Body Imaging Fellowship Training

The Body Imaging Fellowship Program is currently accepting applications for 2024 and 2025 candidates. 

 

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The program proposed is a 1 year clinical Fellowship of postgraduate medical education in Body Imaging to include Ultrasound, CT & MRI as well as Fluoroscopy of the Abdomen and Pelvis.

Institutions:

The program is based in the academic Department of Radiology at the University of Alberta and is organized in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine, Office of Postgraduate Affairs with funding provided by Medical Imaging Consultants. The clinical part of the program will occur at the University of Alberta Hospital, the Royal Alexandria Hospital and to a lesser degree the Grey Nuns Hospital. Large volumes of clinical material (in-patient and out-patient) can be expected. The imaging teams work in a close- knit fashion, tightly connected to the clinical teams. The Radiology Department at the University of Alberta Hospital plays a leadership role nationally in performing detailed imaging studies of various organ transplants i.e. Liver, Kidney, Dual Kidney and Pancreas, Pancreatic Islet Cell, and Small Bowel. The Royal Alexandra Hospital is a tertiary referral centre for Northern Alberta for obstetrics and gynecology, urology, as well as hosting a large gastroenterology and hepatology service. In addition to offering specialized medical and surgical services, the Royal Alexandra Hospital features one of Canada's busiest emergency departments, serving a large urban population, as well as being a regional trauma centre, in conjunction with the University of Alberta Hospital.

Responsibility:

The Fellow will be primarily responsible to the Mentor(s) for this Fellowship position (Drs. Florin Manolea, Anu Kumar, and Gavin Low). Ultimately responsibility is to the Academic Chair (Dr. D. Emery).

Structure of clinical rotation:

The Fellowship will be primarily based at the University of Alberta Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Rotation to Grey Nuns Community Hospital might also occur later. For Scheduling information, please see below.

Evaluation:

Evaluation will be performed quarterly via the Mentor(s) to the Fellowship Program Director.

Resources and Expectations:

Staff/Supervision: Supervisory and Teaching Faculty includes full time Staff members rotating through the University and Royal Alexandra Hospitals. Each Fellow is assigned a Mentor(s), responsible for the Fellowship as well as a research supervisor. The work atmosphere is warm and collegial, and everyone is treated as a respected and valued member.

Clinical:

The Fellow will be allotted sufficient time in each area to master their skill set. The workload and call schedules are not onerous, and there is time both to read/study and to pursue other interests.

Educational Program: Will include an educational program designed exclusively for the Fellows including didactic sessions, quiz sessions and "hands-on" practical workshops. Fellows will get dedicated academic teaching from the mentor/supervisor during the week. These sessions will include case presentations, approach to the diagnosis, detailed differentials, Clinical and Radiological approach to a finding or disease as well as on-call training. Fellows will be encouraged to attend daily morning rounds, noon conferences and journal clubs.

Fellows will be asked to conduct regular resident teaching rounds and conduct a lecture for noon grand round/conference/ journal club. Fellows will also be encouraged to participate in the meetings organized by the transplant team and liver tumor boards.

Research Program: Dedicated academic time, averaging a day each will be protected.

Specific Objectives:

Clinical Objectives:

The goal of our Fellowship program is to expose and educate Fellows in abdominal and pelvic imaging including transplants so that they may become leaders in their academic and clinical worlds.

Without doubt, this is a superb fellowship for many important reasons. The Body Division really does function as a closely-knit team. The work atmosphere is incredibly warm and collegial. The range of case material is enormous. Besides the usual mix of emergent, inpatient and outpatient studies, we do the imaging for various (indeed world-class) transplants. Our working relationships with the referral services are excellent. As a result, we get to see an extensive array of pathology, with all the complexities they involve. This makes the fellowship an unusually rich and enjoyable experience. The program has important additional highlights. There is a large volume of image guided intervention, including percutaneous biopsies, drainages and tumour ablations, in which the fellow may gain valuable hands-on experience.

Research Objectives:

Minimum expectations for research by the Body Imaging Fellow will be:

  • To start and complete one clinical project
  • To start and complete one basic science project
  • To be involved in ongoing departmental research

This will result in a minimum of two scientific presentations and publications. Dedicated academic time will be protected into the clinical schedule. Fellows will be expected to participate in at least one or two project/s during the year, and meeting presenting will be strongly encouraged. Funding for attending meetings exists as detailed above. The Fellows will be expected to participate in research projects. A Research Supervisor has been identified (Dr. G. Low).

For presentations and publications, the primary authorship will be given to Fellows, followed by involved faculty.

Education/Teaching Objectives:

Didactic Teaching:

  • Educational program exclusively for a fellow including didactic sessions: Case presentations, approach to the diagnosis, detailed differentials, Clinical and Radiological approach to a finding or disease and on-call training.
  • Fellow may prepare a topic for discussion for the Subgroup; and a topic for our grand rounds.
  • Fellow will conduct regular rounds for residents, as per schedule.
  • Fellow will be involved in medical student education as part of the Discovery Learning program

Monthly Meeting:

  • Fellow will prepare a topic for the journal club

Clinical Meetings:

  • Fellow may prepare topics/case /series presentations for the Subgroup; and a topic for grand rounds .
  • Fellow will actively participate in Liver transplant/ Liver tumor board monthly meetings.

Example of Scheduling:

Program Schedule:

The Fellow will be initially rotated in Ultrasound, CT, body MRI, Fluoroscopy and General Radiology (chest and abdominal radiographs) throughout the week, with the goal of 2 days in Ultrasound, 1 day in Body CT, 1 day in Body MRI, Alternate half day Plain Radiography or Fluoroscopy and remaining half day will be dedicated to pursue clinical projects.

The Ultrasound rotation includes: Transplant imaging, Extensive Doppler US, Emergent, Inpatient and outpatient General US, Small parts, Intraoperative studies, guided biopsies and drainage procedures, hysterosonography, tumour ablations. There is also an option for a dedicated block in the Royal Alexandra Hospital Maternal Fetal Medicine unit, which is a tertiary referral centre for high risk obstetric ultrasound. Ambulatory ultrasound experience can also be obtained within supported private outpatient clinics.

The CT rotation includes: Abdominal pelvic studies (Inpatient and outpatient, emergent and elective), to include all aspects of transplant imaging, and CT Angiography, with guided biopsies and drainage procedures.

The MR rotation includes: Abdominal pelvic studies (Inpatient and outpatient, predominantly elective), to include all aspects of transplant imaging, and MR Angiography (Renal MRA). At UAH there is a particular interest in MR Imaging of the cirrhotic liver.

The Fluoroscopy rotation includes all aspects of GI Fluoroscopy including invigilation and interpretation of ERCP.

In each rotation, the cases will initially be checked by Fellows, discussed in detail with attending staff, then dictated and followed by Fellows. An elective of at least 2 weeks at the end of the Fellowship to obtain additional training in areas other than Abdominal Imaging is proposed.

On Call Duties:

Fellows will be treated fairly in the call schedule. The call schedule will include Ultrasound and Body CT.

Call frequency and responsibility will be similar to that of attending Staff members, with Staff backup available at all times.

The call schedule will start from the 2nd - 3rd month of Fellowship, and be contingent on the agreement of the members of supervisory Staff the Mentor and the Fellowship Program Director. It will cover Ultrasound, Body CT and General ICU/plain films.

 Application Prerequisites:

  •  Applicants should have successfully completed (or be in progression towards) a recognized Radiology postgraduate qualification (FRCPC, FRCR, etc.).
  • Due to CPSA licensing requirements, all physicians practising in Alberta need to be able to communicate clearly with their patients in English. Unless exempt, you need to complete an academic version of an English Language Proficiency (ELP) test within 24 months before submitting your CPSA application.

*The CPSA must be able to verify the test results with the issuing organization. Please see the CPSA website for more information:

https://cpsa.ca/physicians/registration/english-language-proficiency/

Please contact our department for further information regarding the application process.