Fellowships

Advanced Body Imaging and Intervention

Attention: We currently have an opening for the 2007-08 fellowship year. If you are interested in this position please contact Veronica Ramirez.

The Division of Body Imaging offers 4 one year fellowship positions in advanced body imaging and intervention each academic year. This fellowship provides advanced training in diagnosis and image-guided interventional procedures and has been created to take advantage of the University of Southern California’s unique combination of hospitals and patient populations. The fellows will rotate through each facility which are all located on the medical school campus and include:

Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center: One of the largest academic medical centers in the country. The medical center provides critical access to health services for the region’s medically underserved. As one of the busiest public hospitals in the western United States, LAC+USC Medical Center records nearly 39,000 inpatient discharges, 150,000 emergency department visits, and 1 million ambulatory care visits each year.

USC University Hospital: USC University Hospital is a private 261-bed referral hospital dedicated to tertiary care and research. Among the hospital’s specialized services are programs in transplantation, bloodless surgery, stereotactic neurosurgery, cardiac catheterization and interventional cardiology. Surgical specialties include cardiothoracic, esophageal, orthopedic, and plastic and reconstructive surgeries.

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has designated the USC/Norris Cancer Center as one of the nation's 39 comprehensive cancer centers, a select group of institutions providing leadership in cancer treatment, research, prevention and education. USC/Norris has held this designation since 1973, when it was named as one of the first eight comprehensive cancer centers.

HCC 2: A private outpatient imaging center serving the Surgical and Medical private practices of USC and the neighboring communities.

Fellows receive comprehensive and supervised training in advanced body imaging, both above and below the diaphragm. The year is divided into monthly rotations, with approximately 1/3 of the year devoted to each modality: MRI, US and CT (including PET/CT).

MRI: the workload includes, but is not limited to, hepatobiliary, GU, oncologic and gynecologic imaging. More specialized examinations are also performed, including dynamic pelvic imaging, MR colonography and cardiac imaging. LAC+USC rotations include MSK and Neuro cases. There are currently 6 magnets on campus, 4-1.5T and 2-3T.

Ultrasound: the US workload consists of general abdominal, GU, OB-gyn, oncologic and transplant imaging. Interventional procedures include biopsies and drainages of both deep and superficial structures and intraoperative ultrasound. Radiofrequency ablation is also performed in conjunction with surgery.

CT: The workload includes advanced workstation applications such as CT angiography, virtual colonoscopy, radiation planning. The fellow will have at least one month of PET/CT during the year. The fellow will also gain expertise in CT guided procedures.

There are numerous, daily didactic and case conferences at each facility. The fellow will be working closely with residents, fellows and faculty throughout the year. This fellowship has proven to be an excellent foundation for both academic and private practice careers.

USC Radiology Fellowship Application >>

For further information, contact:

Suzanne L. Palmer, M.D.
Associate Professor
Fellowship Director and Chief, Body Imaging Division
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California

Veronica Ramirez
Fellowship Coordinator
USC University Hospital, Dept of Radiology
1500 San Pablo Street
Los Angeles, California 90033
Phone: 323.442.8721
Fax: 323.442.8755

Updated: 1/3/2007

Musculoskeletal Imaging Fellowship

Thank you for your interest in a Fellowship in Musculoskeletal Imaging at the University of Southern California.

The 2007-2008 Fellowship Program is twelve months in duration and is located at three separate sites, the new LAC + USC Medical Center, the USC University Hospital, and the Healthcare Consultation Center.

The LAC + USC Medical Center is planned to open during this fellowship year, replacing the current flagship hospital. This is one of the world’s largest hospitals with a very busy level I trauma unit and a full complement of clinical services. The hospital will have new, state of the art imaging modalities including three 1.5 Tesla MRI’s, 5 MDCT’s and a PET-CT unit.

The USC University Hospital site has a 16 slice MDCT and a 1.5 Tesla Symphony MR and two 3 Tesla GE MR systems. The adjacent Healthcare Consultation Center is an outpatient facility where rheumatology and orthopedic patients are seen. A large proportion of MSK imaging is performed at this center, which has a 1.5 Tesla MRI and will soon have a 3 Tesla MRI.

The fellowship focuses on all aspects and modalities of MSK imaging and procedures. This includes conventional radiography, ultrasound, CT, MR, and CT-PET. Image guided procedures such as arthrography, biopsy, and RF ablation are routinely performed. There are large rheumatology and orthopedic departments at USC. All subspeciality areas of orthopedic surgery are well represented with fellowship trained surgeons in all areas.
We will send you an application form. We do require three letters of recommendation from physicians who are familiar with your work in addition to your curriculum vitae and personal statement. Upon review of your documents, candidates will be invited to visit our site and interview with us.

We hope to hear from you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Dakshesh Patel, M.D.
Program Director, Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship
Keck School of Medicine
University at Southern California

Nancy Estrada
Fellowship Coordinator, MSK
University of Southern California
LAC/USC Imaging Science Center
1744 Zonal Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 221-2424
(323) 224-5118 Fax
Email: nestrada@usc.edu

USC Radiology Fellowship Application >>

Neuroradiology

The Neuroradiology fellowship training program was created 23 years and was one of the first Neuroradiology programs in the country accredited by ACGME. Since the beginning of the fellowship program, we have not only maintained but also significantly improved the training program. The diagnostic neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Southern California School of Medicine is an ACGME-accredited program to train future individuals in both clinical and academic neuroradiology. The program is approved by the ACGME for one year fellowship (with the second year optional but recommended). A wide spectrum of neuroradiologic cases are seen due to the large diversity of our patient population. In addition, a huge number of cases are seen as a portion of the Neuroradiology fellowship is spent at LAC+USC Medical Center, the busiest Level I Trauma Center on the West Coast and one of the busiest in the nation. USC University Hospital is the tertiary care hospital for USC and is currently undergoing a seven story addition which will be completed in 2005. Training also extends to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the largest Children’s Hospital on the West Coast. We also offer a Pediatric neuroradiology “major” program for those individuals interested in pediatric Neuroradiology fellowship.

The number of procedures performed are high due to the training institutions mentioned and are as follows for the past academic year:

MRI: Brain 10,617
Head and Neck 1,329
Spine 5,447

CT: Brain 26,006
Head and Neck 3,061
Spine 3,479

There are six state of the art 1.5 MR scanners on the USC campus with functional imaging, MR spectroscopy and echoplanar capabilities. Two additional 3.0 T MR scanner will be installed in 2004 at University Hospital. There are fully equipped modern bi-plane Neuroradiology suites at the LAC+USC Medical Center and USCUH. We now have six helical CT scanners and three multi-slice detectors CT (MSDCT) on the USC Medical campus. Our PET center, located adjacent to USC University Hospital, is in full operation utilizing one of the new PET/CT scanners on the West Coast and one of only three in Los Angeles.

There are currently eight (8) experienced staff physicians in Neuroradiology including our ENT radiologist. In addition, we have two (2) interventional neuroradiologists who hold joint appointments in Neurosurgery and Radiology.

Exceedingly strong neurosurgery , neurology, and otolaryngology programs at our institution help to augment our training program in neuroradiology. We also have strong support from radiation oncology neuro-ophthalmology, neuropathology, and orthopedic surgery programs.

We feel that our diagnostic Neuroradiology program provides excellent training for those wishing to pursue a career in academic or clinical Neuroradiology.

Goals and Objectives >>
Application for Fellowship Training in Neuroradiology>>

Contact Information:

Chi-Shing Zee, M.D.
Professor of Radiology
Director, Neuroradiology Fellowship Program
University of Southern California
Keck School of Medicine
1200 North State Street, Room 3750D
Los Angeles, California 90033
Email: chishing@usc.edu

Yvonne Klausmeier
Fellowship Coordinator
LAC+USC Medical Center
1200 North State Street, Room 3740A
Los Angeles, California 90033
(323) 226-7425
(323) 226-4059 (fax)
Email: klausmei@usc.edu

Nuclear Medicine

The Fellowship is 12 months in duration. It is designed for the ABR certified or eligible graduate of a radiology program. There are four principal locations, the LAC+USC Medical Center, the USC University Hospital, the Norris Cancer Hospital, and the USC PET Center. Approximately 1400 acute care beds exist within the Health Science Campus.

At LAC+USC Medical Center, new equipment has been installed including five gamma cameras. There are three dual head cameras, two fixed, and one with variable geometry. There is a single head camera and a mobile camera. There is a triple head camera with coincidence PET capability. The cameras are linked by a local area network with state of the art central processing units.

At USC University Hospital, there are three gamma cameras, a single head, a dual head and a triple head camera. The CPU is recently upgraded. The hospital is a private tertiary referral center with full transplant service and many other highly specialized surgical programs.
Norris Cancer Hospital has a dual head and a single head gamma camera. The hospital is a private dedicated cancer hospital with a highly specialized oncology medical staff that deals with specialized and unusual cases.

The USC PET Center has a dedicated PET/CT scanner and cyclotron. This services the USC Health Science Campus for clinical work. Clinical research and basic research is also performed in this location.

All total, there are 12 scintillation cameras, 8 of which have SPECT (tomography) capability, triple dual and single head as well as coincidence SPECT and PET/CT.

Each fellow will be mentored in an original research project. Presentation at meetings and the preparation of a manuscript for publication is expected.

In addition to the application form, we do require three letters of recommendation from physicians who are familiar with your work, as well as your Curriculum Vitae and personal statement.

Should you be selected for the fellowship program you will be required to have a California Medical License, a California Fluoroscopy Certificate, and a DEA License. You will also need to be eligible to sit for ABNM or ABR exams.

Contact Information

Robert Henderson, MD
Director, Nuclear Medicine Fellowship
University of Southern California
USC University Hospital, Radiology
1500 San Pablo St.
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Phone (323) 442-8552
Fax (323) 442-5398

Mary Pisa
Coordinator, Nuclear Medicine Fellowship
University of Southern California
LAC/USC Medical Center
1200 North State Street, Unit 5200
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Phone (323) 226-7858
E-mail nmdivsec@usc.edu

USC Radiology Fellowship Application >>

Vascular / Interventional Radiology

A. Scope and Duration of Training: The University of Southern California offers a one-year training program in Vascular Interventional Radiology. This program is designed to provide trainees with the unique clinical and technical skills required to practice this specialty. The education program is organized to provide comprehensive, full-time training and experience in the evaluation and management of patients requiring image guided VIR procedures; and provides a supervised experience in performance of imaging guided procedures. Imaging modalities included in the training program include fluoroscopy, angiography, computed tomography, and ultrasonography for guiding interventions. Vascular diagnostic studies using angiography, ultrasound, CT and MRI are also included in the training.

In addition to technical and imaging training, the program provides trainees with a structured experience in the clinical assessment of patients with disorders amenable to percutaneous therapies, and a structured experience in the follow up of patients after such treatments are performed. These pre-procedure and post-procedure care experiences take place both in the hospital and outpatient settings. Fellows work in an environment that promotes the development of a medical knowledge base relevant to percutaneous minimally invasive therapies and that includes an understanding of the pathophysiology of the underlying diseases. Training includes an emphasis on radiation biology, radiation physics, and radiation protection as they pertain to the interventional environment.

The training program provides opportunities for research into new technologies and in the evaluation of clinical outcomes of interventional radiology.

B. Faculty / Fellow Numbers: The program has a minimum of 7.5 FTE faculty members – 4.5 FTE faculty on the USC campus and 3 at Kaiser Permanente. The fellowship is accredited for 4 fellows. Therefore, the ratio of faculty to fellows is 1.75:1, well above the ACGME requirement of 1:1.

C. Program Director / Faculty

1. Program Director: Dr. Michael Katz is a full time USC faculty member certified by the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Radiology and has a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

2. Faculty: All 6 other faculty members are full time Interventional Radiologists and each has a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. All aspects of Vascular and Interventional Radiology are represented within the faculty. All faculty members demonstrate a commitment to the subspecialty and VIR as documented by membership in professional societies, publications in the field, and ongoing acquisition of CME credits in the field on a yearly basis. This faculty provides fellows with didactic teaching, hands-on supervision of clinical procedures, and direct supervision of periprocedural patient care including management decisions, interpretive skills, and consultative aspects of the specialty.

D. Facilities and Resources:
1. Space and Equipment

a. LAC + USC Medical Center: (three months experience over the course of year) This medical center has a well organized IR suite on its 3rd floor containing two state of the art digital interventional angiography / fluoroscopy procedure rooms as well as patient holding area, stock rooms, a break room, a conference room, and offices for several faculty members (including the program director) and administrative assistants. One of these two procedure rooms is shared with neuroradiology and neurointerventional radiology. A third older IR procedure room is also available on the 4th floor for simple procedures or when the primary procedure rooms are undergoing maintenance. All procedure rooms are equipped with physiologic monitoring and resuscitative equipment. The suite contains a dedicated ultrasound machine that has transabdominal and vascular capability. The hospital also has state of the art CT, and radio-nuclide imaging. MRI is available at an imaging center located immediately adjacent to the hospital. The suite is staffed with dedicated IR technologists and nurses. The suite includes office space for fellows.

b. USC University Hospital: (three months experience over the course of year) this hospital has a well organized IR suite containing two digital interventional angiography / fluoroscopy procedure rooms. One is shared with neuroradiology / neurointerventional radiology. The procedure rooms are equipped with physiologic monitoring and resuscitative equipment and are staffed by dedicated IR technologists and nurses. There is a patient holding area (shared with cardiology) in close proximity to the procedure area. Also in close proximity are a break room, a conference room, and an office for the IR faculty/fellows to share. In addition, there is a new digital interventional /angiography suite in the operating room. This interventional suite is shared by Radiology, Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, and Neuroradiology Ultrasound, CT, MR, and nuclear medicine are all available within the Imaging Department. A dedicated Non-invasive Vascular Ultrasound Lab exists in the hospital and fellows each spend time in that lab with an IR attending interpreting vascular ultrasound examinations.

c. Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center: (three months experience over the course of year) this hospital has a single IR procedure room staffed by dedicated IR technologists and nurses, and equipped with physiologic monitoris and resuscitative equipment. Because the patient volume is lower at Norris than at the other hospitals, pre and post procedure care is done either in the procedure room itself or in the hospital’s central O.R. recovery room.

d. Kaiser Permanente Sunset Medical Center: (three months experience over the course of year) In addition to the IR suites in the radiology department, there is an IR suite in the operating room which is used for patients undergoing aortic stent-graft procedures.

e. Doheny Outpatient Center: (experience over the course of the year) The Interventional Radiology section has clinic space/time in these offices for consultation with new patients and for patient follow up visits.

2. Patient Population:

The patient population for the program is extremely broad because each of the clinical venues is unique in its focus. Each of the 4 hospitals at which the fellows train has a unique patient population. LAC+USC Medical Center serves the poor of LA County and brings a large population of patients with penetrating trauma, non-penetrating trauma, advanced cancer, endstage renal disease and liver disease, and unusual infectious diseases. USC University hospital is primarily a surgical subspecialty hospital with an active hepatology service and liver / kidney transplantation service. Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a high level of care to patients with unusual and complex cancers and is a leader in the management of liver cancer with intra-arterial chemotherapy. Kaiser Sunset hospital provides the fellows with an HMO experience that includes a large volume of aortic stent-grafts, vertebroplasty procedures, and uterine artery embolization procedures in a relatively healthy population. The IR service is building up its own referral service for radio-frequency ablation of liver cancers and for uterine artery embolizations; intake and follow up of these patients takes place at the Doheny outpatient offices.

3. Library:

The IR division maintains a small library of IR textbooks in Dr. Katz’s office at LAC Medical Center (within the IR suite). An extensive teaching file of cases is also available in the suite and just upstairs from the suite. Fellows have access to the Radiology Dept library and to the Norris Medical Library, located across the street from LAC Medical Center. Fellows also have access to electronic databases of medical literature through Norris Medical Library – internet access is available in the IR suite.

4. Support Services:

Technical, nursing, and laboratory services are available 24/7 at all hospitals in the program.

Contact Information

Michael Katz, MD
Director, Vascular/Interventional Fellowship
University of Southern California
LAC+USC Medical Center
Department of Radiology
1200 North State St., Rm. 3550
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Phone (323) 226-4218
Fax (323) 224-7830
E-mail: virrad@usc.edu

USC Radiology Fellowship Application >>

Women’s Imaging

A. Scope and Duration of Training: The University of Southern California offers a one-year training program in Women’s Imaging. This program is designed to provide trainees with the unique clinical and technical skills required to practice this specialty. The education program is organized to provide comprehensive, in-depth training and experience in the evaluation and diagnosis of patients in all aspects of Women’s Imaging.  It also provides a supervised experience in performance of image guided procedures. Imaging modalities included in the training program include screening and diagnostic digital mammography; breast, obstetric, and pelvic ultrasound; and breast and pelvic MRI. Image guided breast procedures include pre-operative wire localizations, percutaneous ultrasound guided aspirations/core biopsies, stereotactic guided core biopsies, MRI guided core biopsies, and ductography.  Image guided pelvic procedures include hystersalpingography and saline sonohysterography.

In addition to technical and imaging training, the program provides trainees with a structured experience in the clinical assessment of patients with benign and malignant breast and pelvic disease. The fellow works in an environment that promotes the development of a medical knowledge base relevant to breast cancer treatment and that includes an understanding of the pathophysiology of the underlying diseases. The training program provides opportunities for research into new technologies.

B. Faculty / Fellow Numbers: The program has a minimum of 5 faculty members – all on the USC campus. The fellowship program is designed for one fellow per year.

C. Program Director / Faculty

1. Program Director: Dr. Linda Hovanessian Larsen is a USC faculty member certified by the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Radiology and has a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Nuclear Radiology.

2. Faculty: All 4 other faculty members are MQSA and board-certified radiologists, specializing in breast and women’s imaging. All aspects of Women’s Imaging are represented within the faculty. All faculty members demonstrate a commitment to the subspecialty as documented by membership in professional societies, publications in the field, and ongoing acquisition of CME credits in the field on a yearly basis. This faculty provides fellows with didactic teaching, hands-on supervision of clinical procedures, and direct supervision of patient care including management decisions, interpretive skills, and consultative aspects of the specialty.

D. Facilities and Resources:

a. The Lee Breast Center at the Norris Cancer Center: This center has state-of-the-art equipment including 3 dedicated digital mammography units, 1 ultrasound breast scanner with Doppler capabilities, and a prone digital stereotactic biopsy table. The fellow will be interpreting screening and diagnostic mammograms, and performing core biopsies both with ultrasound and stereotactic guidance. The radiology faculty at the Lee Breast Center work closely with the breast surgeons so that they can diagnose and biopsy patients quickly prior to surgery. Therefore, several procedures are done weekly. An integrated breast conference is held every Thursday in which surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, and oncologists meet to discuss interesting and difficult cases with pathologic correlation. This is an excellent learning experience.

b. LAC+USC Outpatient Mammography: The fellow will have an in-depth training in evaluating and interpreting diagnostic mammograms. Our state-of-the-art equipment includes 4 dedicated mammography units, 2 ultrasound breast scanners, a prone digital stereotactic biopsy table, and the hand-held Mammotome biopsy device. Ample opportunities are provided to gain experience in core biopsies and wire localizations. Other special procedures in the division include galactography and pneumocystography. Our close working relationship with the departments of surgery, pathology, radiation oncology, and medical oncology markedly increases our knowledge of breast disease from many perspectives. We all meet weekly at the Multidisciplinary conference to discuss treatment plans for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The division also participates in a bi-monthly departmental noon resident teaching conference.

c. LAC+USC Women's Hospital: The majority of the imaging studies consist of pelvic and obstetric ultrasounds. Hysterosalpinograms, in addition to plain film radiography, are also performed.

d. Health Consultation Center II:  This state-of-the-art outpatient imaging facility has both a 1.5T and 3T MRI unit for breast MRI.  We perform about 25 breast MRIs and 2 MRI guided breast biopsies per week. The fellow plays a crucial role in the interpretation and follow up of these studies.

Patient Population:
The patient population for the program is extremely broad because each of the clinical venues is unique in its focus. Each of the facilities at which the fellow trains has a unique patient population. LAC+USC Medical Center serves the underserved of LA County and brings a large population of patients with advanced breast cancer.  USC Lee Breast Center at the Norris Cancer Hospital provides a high level of care to patients with unusual and complex breast cancers and is a leader in the management of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS), the earliest form of breast cancer.

Contact Information

Linda Hovanessian Larsen, MD
Section Director
LAC+USC Medical Center
Department of Radiology
1200 North State St., Rm. 3550
Los Angeles, CA 90033
P hone (323) 226-7677
Fax (323) 226-2280