RADIOLOGY RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Dr. Ben Young

Radiology Residents hold appointments as Veterinary Clinical Associates (VCA).  All of these appointments are funded by Texas A&M University to provide patient care and teaching assistance in the clinical programs of the College of Veterinary Medicine.  All VCAs are expected to perform many of the same services and duties as senior faculty. 

The major objectives of this program are:  1) to provide didactic instruction to prepare the resident for the written board examination and 2) to provide clinical training in diagnostic radiology and the associated special imaging modalities in preparation for the oral board examination.

Resident Mentor

The resident will be assigned a resident mentor.

1. Responsibilities of Resident mentor
   1. Advise resident about preparation for and meeting requirements of ACVR qualification and certification
   2. Advise resident about options for career plans and professional development
   3. Provide guidance for completion of scheduled requirements according to guidelines established by the Radiology section.
2. Responsibilities of Radiology Residency Program Director
   1. Ensure residents are aware of all requirements and responsibilities of the residency program
   2. Ensure residents are aware of all requirements and responsibilities for registration, qualification, and certification by ACVS.
   3. Administrate regularly scheduled reviews of resident’s performance and progress.

Overview of Clinical Program

The resident is assigned to clinical duty for at least 30.5 months of the training program. 5.5 months of the program are designated for research, teaching, studying and vacation.  When the resident is assigned to clinical duty, he/she will be under the direct supervision of the radiologist on duty until after he/she pass the written boards.  Dictations are performed on tape which is transcribed.  The preliminary reports along with the radiographs/studies are all reviewed daily during rounds.  All cases, including alternate imaging as well as cases dictated by the radiologists will be reviewed during these rounds.  At the very least, the supervising radiologist will be present at these rounds and the radiologists that aren’t on duty will attend when possible.  Once a preliminary report has been reviewed, it will then be reprinted in finalized form and placed in the record.

Initially, four days of the week the radiologist on duty will have primary responsibility for dictation and review of the clinical cases. On the fifth day, the resident will begin to dictate reports after discussion of the case with the supervising radiologist.  As the resident progresses through the training program, they will begin to assume more of the dictation duties.  The rate at which this happens will depend on the progression of the resident and will be at the discretion of the supervising radiologist.  During the entire program, the cases dictated by the resident will always be reviewed at least once (during rounds) by a supervising radiologist.  The resident will not be expected to supervise a clinical service without backup until after they pass the written board examination.

There are six clinical services

-Small animal diagnostic radiology
-Large animal diagnostic radiology
-Small Animal Ultrasound
-Large Animal Ultrasound
-Radiation Therapy
-Nuclear Medicine/Computed Tomography

Small animal radiology and ultrasound are housed in one building.  Large animal radiology and ultrasound are housed in a separate building and CT/Nuclear Medicine and radiation therapy are housed in a third building.

There is always a radiologist assigned to each of these services, except large animal ultrasound.  The same radiologist may be assigned to two of these services at once. Due to the physical location of these services, combined services are usually between small animal radiology and small animal ultrasound or nuclear medicine/CT. The large animal ultrasound service is run by 2 ACVIM diplomates with extensive experience in this area.  The resident will rotate through this service as well but will not be directly supervised by an ACVR diplomate.  Rotation in large animal ultrasound will likely be combined with large animal diagnostic radiology as they are physically in close proximity.  The resident will be assigned to a minimum of 12 months clinical duty in small animal radiology, large animal radiology and ultrasound.  Radiology duty and ultrasound duty may run concurrently in some instances.  Remaining clinical time will be distributed in the remaining imaging areas as dictated by the ACVR accreditation process.

Interventional and Special Radiographic Procedures:

The radiologist and/or radiology resident will perform > 90%of the myelograms.  He/She will also perform all gastrointestinal and urinary contrast studies.  He/She will have the opportunity to participate in angiograms, balloon dilations, and transvenous vascular occlusion procedures which are typically performed by the cardiologists.  Also, all ultrasound and fluoroscopically guided aspirates and biopsies will be performed by radiology.

Radiation Therapy:

The resident will assist in planning and performing radiation therapies after he/she have completed his didactic training in that area.

Nuclear Medicine:

The resident will assist in nuclear medicine and will dictate nuclear medicine cases with the supervision of the radiologist during the rotation in that area.

Resident Teaching responsibilities:

The resident will be expected to give one lecture in the 2nd year veterinary student lecture course given during the spring semester, as well as assist in the film reading laboratories associated with that class.  During the second and third years (except during board preparation time), the resident will be expected to share the duty of daily 4th year student rounds in the clinic.  This usually takes the form of case presentations and discussion by the students.  The resident will not be required to participate in any continuing education short courses but would be allowed to do so if he/she wished.

CLINICAL CONFERENCES

Pathology Rounds:

During the fall of the first year, the resident will participate in a cytology course which meets one hour each week for one semester.  This course utilizes case material to teach the basics of cytologic examination and interpretation.  In addition, they will have the opportunity to attend Necropsy grand rounds held weekly where they can see specimens obtained during the preceding week.

 Medicine Rounds/Seminars:

Once a week there is either a one hour seminar given by the medicine residents/faculty or morbidity and mortality rounds presented by the residents.  The radiology resident will be required to attend these weekly presentations.

 Surgery Journal Club:

 There is a weekly journal club held for the surgery residents which the radiology resident will be invited to attend.

 Radiology Resident Rounds (‘known case conference’):

These rounds will be held twice a month and will be based on the format of the ACVR oral board examination.  A radiologist will prepare “known” cases to be interpreted by the resident.

Radiology Journal Club:

Twice a month the resident will prepare an informal presentation of some aspect of the recent literature to the faculty radiologists.  An informal discussion of the topic will follow.

Daily Radiology Case Review Rounds:

Each day, the supervising radiologist in either large animal radiology or small animal radiology as well as the resident and any other radiologists that can attend will review the preliminary reports and cases from the preceding days in those areas as well as in ultrasound, nuclear medicine and CT.  In this manner, the resident will be able to view all cases as well as receive constructive criticism on their reports.  In each 2 week block, the small animal radiologist will supervise rounds 5 days and the large animal radiologist will supervise rounds for 5 days.  Exact scheduling during each 2 week block will be dictated on workload and other scheduling conflicts.

Didactic Training

No formal didactic training will be required.  Instead, the resident will have assigned topics of focused learning during their training program.  A radiologist will be assigned to supervise and guide the residents study on each topic (via informal lectures, reading lists, etc).  At the end of each section, a comprehensive written exam will be administered. 

Externships

No formal externships are planned for this program.

Resident Research Project

The resident is expected to complete a prospective research project and present the findings at a national meeting during his/her final year.  The resident is expected to write a research proposal which will be evaluated by a committee of at least 3 faculty members (one member must be a radiologist).  The committee should be selected by December of the first year and the proposal should be submitted to the committee by February of the first year.  The research should be completed during the second year and a manuscript should be written and submitted to a refereed publication by the end of the third year.

Resident Evaluation

The first year resident will be reviewed at 6 months, and at the end of the first year. Each resident is then reviewed annually. The resident's mentor will solicit input from all faculty and will provide and anyalysis of the resident's ability, capabilities, and productivity which will be in written form as well as verbally communicated to the resident. As part of this evaluation, performance on the didactic examinations will also be included. This evaluation will become part of the resident's permanent file. Input is sought from our staff, faculty, and house officers from other services. The review will be discussed with the resident in a formal meeting with the section chief and/or program director.

Appointment

The academic rank of the resident will be Veterinary Clinical Associate.  Reappointment for each year will be decided by the Radiology section and the Head of the department

Stipends and Benefits

1. Stipends are determined annually by the Head of the Department.  They are Standard for all residents in the Department of Large Animal Medicine & Surgery and typically increase with each year of service.
2. Residents may participate in the University’s medical-surgical insurance program.
3. All courtesies, such as athletic ticket purchases, use of university facilities, parking permits, etc., are the same as for other faculty.

Certificate of Completion of Program
A certificate of completion of the residency program will be presented to the resident upon successful completion of the 3-year radiology residency program.

 

Please contact Dr. Benjamin Young (byoung@cvm.tamu.edu or (979)219-0234), Residency Program Director, with any questions.