full range of medical care, from office-based physician care to complex care for critically ill patients. The Medical Center offers health promotion, preventive services, rehabilitation, home health care and hospice careÑall vital for physician training and patient service.
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Curriculum
The radiology residency program is a four-year program of radiology training for all residents, regardless of prior clinical experience. All residents accepted into the program must complete one year of postgraduate education in a clinical discipline. The first three years of training in radiology are devoted to a well-defined core curriculum, incorporating training in fundamental subspecialty areas. Our program emphasizes a solid foundation in clinical radiologic practice, anchored in an active clinical experience.
Residents rotate through various subspecialty sections, spending approximately four weeks at a time in each area. This approach allows an in-depth study of each sub-specialty discipline. Subspecialty sections include: Gastrointestinal Radiology, Genitourinary Radiology, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Radiology, Musculoskeletal Radiology, Mammography, Interventional Radiology, Neuroradiology, Pediatric Radiology, Ultrasound Imaging, Computed Tomography, Emergency Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. These subspecialty areas correspond closely to the areas of concentration that comprise the oral certifying examination of the American Board of Radiology. Radiation Safety and Radiologic Physics is taught throughout all four years by members of the Department of Medical Physics at Rush University. Residents may sit for the physics portion of the written examination of the American Board of Radiology after 12 months of diagnostic radiology training. After 24 months of diagnostic radiology training and having passed the physics exam, the candidate will be allowed to sit for the clinical exam. If the resident has not already passed the physics exam, both clinical and physics may be taken together. Lastly, the resident may still choose to wait until the beginning of his or her fourth year of radiology training to take the entire written exam. Appropriate physics training is offered commensurate with all of these options, allowing residents the freedom to choose among all of these options.
Scheduling during the fourth year is somewhat flexible, so residents can focus on their areas of interest and personal concern. During the third year, all residents attend the six-week course in Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC. The majority of the financial burden for this rotation is assumed by the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.
An outline of our curriculum follows. Variations may occur due to elective rotations.
| Genitourinary, 3 Months | Gastrointestinal, 4 Months |
| Magnetic Resonance, 2 Months | Thoracic/Cardiac, 4 Months |
| Ultrasound, 4 Months | Neuroradiology, 4 Months |
| Computed Tomography, 4 Months | Pediatrics, 3 Months |
| Emergency Room, 2.5 Months | Musculoskeletal, 3 Months |
| Nuclear Medicine, 6 Months | Interventional, 3 Months |
| Mammography, 2 Months | Elective, Variable |
| AFIP, 4 Weeks | Education, 1 Week |
| Vacation, 4 Weeks per year possible | |
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Clinical Activities and Staffing
More than 124,000 radiographic/imaging examinations and over 23,000 nuclear medicine studies are performed in the hospital department annually. In addition to their hospital experience, residents rotate through selected subspecialty areas in the outpatient office across the street from the main hospital building. This office, Affiliated Radiologists, SC, is staffed by attending radiologists and offers experience with a different patient population than in the hospital. Imaging studies at Affiliated Radiologists number more than 93,000 per year. Second-year residents spend eight weeks consecutively at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The experiences at a dedicated children's hospital serve to broaden their exposure to children's problems.
The residency program fosters competence and confidence in its trainees by emphasizing active participation in image interpretation and the performance of radiologic procedures. These activities are under the close supervision of a full staff of attending radiologists. Residents interpret cases independently; their interpretations are reviewed by an attending radiologist in "one-on-one" teaching sessions throughout four years of residency.
Residents obtain extensive, supervised, "hands on" experience in the performance of angiographic and interventional procedures, ultrasonic scanning and the operation of magnetic resonance imagers, as well as in the performance of more traditional procedures, such as gastrointestinal examinations and arthrography.
The quality of training is enhanced by a high ratio of faculty members and fellows to resident trainees. In addition to the clinical staff, the faculty of the department includes physicists, experts in computer applications in radiology and other scientists. Faculty includes:
David A. Turner, M.D., F.A.C.R.
Chairman
Residency Training Program:
Joy S. Sclamberg, M.D., Program Director
John Meyer, D.O., Assistant Program Director
Medical Student Clerkship:
Elizabeth M. Comiskey, M.D., Director
Neuroradiology:
Michael S. Huckman, M.D., F.A.C.R., Director
Sharon E. Byrd, M.D., Assoc. Director
Dean A. Elias, M.D.
Miral Jhaveri, M.D.
Nuclear Medicine:
Amjad Ali, M.D., Director
Pediatrics:
Elizabeth M. Comiskey, M.D., Director
Gastrointestinal:
Claire Smith, M.D., F.A.C.R., Director
Genitourinary:
John R. Hibbeln, M.D., Director
Thoracic:
Palmi Shah, M.D., Director
Ultrasound/Computed Tomography:
Maija G. Freimanis, M.D., Director, Ultrasound
Ryan Braun, M.D.
Meri Chen, M.D.
John F. Hibbeln, M.D., Director, CT
John Meyer, D.O.
Joy Sclamberg, M.D.
Stephanie Shors, M.D.
Interventional:
Hector Ferral, M.D., Director
Scott Asselmeier, M.D.
Sudheer Paruchuri, M.D.
Anil Pillai, M.D.
Breast Imaging:
Peter M. Jokich, M.D., Director
Anne Cardwell, M.D.
Janice J. Dieschbourg, M.D.
Mireya Dondalski, M.D.
Gene Solmos, M.D.
Lisa Stempel, M.D.
Musculoskeletal:
Anthony Zelazny, M.D., Director
Magnetic Resonance Imaging:
Ryan Braun, M.D., Director
Medical Informatics:
John F. Hibbeln, M.D., Director
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Equipment
Equipment at Rush and Affiliated Radiologists is state-of-the-art. There are four CT scanners including two in the outpatient facility. There are two MR imaging units in the hospital and one MR scanner in the outpatient facility. There are state-of-the-art scanners in the ultrasound section and in the vascular lab, all of which have color Doppler instrumentation. Development of modular cylindrical SPECT (McSPECT) for high-resolution brain SPECT imaging is true cutting-edge technology.
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Radiology Teaching Conferences
There are seven regularly scheduled, hour-long, radiology subspecialty teaching conferences each week. The majority of these conferences are presented by attending radiologists. The format for most conferences is presentation of unknown cases that are discussed by residents under the guidance of the attending radiologist. Conferences are of the highest quality and provide excellent preparation for the oral examination of the American Board of Radiology. Many of our staff radiologists are examiners for the exam. Special "practice" review conferences are sometimes given by the staff immediately prior to exam. Correlative imaging conferences are given bi-weekly by the CT/Ultrasound/MRI fellows. Cases of special interest are presented, along with review of the relevant radiologic literature.
Each resident presents two formal, hour-long lectures as Radiology Grand Rounds on approved topics of their choice during the four-year training program. Residents acquire in-depth knowledge of their chosen subjects and develop valuable skills in public presentation of educational material. Residents are responsible for researching the subject matter, organizing the material to be presented and developing the audiovisual support material. The department has its own photographic and computer-graphics equipment for the use of residents. Additionally, the first-year residents are in charge of providing a "Case of the Week" for our clinical colleagues. These cases are well researched, reviewed and edited, and are made available for viewing on the Internet (see below).
The Department of Radiology participates in a full schedule of weekly conferences sponsored by other departments in the Medical Center. Radiology residents frequently represent the department at these conferences, presenting and discussing relevant diagnostic imaging studies after reviewing the pertinent findings with the radiology attending faculty.
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Scholarly Activities
The time demands of the clinical training program are heavy. Nonetheless, residents are encouraged to join in the research and educational activities of the department. Many residents are involved, but research projects are not mandatory for residents.
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Teaching File and Library Facilities
Members of the Department of Radiology maintain teaching files that contain more than 4,000 pathologically proven cases from the Medical Center. The file is divided according to subspecialties, with each section director having the responsibility for updating and maintaining his or her own portion of the file. The department owns the entire American College of Radiology teaching file on film, and has both videodisc and CD-ROM players for review of the ACR learning files and other educational materials. The departmental library (Faye Squire Memorial Radiology Library) contains an extensive selection of audiovisual materials, essential journals and textbooks. The library of Rush University, one of the oldest libraries in the city of Chicago, houses more than 93,000 volumes and currently subscribes to more than 2,050 journals. Books and periodicals are readily accessible in open stacks, with quiet reading areas nearby. There is a rare book area that consists of three rooms, including the large, domed, circular Benjamin Rush Room, which houses more than 3,000 volumes.
The McCormick Learning Resources Center provides students, residents, faculty and staff the opportunity to use a variety of audiovisual and structural techniques, individually or in small groups. The Learning Resource Center's collection of tapes and other media numbers more than 3,000, including up-to-date sets of the Lucy Squire Radiology series, a valuable source of radiologic wisdom for both students and residents.
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Medical Informatics
The Medical Informatics Section was originally formed to help design and implement a RIS (Radiology Information System) and a PACS (Picture Archive and Communications System) in the department. The department now has a functioning RIS (IDXrad) and PACS (Siemens) supported by a voice dictation system (TalkTech). Each resident and fellow reads case directly from dedicated workstations. Our PACS system is supported by a gigabit network and has more than twenty high resolution multi-head workstations We have two large digital archives (juke boxes) housed in different buildings for backup and can access the archives from any workstation.
To support the physicians and clinical areas outside the department, we have implemented an Internet-based display system that will display our images at points outside the department using data compression; this system also can access our long-term archives. Although our radiological reports are sent immediately to an HIS (Hospital Information System), we also have an automatic FAX system.
Support of these three areas is still part of Medical Informatics, and it is also concerned with projects that relate to Medical Informatics such as software development to support the administration of PACS, CAD (Computer Aided Diagnosis) and WWW-related software projects.
Our radiology conference room has digital projection so that the PACS images can be displayed easily at conference. CD's from the PACS are easily produced and can be used to help create presentations. A computer room with camera and workstations is provided for the residents and fellows.
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Visiting Professors
Outstanding scholars in radiology from other institutions and experts from associated clinical departments at Rush participate actively in our educational program. Clinical correlation is emphasized throughout the residentÕs training. As a result of the outstanding reputation of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Rush, physicians are pleased to be invited to our department to teach. A newly endowed lectureship series to honor John Clark, MD, former Section Chief of Thoracic Radiology, will add to the opportunities for internationally known experts both in radiology and clinical medicine to visit our department.
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Journal Club
Several sections in the department conduct a periodic Journal Club conference. These conferences allow members of the service to review and critically recent journal articles. The critical analysis is presented to the faculty and the house officer members of the section.
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Teaching Opportunities
Our department provides an elective clerkship for students at Rush Medical College. The rotation is one of the most desired clerkships in the medical school because of the active interest of the radiology residents and faculty in student teaching. Residents have an opportunity to participate in intensive one-on-one and group teaching of medical students and fellow postgraduates who opt to spend elective time in diagnostic radiology.
The Interventional Radiology Elective is a student clerkship that exposes the student to interventional radiology with emphasis on patient care. Both nonvascular and vascular interventional examinations are performed on inpatients and outpatients. The Correlative Imaging Elective exposes the student to ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging with emphasis on correlation of radiologic findings.
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On-Call
We have implemented a new "night float" call system. This system involves two residents on call from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. A third resident then relieves these "short call" residents, and works through the next morning until approximately 10 a.m. First-year residents take the short call ("buddy call") for the first six months of their residency. There are also attending radiologists, fellows and senior residents providing back-up call coverage 7 day a week. First-, second- and third-year residents participate in this dual call system.
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Salaries and Benefits
Rush offers its residents a competitive salary; for information, contact
the Graduate Medical Education office at (312) 942-5495. Other benefits
include long-term disability coverage, life insurance, a nominal fee for
pharmaceuticals, health insurance, free dental insurance, free laundry
and uniform maintenance, free parking at the Medical Center garage, two
weeks paid maternity/paternity leave (may be combined with unused vacation
to a total of six weeks) and meal reimbursement when on first call. Residents
are allowed three weeks of paid vacation and one week of educational leave
each year, as approved by the program director and the departmental chair.
The two senior residents who are elected as chief residents attend the
American Association of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology meeting
annually with expenses paid by the department.
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Application Process
Applicants must have a medical degree from an approved institution and one year of postgraduate clinical training prior to beginning the radiology residency. Those candidates who have graduated from medical school outside the United States must have passed the ECFMG. As a participant in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), all candidates should review the specific requirements for independent applicants as set forth in section 3.0 of Policies of the NRMP. Our program's official NRMP code is 114762 and the number of positions offered is five (5). We accept applications via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) of the American Association of Medical Colleges. United States medical students should contact their dean's office for further information.
Because of the large number of applicants, personal interviews with every applicant are not possible. Upon receipt of the complete application package (dean's letter, medical school transcript, United States Medical Licensing Examination scores and three letters of recommendation), the resident selection committee will determine if an interview would be mutually beneficial. Residents are selected for a personal interview based on academic record, achievements and letters of recommendation. Race, sex, religion and national origin are not considerations.
We seek to recruit individuals who are enthusiastic and hard working, and who possess a sound fund of basic science and clinical knowledge. Our residents are a major asset to the department, and we take pride in their training and education. Our graduates have performed successfully on the written and oral examinations of the American Board of Radiology. For years, they have obtained desirable academic appointments and/or private practice opportunities throughout the country.
In summary, we feel that the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Rush is second to none in Chicago and one of the best programs in the country. We are proud of our residents and consider them friends and colleagues to be nurtured and guided. We foster a warm, friendly environment where individuals can achieve maximal personal performance.
We hope that the information included here will be useful. If you have any questions, please contact:
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Connie M. Lane
Residency Program Coordinator
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Rush University Medical Center
1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago, Illinois 60612-3864
Phone: (312) 942-5509
E-mail: Connie_M_Lane@rush.edu
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Department of Radiology