Overview

At Lahey Hospital & Medical Center’s diagnostic radiology residency program, we train residents to be confident, skilled, successful radiologists. Our residents have collaborative working relationships with the attendings and with each other.

Our program provides an atmosphere that is conducive to intellectual and professional growth. We recognize that four years of training is a significant investment of your time, and we want to make your residency an enjoyable experience. Note that Burlington is conveniently located a short distance from the city of Boston and offers easy access to the mountains and ocean.

About the Department of Diagnostic Radiology

Diagnostic radiology is composed more than 40 radiologists, including several dedicated neuroradiologists, interventional radiologists, neurointerventional radiologists and multiple radiology specialists, including thoracic, musculoskeletal, abdominal and breast radiology. Two physicists are also in our radiology department. All members of the radiology staff are clinically oriented, working side by side with radiology residents.

Our 20-member residency is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for four years in training and is designed to lead to certification in diagnostic radiology by the American Board of Radiology. We offer ESIR track and were accredited for IR Independent Residency beginning July 2020.

A year of internship at an ACGME-accredited program must be completed before beginning the residency program.

What To Expect During Residency

During training, residents become accomplished in interpretation of all diagnostic imaging modalities, including plain radiographs, ultrasound, CT and MRI. Residents will also develop skills in performing interventional procedures. Residents are closely supervised with increasing participation and responsibilities as they develop more skills.

Residents are first to assist in all procedures. There are no fellows, with the exception of a fellow in interventional radiology and a fellow in breast imaging.

Our Technology

Our department covers imaging performed at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, MA, as well as imaging centers in the area, including in Peabody and Lexington. Our diagnostic fleet includes multiple CT scanners (including multi-energy CT), MRI scanners (including 3T MRI), PET-CT and 3D mammography. We also have state-of-the-art interventional and neurointerventional radiology suites. All diagnostic studies are interpreted on a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) with a voice-activated dictation system.

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington is a Level I Trauma Center. In addition to routine CT studies including brain, spine, extremities, chest and abdominal cases, we perform state-of-the-art CT and MR angiography (neurovascular, cardiac and peripheral vascular imaging). Lahey became certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center in February 2019.

A dedicated 3-D imaging laboratory allows for the manipulation of images to better serve our referring clinicians. We recently installed similar software at all radiology PACS stations. These innovations have allowed for tremendous hands on training for residents in the use of 3-D post-processing software. Residents also have the opportunity to train in advanced subspecialty imaging, often reserved for fellows in other departments, including CT colonography, breast MRI and lung screening.

Daily Conferences

Multidisciplinary conferences occur on a daily basis, generally in the mornings before the start of daily rotations. This includes:

  • Monday—thoracic oncology
  • Tuesday—colorectal surgery
  • Wednesday—genitourinary, gynecologic oncology, and inflammatory bowel disease
  • Thursday— gastrointestinal (GI)
  • Friday—otolaryngology (ENT)

Residents on specific rotations may also attend conferences in breast imaging, GI oncology, neurosurgery and GU oncology. Journal Clubs occur throughout the year and require active resident participation. Senior residents critically present journal articles on a variety of topics with discussion afterward between residents and staff.

Our residents also present cases at other multidisciplinary conferences, including combined conferences with pulmonology and urology residents, as well as team rounds with SICU residents. This is a great opportunity to meet and discuss cases with other residents and clinicians.

At the beginning of your radiology career, you will be faced with numerous challenges—not the least of which is getting up to speed in a technologically advanced and exceptionally broad field. Our goal is to make the transition as smooth as possible.

During the first few days, orientations to the hospital and to the department will take place. You will learn little things like where to park and how best to get to work, as well as more important tasks like how to dictate and navigate PACS.

The vast majority of the didactic noon conferences during the months of July and August are geared toward new residents.

During your first few rotations, every attempt will be made for you to be paired with a more senior resident so that you may better adapt to your new workflow, environment and colleagues. As you go further on in your rotations and training, the natural progression will be for you to obtain more independence from your senior residents.

All first-year residents will rotate through core imaging rotations, including ultrasound, body CT and neuro CT before covering ER shifts at the middle and end of the year.

All first-year residents will also rotate through interventional radiology, MSK, neuro MRI and nuclear medicine.

In addition to teaching broad-based information, much of the first year is geared toward preparing you for independent call responsibilities, which will begin during your second year of radiology training.

Early in your second year, you will begin your one-week NF (night float) rotations and help cover the 12-hour weekend shifts.

Your call responsibilities will keep you busy this year. Expect four to six weeks of NF and numerous weekend shifts during the course of the year. You will also be covering the ER rotations until the next crop of first-year residents are ready to begin.

In addition to the ER and NF rotations, expect rotations in:

  • Abdomen
  • Cardiothoracic
  • Mammography
  • Neuro MRI
  • Nuclear medicine
  • Research
  • Ultrasound

In the second half of your second year some members of the class will do their Boston Children’s Hospital rotations. During this year, you will concentrate a bit more on your required research as well as your ACGME-mandated quality improvement projects. You will continue to be active in training your fellow residents and medical students both at your rotations and during conferences.

It is during your third year of training that residents will be taking the first step of their American Board of Radiology (ABR) Examinations. All residents have their core examination (to include both clinical and physics examinations) at the end of the third year of training. Our program and training will give you all the resources necessary to pass.

Third-year residents will still have call responsibilities during the year, although we anticipate a break from these duties leading up to your board exam at the end of the year. In the first half of the third year, residents who did not rotate through Children’s Hospital during their second year will go.

Third-year residents will also attend the four-week AIRP (American Institute for Radiologic Pathology). Tuition and travel expenses are covered by radiology.

Additional rotations include:

  • Abdomen
  • Cardiovascular
  • Interventional
  • Mammography
  • MRI
  • Neuro CT
  • Neuro MRI
  • Nuclear medicine
  • Women’s Imaging at Beverly Hospital

Senior residents have focused senior-level training in up to four subspecialties, including general radiology.

All senior residents are required to participate in call with a small number of weekend shifts as well as two weeks of NF. All senior residents are allowed up to 10 blocks of elective time. Some choose to concentrate on certain subjects while others prefer more broad training, depending on their interests.

We follow some of the recommendations put forth by the APDR (Association of Program Directors in Radiology) restructuring committee in their article published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, “Challenges and Opportunities in Restructuring Radiology Residencies: The APDR Residency Restructuring Committee Report.” In addition to night float responsibilities, all seniors under the new ABR format will also rotate through mammography and nuclear medicine.

Additional Benefits

AIRP/AFIP

All residents are expected to attend the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology for four weeks. The Department pays the tuition and a stipend for cover housing and transportation costs.

Other Details

Residents will be provided with their own fluoroscopy aprons.

In terms of physics training, you will receive a series of in-house physics lectures. Residents will also participate in an online physics course curriculum: “Core Physics Review.”

Residents are funded to attend one board review of their choosing. Residents will also be eligible for reimbursement to help pay for expenses to attend at least one meeting if presenting, with additional reimbursements predicated on submission of prior academic work for publication. Residents will be funded to attend the ACR annual conference in Washington, D.C.

Our visiting professor lecture series includes invited local and national experts in radiology giving an hour didactic conference preceded or followed by a case-based review geared to our residents.

Contact

Jeremy Wortman, MD
Program Director
Email Jeremy

Gregory Emmanuel
Associate Program Director
Email Gregory

Nancy Holden
Program Administrator
Email Nancy