Curriculum
The curriculum provides progressive, supervised responsibility for patient care and ensures that the supervised residents perform those procedures commonly accepted in all aspects of diagnostic radiology.
Rotations & Research Endeavors
Training includes rotations through the following subspecialty sections (approximate length of time):
Thoracic Imaging
16 weeks
Diagnostic Cardiovascular Imaging
6 weeks
Musculoskeletal Imaging
12 weeks
Acute Care Imaging
8 weeks
Abdominal Imaging
24 weeks
Neuroradiology, including Head & Neck Radiology
20 weeks
Ultrasonography
16 weeks
Pediatric Imaging
16 weeks
Breast Imaging
12 weeks
Vascular & Interventional Radiology
24 weeks
Nuclear Medicine
18 weeks
American Institute of Radiologic Pathology (AIRP)
4 weeks
Up to one year can be dedicated to research endeavors with appropriate approval from the program director and sponsoring project mentor. Residents are encouraged to engage in investigative projects under faculty supervision. Research opportunities are available throughout the four years. Training in computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging is integrated with the work in each of the subspecialty sections. The maximum period of training in any subspecialty area is no longer than 16 months.
Residents are required to maintain a log (analog or digital), in which they document the performance, interpretation, and complications of vascular and nonvascular interventional procedures. The log is reviewed by the program director during semiannual counseling sessions with each resident.
Lectures & Conferences
During the four years of training, morning, noon, and afternoon conferences are held on a regular basis. The Core Learning Series includes three components - didactic lecture series including physics, interactive conferences, and non-interpretive lectures.
Didactic lectures are presented on alternating Thursday afternoons and cover all aspects of Diagnostic Radiology. On the alternate Thursday afternoons, interactive conferences and non-interpretive lectures are given. At each institution, the noon hour is devoted primarily to unknown case presentations with resident participation. Physics lectures are given on an annual cycle. In addition, residents are encouraged to attend and participate in a variety of departmental and interdepartmental conferences in conjunction with their clinical counterparts.
Curriculum by Year
First Year
Training during the first year is divided among all three integrated institutions, although primarily at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. This includes rotations through all subspecialty areas except breast imaging & cardiovascular interventional radiology. All images are analyzed with a faculty member on a one-to-one basis. Residents evaluate the examination, and then review their interpretation with a faculty member with special expertise in that area of imaging.
Call responsibilities begin after the first year of residency. Second-year residents take junior call at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center primarily responsible for Emergency Department studies under the direct supervision of the senior resident and faculty as part of the Acute Care Imaging (ACI) service with teleradiology faculty backup.
Second & Third Years
During the second and third years, residents assume progressively greater responsibility for radiological consultations, medical student teaching, image interpretation, & the performance of procedures. Residents rotate through all sub- specialty areas including breast imaging and nuclear medicine. Rotations at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles occur primarily during this time.
During the third year, all residents have the opportunity to attend a six-week course in radiologic-pathologic correlation at the Registry of Radiologic Pathology of the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP) in Silver Spring, MD with tuition paid by the Department.
Third-year residents function as the senior resident while on call at UCLA, guiding the junior residents and providing interpretations of inpatient studies, both at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, again as members of the ACI service with teleradiology faculty backup.
Fourth Year
During the fourth year, residents assume even greater responsibility, and all residents receive advanced training in elective subspecialties as part of Self-Directed Subspecialty Training (SDST), and if desired, in research under the guidance of a faculty mentor.
Fourth-year (and third-year) residents serve as consultants, interfacing with clinicians and conducting general radiology as well as weekly pathology conferences under faculty supervision.
Job Description
The Department of Radiological Sciences at UCLA is committed to providing a balanced educational environment, enabling each resident to master the knowledge and skills necessary to become an accomplished radiologist. To this end, residents are expected to complete rotations in the following sections and to achieve the educational goals so outlined. Resident participation at morning, noon, afternoon, and special conferences is an important part of this educational mission. The overall resident experience is one of graded responsibility. Junior residents spend most of their time at the viewbox, learning the fundamentals of imaging, while more senior residents assume progressive responsibility for consultations with clinical colleagues and after-hours interpretations of imaging studies. Overnight and call rotations are a vital component of the educational endeavor, with the goal of providing each resident with the skills to independently interpret imaging examinations.
At the end of each rotation, residents are evaluated by the corresponding faculty with discussion of each residents performance encouraged. Quarterly, each resident receives a performance summary, including redacted written comments if provided, and biannually, each resident meets with the program director to discuss overall performance. Annually, each resident will undergo a 360° evaluation, including input from all modality and nurse managers, the film library supervisor, and the chief residents. At the conclusion of training, each resident will receive a final summative evaluation, including attainment of educational goals and milestones from each subspecialty section chief and the Training Program’s Clinical Competence Committee.
Each didactic lecture, rotation, and the entire residency program are evaluated by each and every resident. Additional teaching evaluations regarding the faculty can be submitted at any time at the resident's request.
DGSOM/UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Training Program in Translational Science (TPTS)
The CTSI Training Program in Translational Science (TPTS; formerly known as the UCLA K30 Program) was developed to provide clinicians with the necessary training to become successful patient-oriented investigators who can bridge molecular medicine and clinical research. Participants have a high commitment to clinical research and must have either professional health degrees (e.g., medicine, nursing, dentistry) or a doctorate.
TPTS is organized into three tracks:
- Track 1
- No certificate or degree is offered
- Seminars may be take in sequence or individually
- Track 2
- Leads to a certificate of completion from the David Geffen School of Medicine
- Structured, two-year program
- Track 3
- Leads to Master of Science in Clinical Research
- Two-year, full-time commitment
- Minimum 70-80% course attendance
- Three years for UCLA STAR fellows
- Research thesis required
For more information, please see http://ctsi.ucla.edu/education/pages/tpts