Residency Program

The final year of residency is divided into 4 blocks.  Each resident will complete two required blocks, one in general radiology, structured as a transition to practice rotation that will include all imaging modalities in body imaging; and one that will include one month each of nuclear medicine, neuroradiology, and mammography in order to meet ACGME requirements.  The other two blocks will be elective “mini-fellowships” in two areas of specific interest to each resident.

This department has an ACGME accredited training program in Nuclear Medicine.  Because of this, it is possible for graduates of the Diagnostic Radiology residency program to qualify for the American Board of Nuclear Medicine certifying examination.  Selected residents (up to 2 per year), can structure their residency to meet this qualification and have the opportunity to be double boarded.

The County of Los Angeles provides very limited opportunities for an international educational experience during residency.  These include:

• Elective with credit towards residency must be approved by the program director; must have Goals and Objectives with a qualified supervising faculty at the receiving institution; must be at an institution with an Affiliation Agreement with the County of Los Angeles that will reimburse resident salary and benefits; must be approved by the RRC of ACGME and the ABR
• Elective without credit towards residency may be taken during vacation time or during an unpaid leave of absence
• Note that the American College of Radiology does sponsor the Goldberg-Reeder Resident Travel Grant program which is a potential source of funding for international elective  (http://bit.ly/ACRFGRG)

Graduated call responsibilities are fully implemented in compliance with ACGME requirements. Beginning on Dec 31 of the PGY2 year, residents take in house evening call Monday –Friday and day time in house call Saturday and Sunday – with direct faculty supervision. Overnight call responsibilities begin later in residency and continue through the PGY5 year. Primary responsibility of the overnight call is to review and report on Emergency Department imaging studies. Pager call exists in the PGY3-5 years for specific services, including Interventional Radiology. Residents have no call responsibilities during the three months prior to the ABR Core Exam. Faculty backup exists for all call duties. According to current ACGME resident survey data, this program has no violations of duty hour requirements.

Formative evaluations of resident performance are submitted by faculty at completion of each clinical rotation, The program’s Clinical Competency Committee reviews resident Milestone status semi-annually, and advises the program director regarding resident progress, including promotion.

Objective measures of resident performance in comparison with national performance include the ACR In-Training examination (PGY2, PGY3, PGY4, PGY5), the ABR Core examination (PGY4), and the ABR Certifying Examination (15 months after completion of residency. Current programmatic pass rate for the Core Exam is 97% and for the Certifying Exam is 100%.

Most USC radiology residents go on to do subspecialty fellowships. Our residents have been very successful in being accepted to fellowship positions of their choice at excellent institutions including USC, UCLA, UCSD, Stanford, UCSF, Oregon Health Sciences University, University of Washington, Emory, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Yale. Graduates most frequently choose a private practice career path, with many remaining in Southern California where an extensive network of USC Radiology graduates exists. However, several recent graduates opting for academic careers have obtained positions at a variety of institutions, including USC, UCSF, Cornell, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, University of Washington, and University of Pennsylvania.

Residents will be provided Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Jury Duty Leave, Sick Leave, Bereavement Leave, Witness Leave, Military Leave, and Civil Service Examination Leave at the level agreed to by the County and the Coalition of County Employee Unions in the Memorandum of Understanding entered into on December 16, 2003 regarding the Fringe Benefits. Via the CIR, residents pay a yearly amount into a fund for disability insurance and may purchase additional outside disability insurance.

Residents receive 24 paid leave days per academic year. These vacations must be approved by the program coordinator and prescheduled. At the time of residency completion, unused vacation time may be paid out at a standard rate. Residents receive 8 sick days per year, up to 5 of which may be used as personal days. Unused sick days may be paid out at six-month intervals per LA County policy and procedure. NOTE: The American Board of Radiology allows a maximum of 30 days per year away from training to maintain eligibility for graduation. Taking over 30 days per year in vacation/sick/personal days may result in extension of residency beyond the expected date of graduation.

Residents are provided with a daily stipend for meals that totals $25 per day. Each meal has a set price limit.

Free proximity parking is provided to residents at both the Los Angeles General Medical Center and Keck Hospital of USC.

The County of Los Angeles provides residents with white lab coats and scrubs. Each resident is also provided with a pager; a name badge with electronic access pass to the facilities; access to and training on HIS, EMR, PACS, and dictation systems; and radiation dosimetry badges.

The County of Los Angeles pays for the testing fee for each Diagnostic Radiology resident to take the California radiography/fluoroscopy licensing examination.

The Department of Radiology provides each resident with tuition to attend the four-week AIRP Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation course as well as a cost of living stipend of $1000. Residents receive a total stipend of $800 over the residency to attend up to 2 review courses.. The department also provides each resident with tuition for a physics review course which includes on-line modules, a textbook, and a live review course during the R3 year.

The Department of Radiology provides residents with financially supported academic time to present educational exhibits and scientific abstracts at local/regional/national medical meetings. Details of this support are outlined in a departmental policy available on the intranet.

The Department of Radiology provides each entering resident with a comprehensive radiology text. The department owns a library of subspecialty texts that may be checked out by residents. The department also subscribes to online radiology educational materials including StatDx and RadPrimer. All residents have physical access to the Norris Medical Library on campus, as well as its on-line database materials.