Diagnostic Neuroradiology Fellowship

One of the primary educational missions of the Neuroradiology Division is our ACGME-accredited fellowship. The mission of our fellowship is to produce fellows who are excellent clinical diagnostic neuroradiologists in all aspects of neuroimaging and who are outstanding consultants to referring physicians, working with them to advance patient care. For those fellows interested in academic neuroradiology, we aim to provide them with the fundamentals to pursue an academic career.

The Division of Neuroradiology offers a one-year diagnostic neuroradiology fellowship program that is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for six positions per year. We participate in the Radiology Specialty Match sponsored by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and applicants must register for the match. Be aware that deadlines differ each year. We currently use ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) so please submit all application materials on the ERAS website.

Curriculum

Fellowship training occurs at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS), which includes dedicated rotations at C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital which are attached to the main University Hospital and at our East Ann Arbor (EAA) Health and Geriatrics Center which includes an outpatient imaging facility. Fellows also rotate at the VA Ann Arbor Heathcare System.

Our fellows rotate through the following areas.

Angiography: Fellows rotate on the Neurointerventional Radiology (NIR) service to obtain exposure to diagnostic angiograms and neurointerventional procedures. We have two biplane neuroangiography suites at University Hospital and one at Mott Children’s Hospital. We also have a multipurpose room with 3D rotational angiography capabilities.

Special Procedures: The diagnostic neuroradiology division performs fluoroscopically or CT guided interventional procedures which consist of myelograms, lumbar punctures (both diagnostic and to administer intrathecal chemotherapy) and biopsies of the head and neck and spine. The fellows perform these procedures on adults during their “Specials” rotation at the University Hospital and on pediatric patients during their pediatric neuroradiology rotation at C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

CT: The CT equipment at the UMHS includes a total of 12 scanners. One of these CT scanners is located within the University Hospital Emergency Department. This allows fellows to gain competence in routine neuroradiologic exams as well as advanced head/neck, spine and cerebrovascular imaging.

MRI: There are 15 clinical MRI units (0.55T, 1.5T and 3T) and one 3T research unit. The 3T research unit is located at the main hospital and administrated by the Department of Radiology. Fellows become competent at all aspects of neuro MRI including advanced imaging procedures such as MR angiography (including time-resolved MRA), MR spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging and MR perfusion.

Given the numerous scan sites and breadth of examinations ordered the fellows far exceed the ACGME requirement of 250 non-invasive (CT and/or MR) angiograms.

Pediatric Neuroradiology: This rotation entails CT and MRI exams and special procedures performed on pediatric patients at C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital where 3 of our MRI scanners and 2 of our CT scanners are housed. There is also a fluoroscopy room for special procedures. Our fellows spend a minimum of 4 weeks on this rotation, as per ACGME requirements. We have several faculty members who have completed pediatric neuroradiology fellowships or have extensive long term interest and experience in pediatric neuroradiology.

East Ann Arbor (EAA): This rotation exposes our fellows to neuroimaging in an outpatient setting, and includes both MRI and CT.

Research: Fellows are expected to complete at least one research project with submission to a national meeting and or journal or other scholarly project such as a review article or book chapter with a faculty mentor. Fellows are also required to complete one quality improvement/patient safety (QI/PS) project. On average, the fellows have approximately 2 professional development days per month, during which time they can work on their projects. Early in the academic year the faculty discuss their research interests and ongoing research and QI/PS projects with the new fellows. The fellows can then choose with whom they would like to work. All of our fellows have easily accomplished these requirements and many have had more than one project accepted to meetings or published.

Fellows are assigned to home call approximately once every six weeks, always with support from neuroradiology faculty members. With the exception of diagnostic lumbar punctures, any procedures performed after hours are always done along with the neuroradiology faculty on call. There is no in house call for our fellows.

All of the neuroradiology faculty at UMHS participate in the teaching of our fellows.

Each week a Fellow’s Conference is held which consists primarily of didactic lectures by the faculty. This is interspersed with journal club, morbidity and mortality conference and a pediatric neuroradiology conference. There is also a weekly interesting case conference, where fellows and faculty informally discuss difficult or unusual cases. Fellows also participate in interdisciplinary conferences such as head and neck tumor board, brain tumor board, neurorsurgery CPC and neuro-ophthalmology conference.

Our fellows also participate in the teaching efforts of the neuroradiology division. Fellows participate in the teaching of third and fourth year medical students, radiology residents and residents from other services who rotate through our division. Each fellow also prepares approximately two conferences each year for our radiology residents. 

Research

There is a tradition of collaborative clinical and basic science research between members of the Division of Neuroradiology and the other clinical Neuroscience departments. Senior research physicists with special interest in MR physics, contrast agents, digital image processing, and MR spectroscopy are available within the Department of Radiology for technical and research support.

All fellows are expected to become involved in a research project during their fellowship under the direction of a faculty mentor and are given dedicated time for this. At least one abstract should be submitted to a national meeting as a result of this research. Fellows will be supported to present all abstracts at national meetings for which they are first author.

All fellows are also expected to become involved in a quality improvement/patient safety project during their fellowship, also under the direction of a faculty mentor.

Apply

We participate in the National Resident Matching Program's Radiology Specialty Match to fill our ACGME positions not filled by internal applicants prior to the date that match registration begins. The exact interview and match dates are determined each year by the NRMP. You can obtain more information about the Match at the NRMP Web site.

Fellow applicants must apply through ERAS. ERAS Applications must include the following to be considered complete:

  1. Application form
  2. Curriculum vitae
  3. Personal statement
  4. Three letters of recommendation (including one from your residency program director)
  5. Copy of Dean’s letter from your medical school
  6. USMLE or COMLEX board score
  7. ECFMG certificate if applicable
  8. Photo

The University of Michigan offers highly competitive salaries and tremendous benefits to our residents/fellows. An overview of salary, benefits and employment eligibility is available on the GME Office website, under “Prospective Residents/Fellows”.
https://medicine.umich.edu/medschool/education/residency-fellowship

Please visit this page for more information about life at Michigan Medicine. It is a collection of resources that are very beneficial.

Ellen G. Hoeffner, M.D., is the director of the neuroradiology division. John Kim, M.D., is the Fellowship Program Director. They can be contacted as listed below.

Please direct any inquiries regarding the fellowship to Dr. John Kim. Thank you for your interest in our fellowship program.

John Kim, MD, MRMD (MRSC)
Fellowship Program Director
Michigan Medicine
Department of Radiology, UH B2 A205A
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-5030

Phone: 734-936-8947
Fax: 734-764-2412
[email protected]

Ellen Hoeffner, MD
Professor and Division Director of Neuroradiology
Michigan Medicine
Department of Radiology
1500 E. Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5030

Phone: 734-232-6175
Fax: 734-764-2412
[email protected]