Education
Frequently Asked Questions : Residency Program
What didactic conferences are held for residents?
What are residents' work hours?
How often do residents take call?
How many weeks of vacation do residents get?
How are residents evaluated?
Are residents permitted to Moonlight?
Do Residents get a book allowance?
Are residents allowed to attend the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology?
Are residents permitted to attend a physics review course?
What are the resident salaries?
Can I attend national meetings?
Am I given protected time to apply for Fellowships?
Is there elective time during the residency training program?What didactic conferences are held for residents?
The daily noon conference is an integral part of resident education, and therefore, attendance is essential. This is protected educational time and residents are excused from the clinical service so that they may attend. Most of the noon conferences will be part of a formal educational curriculum covering the 10 subspecialty areas of radiology, and as this curriculum is planned as a two year cycle; each resident should see most conference material at least twice during their residency. In addition, occasional non-interpretive noon conferences are held focusing on issues important to the practice of radiology such as dictation, billing, reimbursement, and cost accounting.
In addition to our once monthly Grand Rounds, every Friday morning from 7-8am we have an informal case conference where the senior residents on the Body-, Neuro-, and Women’s Imaging Services service present interesting cases of that week.
A more formal Imaging Conference is held twice a month at 7:00 a.m. The focus of this conference is the appropriate imaging evaluation and management of common symptoms and diseases, i.e. abdominal pain in the acute care setting. This is a department wide conference designed to educate the residents about cost effective imaging utilization. In addition, this resident-prepared conference is in a power point format that provides the residents with additional experience in public speaking and presentation preparation.
Residents also attend the department’s monthly quality assurance conference to gain exposure to practice improvement.
What are residents' work hours?
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires the Residency Program Director to monitor resident work hours, including internal moonlighting, must not exceed 80 hours per week, averaged over a 4-week period. Duty hours for the radiology residency program are well below the maximum allowed. Most rotations start at 8am, although the day starts earlier on services such as Interventional Radiology and CT where the residents must prepare for procedures. Work is finished at 5pm or whenever readout is complete.
How often do residents take call?
R1:
First year residents do not take overnight call except on the IR rotation. The call is either from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (weekdays) or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (weekends) and begins in October of the first year. Call is taken in the Rhode Island Hospital Emergency Room. Residents are always supervised by an attending. This call averages out to 1 time per week.
R2:
The second year residents enter the long night float call pool (8PM-8AM) starting the first week of October. Night float is taken in one week blocks, seven days per week. The night float call pool is shared predominantly by the second and third residents.
There is a short night float senior resident (usually a third or fourth year resident) available during the hours of 5PM-2AM to help with the workload and to answer any questions. A radiology attending is physically present in the ER reading room until midnight. The morning attending comes in at 6AM to review the cases done between 12 midnight and 6am so that the night float resident can leave the hospital by 8AM.
Second year residents also begin weekend CT call coverage in October which is 8AM-5PM. Responsibilities include reading all of the weekend CT and US exams as well as covering any emergent inpatient procedures. This call is typically one in every seven weekends.
R3:
Third year residents share call pools with the second and fourth years. Additionally third years cover CT weekend call (8am-5pm) until October, at which point the second year residents take over weekend CT call. Beginning in October, the third year residents cover weekend MR call. MR call is one in seven weekends and begins at 8AM and is complete when all cases have been reviewed with the attending, typically around noon. Responsibilities include reading all of the weekend MR exams and making clinical rounds on current inpatients that have had tubes and lines placed by the CT interventional service during the week.
R4:
Fourth year residents participate in night coverage (predominantly the short night float rotation from 5pm-2am) in the first half of the year, and also cover MR weekend call through September.
How many weeks of vacation do residents get?
PGY 2-3 residents are entitled to three (3) weeks of paid vacation per year, and PGY 4-5 residents are entitled to four-(4) weeks vacation. All vacation requests should be directed to the chief resident. The number of residents permitted away per week will vary depending upon the schedule. Vacation choices are awarded by preference and seniority.
An electronic evaluation system (E*value) was implemented in July of 2006.
Before each monthly rotation, the resident will electronically receive the goals and objectives for that rotation. Following the completion of each monthly rotation, the teaching faculty will complete an on-line evaluation form which becomes immediately available to the resident. In addition, on services where there is interaction with the technical staff, the lead technologist will evaluate the residents on professionalism and interpersonal and communication skills. The evaluation form will become a permanent part of the resident's record. All evaluations are available for review by the resident at any time.
At six-month intervals, in December and June, a semi-annual review will be performed with the resident by the Program Director.
The resident is responsible for maintaining a procedure log for all non-vascular procedures on the electronic evaluation system. The log of procedures kept by the vascular and interventional computer system (HIQ) should also be printed and brought to the review. This review will become a part of the permanent record.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) written "in-service" examination is required of all first and second year residents. This examination is given in February and the results are received approximately six weeks later. Upon successful completion of the written portion of the American Board of Radiology(ABR) examination series, the resident is no longer required to sit for the in-service examination.
A mock oral board examination is given to third and fourth year residents each spring. For the fourth year residents, this practice run will help in preparation for the oral board examination given by the ABR in June. For the third year residents, this experience should further refine the knowledge and organization of thought that the resident has acquired over the years.Are residents permitted to Moonlight?
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires the Residency Program Director to monitor resident work hours and progress. The Program Director must approve any moonlighting activities before such activities are undertaken. Work hours, including internal moonlighting, must not exceed 80 hours per week, averaged over a 4-week period. There is a limit on the number of hours of moonlighting permitted, and the moonlighting schedules are reviewed to ensure compliance. Moonlighting is not permitted until the Program Director has determined that the resident’s education will not suffer. Only internal moonlighting is permitted to allow the Program Director to assure compliance, monitor resident performance and provide feedback.
The work is skill-based: first year and early second year residents cover contrast reactions and the more senior residents interpret studies.
Contrast reaction moonlighting is available at several outpatient offices operated by RIH/Shields and Rhode Island Medical Imaging. These moonlighting opportunities are the only ones permitted to first year residents and residents early in the second year. Residents are expected to be facile with the management of such reaction, but as they are rare, the time spent at these facilities is largely your own, and residents typically take advantage of the opportunity by studying.
Moonlighting by providing preliminary image-interpretation is available through The Miriam Hosptial (TMH). For the resident who has shown appropriate knowledge, professional skills and the capacity to function independently, this moonlighting activity can be a tremendous growth experience. Faculty members of the Department of Diagnostic imaging at Brown monitor the resident’s performance and provide feedback to the resident and the Program Director. The number of shifts allowed increases with resident experience.
Do Residents get a book allowance?
Each resident is given $200.00 per year toward the purchase of books. In addition, the department maintains a collection of current texts for each rotation for use solely by the residents.Are residents allowed to attend the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology?
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology offers a four week didactic course held in Washington, DC 5 times per year. The Walter Reed Medical Center houses the AFIP repository of cases and serves as the center for didactic lectures. Tuition for the program is paid for by the residency program. All other extenuating costs and housing arrangements are the responsibility of the resident. If the residents chooses not to attend the AFIP, alternate arrangements for instruction in radiologic-pathologic correlation will be made via and elective on campus.Are residents permitted to attend a review course?
Residents are provided physics instruction and review on campus. Residents studying for the physics exam are allowed additional time to attend a review course at their own expense if they so choose. Senior residents are also given 1 week to attend a review course for the oral examination at their own expense.What are the resident salaries?
Rhode Island Hospital offers a competitive salary and benefits package to its entire house staff. Stipends are reviewed annually and recommendations are made by the graduate medical education committee. The current salary and contract will be provided at the time of the interview. In addition to the usual host of employee benefits afforded to house officers, there are some that are unique: on-call meals, white coats and laundry service, free parking, and a fitness and wellness center on-site.Can I attend national meetings?
Yes, if you have scientific research data that has been accepted for presentation, the department will reimburse you for the costs associated with meeting attendance and you will be given time to attend the meeting. Additionally, time for vacation can be used for meeting attendance.
Am I given protected time to apply for Fellowships?
Yes. Time from clinical work will be granted for interviewing based on need.
Is there elective time during the residency training program?
Yes. Elective months are possible in the third and fourth years.
