What to expect as a UAB Interventional Radiology Resident
Excellence
UAB is a tertiary referral center for the southeast and level 1 trauma center. The volume and variety of procedures you will be exposed to will be enough to make you confident to practice anywhere in the country. We have more than 100 subspecialty radiologists in the department, including 10 full-time interventional radiologists. We have two new faculty joining IR this fall and are actively recruiting for our rapidly expanding service. Interventional radiology is a resident-driven service with excellent graduated autonomy. And bonus – everything is on one campus!
Priority Education
Our residents are a priority in our department and we have engaged teaching faculty. During the first three years the Integrated IR residents attend noon conferences with the DR residents. DR noon conferences are focused on the ABR blueprints, but also devote time to learning about business and leadership. In your IR years, we have a separate curriculum devoted to IR education. IR residents also participate in both DR and IR journal clubs and utilize national curricula such as RSNA Patient Centered Care and the SIR Residency Essentials curriculums to supplement faculty lectures. We all enjoy teaching residents and are involved in education on a daily basis.
Mentorship
Incoming Integrated IR residents are paired with upper level residents to help make the transition a bit smoother. They can help answer questions about where to go your first day, where to get the best barbeque (spoiler: Saw’s), or what to read. The DR and Integrated IR residencies also start the year with an annual resident retreat to bond as a team for the rest of the year. You will be known from the beginning and encouraged to be the best you can be!
Value
Our division is committed to making UAB a great place to train. We place high value in resident involvement in decisions that affect the program. Residents are involved in committees overseeing curriculum development, resident wellness initiatives, departmental policies, quality improvement, hospital-wide GME committees, and more. We have professional development funds to support sending our residents to national radiology meetings.
Empowerment
Exercise your educator muscles by teaching rotating junior residents and medical students how to perform procedures and provide excellent patient care. Participate in hands on teaching with quarterly procedure simulations for medical students and residents. Our residents are encouraged to give lectures both to rotating medical students and introductory lectures to our new residents.
Call
A necessary evil in residency. Integrated IR residents take DR call during the R1-3 years (info below), a mix of DR and IR call during the R4 year, and IR call only during the R5 year. Independent IR residents only take IR call.
DR call utilizes a month-long night float system. This consists of 14 call days and 14 days off (scheduled however you and your coresidents decide). There are two residents in house overnight with attendings present at all hours to answer questions and discuss cases. Preliminary reads from ED studies are made available to referring providers immediately and are often used for clinical decision making which increases the sense of resident autonomy on call while still having 24 hour in-house attending coverage.
IR call is shared with the DR residents on service, so it is not too frequent. Weeknight calls are from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning. Residents are responsible for answering pages, triaging consults, and assisting in on call procedures. On weekends, the on-call resident works with the on-call attending and a moonlighting resident to handle inpatient consults, call cases, and a limited number of inpatient procedures. Outside of call, every weekend and holiday is YOURS.
Moonlighting Opportunities
R2 residents cover contrast administration at our on-site outpatient imaging center in the mornings. Interpretive moonlighting is reserved for the more senior residents and includes evening and weekend neuroradiology, evening and weekend ultrasound, and weekend contrast/interpretive MRI coverage at our remote outpatient center in Leeds. IR moonlighting is available for R2-R4 residents on Saturdays and Sundays. All of these are optional and covered under your UAB medical malpractice insurance.
Be YOU!
Let’s face it, residency hits right in the middle of real life! People run marathons, build houses, travel, and start and grow families while they are here. We support you! UAB offers six weeks of paid parental leave for those who have new babies, and we encourage you to take it. If you are a woman and want to breastfeed your new baby, we have all the resources to support you!