Diagnostic Radiology Residency Curriculum
The Diagnostic Radiology curriculum at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria provides residents with a well-rounded clinical foundation in all aspects of diagnostic and interventional radiology.
Overview Heading link
Exposure to both academic and private models
Our program is unique in that residents gain exposure to both academic and private models of practice, offering insight into both styles of practice. While the faculty constitute the Department of Radiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, they are also the dominant division in a large, very successful private practice group, CIRA (Central Illinois Radiological Associates).
Streamlined, early matriculation
Our program is categorical, combining a transitional year-based internship with streamlined, early matriculation into our diagnostic radiology residency program. Starting May 1st of the clinical year, our residents begin their diagnostic radiology rotations giving them 38 months of clinical rotations to prepare for the ABR Core Exam instead of 36 months typical of other programs.
Intern year
Intern year consists of 3 Internal medicine floor months, 1 Internal medicine night float month, 2 ICU months, 1 Emergency medicine month, 1 Neurology month, 1 outpatient ambulatory clinic rotation, 1 transitional radiologic-pathologic correlation rotation, and 2 diagnostic radiology rotations, which span May and June of the intern year.
Curriculum Features Heading link
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Details
The Department of Radiology is strongly committed to teaching. The department has been awarded 18 Golden Apples from the medical students at the University of Illinois. The department is also actively engaged in continuing medical education activities, sponsoring well-attended regional and national CME meetings.
Although the faculty are involved in undergraduate and continuing medical education, the central focus of the department’s teaching efforts are the radiology residents.
On every rotation, the resident is teamed with assigned faculty members. This fosters close, informal interactions between resident and faculty that promotes teamwork and maximizes teaching opportunities. Faculty actively participates in the work of each section so that the residents should complete work each non-call day by 5 p.m. This is designed to ensure that residents have adequate time and energy to read each night.
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Details
Rotations in the Diagnostic Radiology department consist of 13 four-week rotations per academic year, instead of 12 month-long rotations. Rotations are arranged so that residents rotate in each subspecialty area early, mid and late in their residency to maximize their opportunity for in depth learning in each subject.
Intern (PGY-I) Year Rotations
- Internal Medicine Floors (UHATS) – 3
- MICU – 2
- Emergency Medicine – 1
- Outpatient Medicine – 1
- Night Float – 1
- Neurology – 1
- Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation* – 1
- Diagnostic Radiology Rotations* – 2
* Included in the Diagnostic Radiology Curriculum tally
PGY II – V Rotations
** During the PGY-V year, residents choose three 12-week long Mini Fellowships (MF) in subspecialties of particular interest to the resident. This provides additional training in areas in which the resident would like to gain greater expertise. Since we are a relatively small program in a large radiology department, each senior resident is assured of getting whatever subspecialty mini-fellowship they would like. They will also be the only senior resident on that service for that period of time. Sample Block Schedule R1 R2 R3 R4 ESIR R4 Block 12 (May at end intern year) Chest Block 13 (June at end of intern year) Neuro Block 1 (July, new academic year) Nucs Body MRI Neuro Breast Nucs Block 2 Nivs Neuro Breast Nucs IR Block 3 CT body Chest IR Elective IR Block 4 Peds Abdomen MSK Mini fellowship 1 IR Block 5 Sono Peds Body MRI Mini fellowship 1 IR Block 6 GI Nucs Abdomen Mini fellowship 1 MICU Block 7 IR Breast Chest Mini fellowship 2 IR Block 8 CT body IR Nucs Mini fellowship 2 IR Block 9 Sono MSK AIRP Mini fellowship 2 IR Block 10 Peds Nucs CT body Mini fellowship 3 IR Block 11 MSK CT body Peds Mini fellowship 3 IR Block 12 Neuro Cardiac Imaging sciences Mini fellowship 3 Nivs Block 13 Abdomen CT biopsy Sono Research/PQI Breast -
Details
Each Monday afternoon, our residents participate in a half-day lecture format in lieu of daily lectures. This format has many advantages, including a less interrupted workday on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Our junior residents also participate in Clinical Professors Rounds and Physics sessions once a week.
Weekly lecture schedule format
Mondays
Lecture 1 – 12:00-12:45 p.m.
Lecture 2 – 12:50-1:30 p.m.
Lecture 3 – 1:40-2:20 p.m.
Lecture 4 – 2:30-3:10 p.m.
Lecture 5 – 3:20-4 p.m.Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Chief Resident Film Review – 12 p.m.-1 p.m.Thursdays
Resident Case Conference – 12 p.m.-1 p.m.Fridays
Physics – 12-1 p.m.Weekly
Clinical Professors Rounds – 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.In addition to these lectures, residents have the opportunity to participate in many different clinical conferences, including multidisciplinary tumor boards and cancer clinics.
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RLI resident milestones program
The RLI Resident Milestones Program: Economics and the Physician Role in Health Care Systems provides a unique, interactive experience for residents to gain knowledge of radiology health care economics and at the same time, helps satisfy the ACGME’s Physician Role in Health Care Systems sub-competency (part of the Systems-Based Practice competency) requirement.
Developed by the Radiology Leadership Institute, health care economics experts, and residency program directors, the program delivers nationally recognized experts and seasoned practitioners to provide residents with a state-of-the-art, modern educational experience. Leveraging current educational techniques, the program aims to deepen residents’ knowledge of a rapidly changing radiology health care landscape.
Key Features:
- Designed to satisfy the ACCGME systems-based practice competency
- Carefully planned to work with busy resident schedules
- Blended and Interactive program design optimizes learning experience
- For more information on the course curriculum and faculty, visit acr.org.
Clinical professor's rounds
Clinical Assistant Professor in Radiology Dr. Amanda Cross hosts this weekly seminar, where residents review and discuss selected readings from the latest edition of the Core Radiology textbook. Dr. Cross leads this seminar by sharing her 14 years of experience in diagnostic radiology with the residents.
Resident grand rounds
Resident-led Grand Rounds take place on the last Monday of each calendar month, with the exception of Blocks 6 and 7, which take place on the third week of those respective blocks to accommodate for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Physics
Weekly physics conferences are given by one of two Ph.D. departmental physicists providing a strong foundation in radiologic physics in preparation for the ABR Core exam. A newly added resource that we included in addition to the physics course is the Core Physics Review by Transcend Review.
Quality assurance
Monthly Quality Assurance conferences provide residents with insight into the process of quality assurance, examining cases both at the faculty and resident/fellow levels.
Journal club
A monthly conference allowing diagnostic radiology residents at all levels to participate in critical analysis of current radiology literature.
Interventional Radiology Morbidity and Mortality Conference
A monthly conference led by the interventional radiology fellows and assigned faculty members, designed to improve the performance and safety of interventional procedures via a case-based approach.
Board prep
The key resource our program gives our residents to prepare for the Core exam is time. Since we are a categorical program and our residents actually start their radiology training in May of their internship year, our residents have 38 months of training prior to the Core exam instead of 36. Because of this extra clinical time in our program, we release our residents from clinical duties at noon every day for the last 12 weeks prior to the Core exam for focused studying and board preparation.
In addition to this time, our program also provides our residents with significant resources to help in their preparation including access to RadPrimer, Titan Radiology Boards Buster Core preparation video lecture series by the renowned Prometheus Lionhart, Clinical Key, MedOne Radiology, ARRS boards prep unknown cases/lectures, Core Physics Review, RadExam, and multiple case review books available in the reading room library (A Core Review, Case Review Series, Rad Cases, etc.).
Multi-disciplinary conferences
All of the multi-disciplinary tumor boards listed below are attended by diagnostic and interventional radiology faculty. The scheduled times are when most residents should be able to attend:
- GI tumor board – each Wednesday, 6:45 a.m.
- Liver tumor board – 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, 7 a.m.
- Lung tumor board – each Friday, 7 a.m.
- Head and Neck Cancer Conference – each Friday 8-8:30 a.m.
- GU tumor board – each Wednesday, 1 p.m.
- Breast tumor board – each Thursday at 6:30 a.m.
- Gyn/Onc tumor board – each Thursday at 7 a.m.
- Neuro tumor board – each Tuesday at 7 a.m.