In My Near future, PGY2…

Intern year is on a count down!

I have 10 weeks of internal medicine wards left, after which I will be starting my dream specialty: radiology.

I recently had a 1 week elective rotation in radiology. A couple  pgy3 radiology residents gave me wonderful advice and insights into my exciting future.

Perks of My Residency Program

• Our radiology residency program has lots of research opportunities. Dr. Kalb, section chief of Body/MRI, has many research projects. Dr. Kuo in Nucs, too. These and mammography are 3 of the radiology sub-specialties that most interest me right now.
• Our program will support residents up to $1000/trip for oral presentations of our original research. I’m looking forward to combining a family trip with presenting an original lecture at one of the radiology conferences!
• Residents may request 4 wks of research time per year; highly productive residents have gotten 2 months of scheduled research during 4th year. (contact chief at end of pgy2 to request pgy3 research time.)
• We are awarded $1000/year book fund to pay for radiology society dues and books. (E anatomy $60/yr is a good investment.)
• Rad primer (boards question bank), Stat Dx are free to residents for boards prep.
• A R4 (pgy5) has the option to do a year long Nuc/Pet fellowship. So I can technically get 2 fellowships by the end of pgy6. I like the combination of Nuc/Pet with mammography or Nuc/Pet with Body/MRI.
• Ample opportunity to moonlight and boost income. (Fantastic to have, but may change and/or disappear.)

Timeline/goals of radiology residency

• R1/pgy2:

Prepare for night calls during R2. Publish case reports on PubMed. By Dec., start working on original research project. By April, submit research articles/lectures for oral presentations. *request mammo rotation to be in early R2 if i want to apply for mammography fellowship. weekend calls rotation among my class, likely q9 weeks,  8am-4pm. join the rotation of baby-sitting scanner (contrast reaction) in evenings for additional income.

• R2/pgy3:

Early in the year, give oral presentations at major radiology conferences. Survive and learn lots on call. March, start fellowship applications.

• R3/pgy4:

Aug/Sept fellowship interviews. Mar-Jun study for boards. End of R3, take radiology boards. Moonlighting, tele-radiology 12 hour call or 24 hour weekend/holiday call.

• R4/pgy5:

Nuc/Pet fellowship or a couple mini fellowships. Moonlighting, tele-radiology 12 hour call or 24 hour weekend/holiday call.

• Fellowship/pgy6:

MRI Body fellowship or Mammography fellowship.

• Are you excited about pgy2 or (your next year of training/career)?
• What benefits does your residency offer?
• What are your moonlighting opportunities like?

Comment below!