Curriculum / Duties / Responsibilities

The primary educational method is direct participation in clinical work performed by our department in the focus areas of Pulmonary and Cardiac imaging. The trainee will be exposed to a volume and variety of cases to gain familiarity with the cardiac and thoracic diseases. The Cardiopulmonary Imaging section benefits from strong collaboration with pulmonary, cardiothoracic surgery, surgical oncology, trauma surgery and cardiology with an opportunity to engage in various clinical teams, multi-disciplinary conferences and collaborative projects.

Pulmonary Imaging

Fellows will receive classical training in chest radiography and chest CT interpretation. University of Cincinnati is home to experts on interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and cancer therapy. These various realms of expertise are reflected in the diversity and volume of imaging exams. In addition, UC is home to a growing and robust lung cancer screening program.

Cardiac Imaging

University of Cincinnati has a collaborative Cardiac CT and MRI program shared between Radiology and Cardiology. The fellows will spend two days per week dedicated to cardiac imaging. Responsibilities include protocolling cardiac imaging studies, supervising image acquisition at the scanner, and exam post-processing prior to readout. By the end of training, fellows will be eligible to receive Level II certification in cardiovascular CT and MRI by participating in the required number of imaging exams.

Additional rotation options include two weeks rotation in advanced imaging (3-D) post-processing laboratory, interventional radiology and PET-CT.

Didactic components:

• Core curriculum lectures in cardiopulmonary imaging
• Weekly multidisciplinary conferences (Structural Heart, Pulmonary, Thoracic Tumor Board)
• Journal Review

Duties and Responsibilities

Fellows are entrusted with graduated responsibility throughout the year. Fellows rotate with staff members in covering the department during the workday and take occasional weekend call for chest, musculoskeletal and abdominal imaging (approximately 6 weekends per year). There is no required evening or overnight call, but moonlighting shifts are often available. Participation in some general diagnostic radiology work helps to maintain competence and gain experience. The fellows also participate in resident and medical student education.

Research requirements:

• Fellows will have one-half day per week for academic pursuits.
• The fellow will be expected to participate in at least one mentored scholarly activity such as preparation of educational exhibits, reviews, book chapters and original research. This work would optimally progress to authorship of a manuscript, presentation at a national meeting and submission to a peer reviewed journal.
• Lecture/Presentation experience - The fellow will be encouraged to provide oral presentations at national meetings.
• QA project - Together with a designated faculty mentor, the fellow will be encouraged to participate in one QA project to be completed prior to the end of the fellowship year. This may be in lieu of or in addition to the research requirement.

Supervisory and Patient Care Responsibilities:

• Consultative skills - Fellows will learn to perform imaging consultations with primary care physicians with increasing independence throughout the year. The fellows should learn to become leaders of the health care team with respect to thoracic or cardiac imaging of the patient.
• Conferences - The care of patients with cardiothoracic disease requires a team approach, and fellows will actively engage in multidisciplinary conferences, working with other members of the health care team and leading discussion of the patient’s imaging.

Teaching skills:

• Fellows will have their opportunity to develop their teaching skills throughout the course of training. Teaching activities may include teaching of medical students, residents, nurses and members of other medical disciplines. Fellows will provide one or more didactic lectures during their fellowship year.
• Teaching file - The fellow will contribute interesting cases to the cardiopulmonary teaching file.

Evaluation:

• Evaluation of the fellow will be performed quarterly by faculty members by means of a standardized evaluation form.
• Fellows will meet quarterly with the Program Director to review a composite of faculty evaluations and to discuss their progress to date.
• At the end of the training program, the fellow will have the opportunity to evaluate the faculty as well as the overall effectiveness of the program in achieving its stated goals and objectives.