Mission

Our program's mission is to provide the finest educational experience in a supportive, collegial, and stimulating atmosphere to develop highly skilled and competent general diagnostic radiologists to meet the needs of the military.

Vision

Our vision is to distinguish ourselves as one of the premier training locations in the military, known for our supportive and collegial learning environment producing highly skilled, compassionate, and board eligible diagnostic radiologists.

Aims

• Successfully recruit and educate a diverse group of residents to exceed ACGME program requirements and prepare them for military service or subsequent subspecialty fellowship training.
• Graduate board eligible diagnostic radiologists.
• Provide a supportive, academically stimulating clinical and academic research experience.
• Develop and instill military professionalism, core values, and leadership traits to accelerate military professional careers.

• Residents receive resident led one-hour case conferences on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings to generate mental models of pathology, identifying pertinent findings, correlating images with the clinical presentation and constructing a concise but complete differential diagnosis.
• Residents receive one-hour didactic physics lectures from our radiology physicist every Wednesday morning.
• Residents receive one-hour didactic lectures from our faculty daily at noon, as part of our repeating two-year didactic core curriculum. Journal club is also incorporating within this curriculum.

Residents are assigned two- or four-week blocks to one of the following subspecialty areas of radiology:

• Thoracic radiology
• Ultrasound
• Body imaging
• Interventional radiology
• Neuroradiology
• Musculoskeletal radiology
• Breast imaging
• Nuclear medicine
• Pediatric Radiology
• Cardiovascular radiology
• Nuclear pharmacy
• Emergency radiology at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle (6 weeks during year four)
• Pediatric radiology at Seattle Children’s hospital (8 weeks during year four)

*AIRP - American Institute of Radiologic Pathology 

A total of six months of electives are afforded throughout residency. Electives may be selected from any of the core rotations, with the additional option to select up to one month elective for research.

• R1 residents cover the evening shift (short call) from 4 - 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with an upper-level senior resident assisting during the first three months of residency.
• R1 residents are scheduled rotating weekend shifts with their peers from 12 - 8:30 p.m.
• R2-R4 residents are scheduled rotating weekend shifts with their peers from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• R2-R4 residents are scheduled one-week night float rotations per the block diagram from 8:30 p.m. - 7:30 a.m.
• Interventional radiology resident covers the pager overnight while on service, with one day off call per week.

Transitional Year didactic meetings cover a range of educational topics such as simulation exercises, military unique topics, patient safety, medical ethics, and professional development. 

• Residents attend a four-week radiologic pathology course presented by the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology during their R3 year in Silver Springs, MD. The four-week course is fully-funded including travel, lodging, and per diem.
• Residents attend a fully-funded one-week physics review course of their choosing during their R3 year, typically in San Diego, California.
• Residents attend a fully-funded one-week Core Exam review course of their choosing during their R3 year.

Utilizing the Anderson Simulation Center at Madigan Army Medical Center, residents are instructed annually in contrast reactions utilizing patient simulators providing a close to real experience for the residents. Additional efforts are being made to expand use for more hands-on experience with ultrasound guided procedures, and we are always looking for more opportunities to use simulation to gain experience/increase confidence in low volume tasks.

Leadership development is instilled through the use of hospital level officer professionalism development (OPD) lectures, monthly sensing sessions with the program director, program level and officer evaluation counseling’s, and military courses when selected/available. Leadership opportunities are also available as the chief resident or assistant chief resident, as well as within different hospital wide committees.

• Residents are required to participate one research project or scholarly related activity. A designated faculty and resident research director are available to guide the resident in navigating and utilizing the resources afforded by the department of clinical investigation. New initiatives currently being brought on board will provide additional research opportunities and resources in the form of a research assistant/coordinator.
• Residents can attend national conferences such as the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), American Society of Neuroradiology, and others where they present original work. Our program has been well represented in the past.

Residents are required to participate in and complete one quality improvement project during the residency.

Residents are afforded the opportunity to attend the Army Junior Leadership Course and Captain’s Career Course, dependent on resident standing, course selection and availability.

• Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Washington
• Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington

Those interested in applying to radiology or simply interested in learning more about radiology are more than welcome to come do a rotation with us. In doing so, you will be able to witness the breadth that radiology encompasses, and what we have to offer here at Madigan. During your rotation, you will be able to observe faculty and residents in their day-to-day activities throughout the different sections of our department and observe our didactic curriculum. If you are interested, you will also get the opportunity to dictate exams yourself!

Even if you are undecided as to whether radiology is the right specialty for you, we would be honored to help you explore this specialty more in depth and highlight all the wonderful aspects of our field. This can be accomplished during a third- or fourth-year medical student rotation, internship rotation or other arrangement as necessary, and can be coordinated through our residency program coordinator, dha.jblm.madigan-amc.list.mamc-rads@health.mil, or our MAMC GME medical student coordinators.

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions at any time prior to or during your application window. In-person and virtual interviews are typically conducted July through September of the fourth year of medical school and are scheduled through our program coordinator. We understand not all applicants are able to rotate during this timeframe and we will work to accommodate as best we can. In-person rotations can provide you with the best impression of our program, though for those not able to come in person, we are happy to conduct interviews virtually and do not discriminate in our selection process based on interview method.

While not required, visiting as many training locations as possible will give you the greatest understanding of each program’s strengths and help to best inform your ranking preferences. The pacific northwest is a beautiful area with a lot to offer, and potentially a significant factor in your decision to come to Madigan. Therefore, we provide you with ample time to get out and explore the area, either on your own or with current residents. Please submit copies of your personal statement and curriculum vitae prior to your scheduled interview.

Program graduates take the American Board of Radiology qualifying and certifying board exams. The qualifying (core) exam is offered at the end of the R3 (PGY4) year. To become fully board certified, applicants are eligible to take the certifying board exam 12 months following graduation.

To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the American Board of Radiology. Initial certification information can be found on the American Board of Radiology website. 

Residents are assigned two weeks per year to lead morning conferences with case presentations and didactic lectures to fellow residents, rotators and attending faculty.

Residents also have opportunities to teach other specialties at interdepartmental conferences.

Faculty are subspecialty trained in neuroradiology, musculoskeletal imaging, breast imaging, body imaging, cardiothoracic imaging, pediatric imaging, nuclear medicine, and interventional radiology.

Residents are assigned faculty and resident mentors upon acceptance to the program.

Many social events are organized throughout the year by the residents to foster community and esprit de corps. As part of this, the residents partake in a weekend retreat each year as a team building event. The program director hosts an annual faculty and resident barbecue during the summer to welcome new faculty, residents, and family members, and to allow more opportunity for socializing outside of work. Residents organize a formal graduation dinner for faculty, residents, and radiology staff to celebrate the graduating residents. Residents are also afforded autonomous time on Thursday afternoons to allow them to prioritize their focus on academic, research, administrative, or personal needs.