Medical Student Education
Radiology education is an integral part of mission of the radiology department at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Faculty and residents work closely with exceptional students from the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons who rotate through our department. The radiology electives are among the most popular at the medical school.
Students are taught the basics of image interpretation and the most common radiologic life-threatening emergencies. Students are familiarized with the American College of Radiology (ACR) appropriateness criteria to facilitate appropriate utilization of radiologic resources regardless of the clinical specialty they wish to pursue. Many students also find faculty mentors in the department for their Scholarly Projects and participate in various research opportunities.
We are proud to have the opportunity to collaborate with RAD-AID to provide medical students with one of the first global health radiology electives in the country.
We also provide opportunities for visiting students who are interested in exploring a radiology elective with us, through the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Visiting Student Program.
Diagnostic Radiology Elective: Diagnostic Radiology
4 weeks
By the end of the course medical students will be comfortable describing basic findings in the subspecialties of neuroradiology, pediatric radiology, abdominal radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, and cardiothoracic radiology. Medical students will be able to recognize emergent life threatening clinical scenarios using radiographs, CT, and MRI imaging and to understand a radiologic report in a comprehensive manner. A major objective of this course is to familiarize the students with the American College of Radiology appropriateness criteria to improve proper utilization of imaging services. The course curriculum includes didactic and case based lectures in addition to teaching by the workstation.
Faculty
- Pallavi Utukuri, MD
Radiology and Anatomy (In Collaboration with Gross Anatomy)
4 weeks
By the end of the course, medical students will be comfortable describing basic findings in the subspecialties of neuroradiology, pediatric radiology, abdominal radiology, musculoskeletal radiology, and cardiothorcacic radiology. Medical students will be able to recognize emergent life threatening clinical scenarios using radiographs, CT, and MRI imaging and to understand a radiologic report in a comprehensive manner. A major objective is to familiarize the students with the American College of Radiology appropriateness criteria to improve proper utilization of imaging services. The course curriculum includes didactic and case based lectures in addition to teaching by the workstation.
In addition, students gain an appreciation for correlating X-rays and cross-sectional imaging with their counterparts in gross anatomy.
Faculty
- Pallavi Utukuri, MD
- Paulette Bernd, MD
Nuclear Medicine
Waitlist Only
The purpose of this course is to develop the student's understanding of the role of radionuclide imaging in modern clinical practice. The student will participate in various diagnostic and therapeutic activities with primary emphasis on static and dynamic scintillation imaging, including PET/CT, in order to gain awareness of the indications, advantages, and limitations of these diagnostic methods and the principles of their interpretation. Students attend the nuclear radiology teaching conference each morning, as well as the regular sessions in general nuclear medicine, PET imaging, and nuclear cardiology. Students become familiar with the principles of emission tomographic imaging and uses of computers in several types of medical imaging. Students are also introduced to the principles of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and may attend selected MRI reading and teaching sessions. Attendance at the daily diagnostic radiology didactic 7:30 am and case review 12:30 pm sessions also is encouraged.
Faculty
- Mikhail Doubrovin, MD
Vascular and Interventional Radiology
4 week preceptorship
The course objective is to provide medical students with exposure to the field of vascular and interventional radiology. Students become an integral part of the clinical evaluation and treatment of inpatients and outpatients treated with the minimally invasive techniques of interventional radiology.
Students participate in the work-up of patients, the actual procedures, and patient aftercare. Students may be offered opportunities for clinical research projects. The range of diseases treated span peripheral and renovascular disease, venous disease, regional therapy of cancer, biliary disease, gynecologic interventions, and uterine fibroid embolization. Close supervision is provided by the attending staff and fellows. Section conferences include magnetic resonance and CT angiography conferences, case reviews, and didactic sessions. This elective may be arranged as a preceptorship with an individual attending staff within the division, as well.
Faculty
- Jonathan Susman, MD
- Sidney Brejt, MD
Diagnostic Radiology Research
Waitlist only D&I
Participation in clinical or basic radiologic research, either in an ongoing project or in a project of the student's initiation.
Global Health Radiology Clerkship
4 weeks
This elective clerkship, in collaboration with Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and the Department of Radiology, will offer students the unique opportunity to integrate their interests in radiology and global health. The clerkship provides significant grounding in how the research and practice of radiological sciences interplays with global health outreach efforts to reduce disease, improve screening/diagnosis/treatment, and reduce health care disparities across the world. This clerkship is offered in partnership with RAD-AID, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the United Nations and World Health Organization, with the mission of improving and increasing radiology and medical imaging health services for poor and medically underserved regions of the world. RAD-AID has 3,500 members, 33 university-based chapters, and operations in 14 countries.
Columbia medical students will need to complete a four-week radiology elective before this clerkship. Students will be supervised by Drs. Pallavi Utukuri and Ernst Garcon during the “selective” and “elective” with additional guidance provided to those students who will be working in partnership with RAD-AID on an international project.