VA Rotation

General Instructions

Welcome to your elective in radiology at the VA Medical Center! Details of your elective are listed below.

All workdays begin at 8:00 a.m. in the reading room area. All students should participate in the read-out sessions with the staff and residents, as well as observe imaging studies and procedures being performed and interact with patients.

Each student will be exposed to and participate in the entire gamut of diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology with the exception of OB ultrasound, breast imaging (mammography), and pediatric imaging as the VA patient population is predominantly adult males. All the activities will occur in the main reading room or the exam suites surrounding the main reading room on the 3rd floor, as well as in the Nuclear Medicine department on the 7th floor. All of the imaging subspecialty areas are represented at different workstations in the reading room, look for the signs above each computer. Please introduce yourself to the resident or the attending radiologist.

Chest:This includes plain chest radiographs and chest CT studies, as well as cardiac CT’s and MR’s. There is a radiology house officer assigned to the chest CT rotation all week, as well as two attending thoracic radiologists each day.

Abdominal/Body: This includes plain abdominal radiographs, fluoroscopic GI (barium) studies, and CT, ultrasound, and MR studies of the abdominal and pelvic organs. Occasionally, a biopsy or drainage procedure will also be performed. There is a radiology house officer assigned to the GI and abdominal CT rotation all week, as well as two attending abdominal radiologists each day.

Neuro: This includes CT and MR studies of the brain, orbits, sinuses, neck, and spine.  There is no resident on this rotation; however, there is a neuroradiology fellow assigned all week, as well as the attending neuroradiologist each day.

Bone: This includes plain radiographs as well as CT, MR, and ultrasound studies of the entire musculoskeletal system. There is no resident or fellow on this rotation; however, there are two attending musculoskeletal radiologists each day.

Angio/Interventional: This includes angiographic studies and interventional procedures of all types, as well as the body CTA studies. A schedule board of the procedures can be found each day in the nurse prep/recovery area and in the angio control room. There is a radiology house officer and an IR fellow assigned to this rotation all week, as well as the attending interventional radiologist each day.

Nuclear Medicine:  This encompasses a wide variety of radionuclide imaging studies, including cardiac imaging studies and PET scans. Arrangements can be made with the nuclear radiologists to participate in the interpretations of these studies in the Nuclear Medicine reading room on the 7th floor.

Your grade will be determined by a combination of the following:

  1. Participation and observation during the rotation.
  2. 10-minute case-based PowerPoint presentation in PowerPoint.