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Program Coordinator

Dr. James C. Brown, Jr.
Phone: 919.513.6032
Email: j_brown@ncsu.edu

Radiology Residency

Overview

The NCSU radiology residency is a three year program with the intent that the trainee will stay an additional 4th year as a teaching scholar. The residency program consists of course work, clinical experience, investigation and teaching. Formal instruction in radiation biology and the physics of diagnostic imaging is provided at the University of North Carolina, School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, NC. An investigational experience that culminates in a manuscript being submitted to a refereed journal is expected. Results of the resident project will be presented at the annual American College of Veterinary Radiology(ACVR) national meeting during the resident’s third year. Support for travel to the Annual Meeting of the ACVR is provided during the resident's third year.

The radiology residency program at North Carolina State University is designed to prepare the resident to take and pass the ACVR board certification examination. The program is structured such that the ACVR requirements for approved residency training programs are met upon completion of the program. Residents are eligible to sit the written component of the radiology board examinations at the end of their 3rd year. The incoming resident may have the opportunity to enroll in a dual ACVR/ECVDI (European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging) program if interested; this will not require any additional time to complete the program.
During the residency, clinical experience will be gained in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, diagnostic ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Opportunity is provided for interaction with board certified specialists in other disciplines. Close supervision by and interaction with board certified radiologists is maintained throughout the program. Residents participate in six practice written examinations and weekly oral examinations; these activities are designed to prepare residents to successfully complete the certification examination of the ACVR. The resident will have a minimum of thirty months of clinical experience within the first three years of the program as prescribed by the ACVR residency guidelines. The allocation of time spent in each area is based on the guidelines of the ACVR.

A one-year Post-Doc Teaching Scholar position in radiology is available at North Carolina State University. Upon satisfactory completion of the three year residency, it is expected that the resident will apply for the Teaching Scholar position to gain an additional year of experience. The position is designed to allow time to focus on specific modalities or interests to develop in-depth competency. The scholar will have minimal supervision, take on more responsibility of the radiology service on a day-to-day-basis and assist in instruction of house officers and veterinary students. The amount of direct supervision will depend on the experience and capabilities of each individual. Time can be made available to pursue a prospective research project during this one year appointment, should this be desired.

The primary purpose of the teaching scholar position is to allow the trainee to enhance their performance in imaging interpretation and, importantly, in their role as a consultant to other specialists. With the expansion of modalities now available to radiologists, we believe it is not possible for comprehensive experience to be gained in interpretation and consultation regarding all modalities during a three year program. The candidate will participate in clinical activity by functioning as an attending Radiologist. Though supervised, this level of participation is designed to build confidence in image interpretation and consultation by allowing the scholar to have primary responsibility for decision making. Reports will still be critiqued and board-certified radiologists will be available for consultation. We envision this extended program will improve the abilities of the trainee upon completion, thereby increasing their value in an academic setting or in private practice.

Each resident has an advisory committee that is responsible for monitoring the resident's progress. Residents are evaluated formally twice each year, and opportunity is provided for input and critique from the resident. Continuation into the second and third year, as well admission into the clinical instructor position, is performance dependent. The advisory committee reports to the Faculty Committee on House Officer Programs. Two weeks vacation (12 days per year are accrued); vacation is taken by arrangement with the resident director. Though not required, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the resident director (James C. Brown, Jr. 919-513-6032; j_brown@ncsu.edu) or to arrange a visit to the facility.

Program Specifics

Faculty:

Two faculty radiologists are on clinic duty each day. One faculty provides consultation in ultrasound examinations and the other in radiology, CT, MRI and nuclear imaging.

Facilities:

All digital image acquisition

Small Animal Radiology

Large Animal Radiology

Ultrasound

Nuclear Medicine

Computed Tomography

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Miscellaneous

Clinical resources:

Of the 23,000 patients seen annually by VTH, 12,000 undergo imaging studies. Small animals (canine, feline) comprise 80%, large animals (equine and food animals) 20% and exotic animals <1% of the imaging patient population.

Of the imaging caseload, small animal radiology comprises 6,200, large animal radiology 1,100, small animal abdominal ultrasound 3,100, computed tomography 720, nuclear medicine 250 and magnetic resonance imaging 650 cases annually.

Report Generation:

Web accessible written reports are available within 24 hours or less of imaging and residents generate over 98% of these. All reports are reviewed by the imaging faculty prior to finalization.

Didactic courses:

Residents attend didactic courses in imaging physics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Duke University Medical Schools.

Research Environment:

Completion of a project is required. This is preferable a prospective problem solving project and a peer-reviewed publication resulting from the project is also expected. All residents are required to present an abstract at the ACVR annual meeting; generally this pertains to the problem solving project.

Educational Environment:

Each resident is expected to present the findings of his or her research project at ACVR during their third year of training. In addition, each resident is required to give 2 presentations over the course of their training to house officers and faculty on topics relating to diagnostic imaging. Regular case presentations and interaction with 4th-year veterinary students offer additional teaching opportunities.

Radiology Rounds:

Rounds attended by all residents and at least one of the duty radiologists are held 4 days per week. Residents select current cases to present at rounds and these are discussed in detail when warranted. This provides an intimate environment to fine-tune interpretive skills and to review imaging and patient-management principles.

Teaching File:

The image server has over 3 million images from over a 100,000 cases all indexed via a Sql 2005 database and accessible via the radiology information system (Microsoft dotnet). Cases with special teaching merit are coded as such when reports are finalized and are readily accessible via a web browser. In addition, most of the known case conferences that are presented to the residents are done using PowerPoint Presentations that are then made available on a communal server for the residents to access. An artifacts section of the teaching file is maintained and updated by the residents.

Known Case Conferences:

Known case conferences are held regularly every Friday from 8 am to 10 am. Approximately 49 known case conferences are given per year, taking into account holidays that fall on Fridays. This is an expected activity for all radiologists and residents.

Literature resources:

The William Kenan Rand, Jr. Library of Veterinary Medicine is located on-site and is part of the University of North Carolina Library System.

Past Residents:

Updated July, 2012

 

NC State College of Veterinary Medicine 1060 William Moore Drive, Raleigh, NC 27607(919) 513-6786