The residency in Diagnostic Radiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals is fully accredited and in complete compliance with the Program Requirements for Residency Education in Diagnostic Radiology of the ACGME. Specific requirements for nuclear medicine training and women's imaging are provided in the residency.
The program curriculum emphasizes strongly subspecialized rotations in all areas of Diagnostic Radiology. Specific rotations in thoracic radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, abdominal imaging, neuroradiology, interventional radiology, women's imaging, computed tomography, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, and pediatric radiology form the basis of the curricular effort. Radiologic-pathologic correlation is emphasized throughout the residency, and enhanced by attendance at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology six-week course in radiologic-pathologic correlation. (Tuition is provided for this course.)
The residency is based at Froedtert Hospital, a 426-bed academic tertiary-care hospital located on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center's 115-acre suburban campus. Froedtert is the adult acute care medical center serving the Medical College of Wisconsin, and houses a Level One Trauma Center, the Froedtert & Medical College Cancer Center and active programs in many areas including organ transplantation, neurosciences, musculoskeletal disease, and a variety of other major programs, centers and institutes. Approximately 240,000 radiology and nuclear medicine examinations are performed annually at Froedtert Hospital.
Residents spend six curricular months at the Zablocki VA Medical Center, a tertiary-care, subspecialized, Dean's Committee medical center, which is located approximately three miles from the Froedtert campus (about six minutes by car). VA rotations in digital imaging and vascular and interventional radiology are tightly integrated with similar rotations at Froedtert Hospital. Two rotations in general imaging provide the resident the opportunity to experience a mixed (rather than subspecialized) practice pattern in Radiology. The VAMC performs approximately 90,000 examinations per year.
Pediatric Radiology is taught at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, a major regional pediatric resource. Approximately 120,000 pediatric examinations are performed by the Radiology Department at CHW, which is staffed by a group of six full-time pediatric radiologists. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Radiology is accredited under the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals' core Diagnostic Radiology residency, and also provides fellowship training in Pediatric Radiology.
The faculty of the Department of Radiology of the Medical College of Wisconsin include recognized national and international leaders in radiology, radiologic physics, and magnetic resonance science. Faculty members hold national and international offices in many major radiologic societies and provide senior leadership to organized Radiology at many levels including educational organizations, accrediting bodies, and scientific organizations. A significant number of the faculty are examiners for the American Board of Radiology.
All affiliated hospitals and departments are well equipped with modern radiologic imaging equipment. The main department Froedtert Hospital includes four state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging units as well as several research magnets, five General Electric multi-slice helical CT scanners including the most recently developed 64-slice unit, and advanced ultrasound units, digital angiography units, mobile fluoroscopic special procedures rooms, a hybrid PET/CT device, and modern SPECT capability on all nuclear medicine cameras. The Department has a fully functional PACS system with enterprise-wide image distribution. The Department of Radiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin serves as a developmental partner for several industrial collaborators with major partnerships in place with General Electric Healthcare.
The Radiology Department library contains pertinent Radiology journals and textbooks as well as other educational materials. The library is equipped with network workstations with appropriate software, access to the ACR CD Learning File, and other teaching collections in electronic format. Access to Medline, the Internet, and digital presentation facilities are available.
Each resident is entitled to one "paid" trip during residency, to attend a scientific meeting. A resident may also elect to use up to five days of educational leave annually to attend a scientific meeting or course. Two days may be spent to attend the Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting in Chicago, which is not charged against educational leave time.