Abdominal Imaging Fellowship

Our one-year, non-ACGME accredited Abdominal Imaging Fellowship is designed to maximize our fellows’ educational experience by exposing them to a wide variety of advanced imaging studies and pathologies encountered in the tertiary care setting of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC).

The fellowship offers five positions per academic year. Up to two spots are designated for candidates who choose to complete a combined abdominal and cardiothoracic fellowship.

The fellowship is composed of both inpatient and outpatient studies on MR, CT, and ultrasound, as well as elective rotations which emphasize advanced techniques such as MR elastography, MR prostate imaging, MR defecography, MR rectal cancer staging and post-treatment studies, MR and CT liver donor transplant evaluation, MR evaluations of pregnant patients and the fetus, CT colonography, contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and ultrasound evaluation of percutaneous AV fistula creation.

There is no mandated research requirement for fellows, and we support candidates who prefer to spend their fellowship year learning clinical skills in preparation for a career in private practice. There are numerous research projects available for all interested fellows.

Fellows are scheduled for one day of ‘Career Development Time’ each week. This time is allotted for fellows to practice and participate in clinical, research, and skills training that may best match the individual fellow’s needs. Regardless of our fellows' preferences, they will be very well-prepared for an academic, community, or private practice position.

Learn more about the Division of Abdominal Imaging at CUIMC.

Clinical Experience

Fellows spend the year together entirely within the Milstein Hospital building on the main NYP/CUIMC campus, reading a combination of inpatient and outpatient studies from two offsite hospitals and multiple outpatient facilities in addition to studies from the main campus. The fellowship typically consists of 3.5 months of MRI, 3.5 months of CT, 3 months of ultrasound, and one month of elective, with slight variation in total time depending on fellow preference.

Electives are flexible and tailored to match the interests of the fellow. Our past fellows have taken advantage of available electives in neuroradiology, pediatric radiology, interventional radiology, mammography, nuclear medicine, cardiac imaging, and thoracic imaging.

Fellows Lecture, Clinical Conferences, and Hospital Experience

NYP/CUIMC is home to world experts in numerous medical and surgical subspecialties who greatly enhance our fellows’ training experience. Our fellows are encouraged to spend time with our clinicians in the hospital and can experience procedures such as MR-guided prostate biopsies, advanced endoscopic procedures, and radiation planning. This valuable experience can bring additional insight to the imaging studies our fellows read. Our fellows also participate in a wide range of interdisciplinary conferences, including liver tumor board, gyn-oncology tumor board, pancreas conference, and urology conference.

In addition, our fellows can spend time with our dedicated technologist staff to learn nuances of image acquisition.

Dedicated didactic and case-based lectures are given by our faculty, and fellows are excused from clinical service to attend. Lecture topics include advanced abdominal imaging techniques and interpretation, job interviewing skills, life as an attending radiologist from recent graduates, case-based review for the Certification Exam, and financial skills.

Fellows often present to our radiology residents at our division’s informal noon teaching sessions, which are designed to show the day’s most interesting and challenging cases from across all modalities. Fellows interested in teaching and education are encouraged to create didactic lectures of their topic(s) of choice to present to our radiology residents during the year at morning/noon conference.

Schedule

There is no required after-hours or overnight coverage for our abdominal fellows. Various optional moonlighting opportunities require after-hours coverage.

Fellows have a total of 23 vacation days and two personal days, which can be taken in any combination of days/weeks per fellow preference.

Research and Career Development

Fellows interested in research are encouraged to actively engage in academic projects throughout the year with the goal of submitting an abstract at a national meeting and culminating in a publication. Fellows can select from any of several ongoing projects led by various faculty or develop their own research project with faculty support. All fellows are provided with an education fund to support their academic and career goals, as well as five CME days to attend an in-person or virtual conference of their choice.

We strongly support candidates and fellows who prefer to spend additional time on clinical service and electives to prepare for a career in private practice. ‘Career Development’ time allotted routinely throughout the year allows our fellows the opportunity to pursue skills and topics of interest that meet individual learning needs.

How to Apply

Please complete the online fellowship application and upload the requested materials. 

As per the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments (SCARD), we cannot accept applications or offer an opportunity to interview with our program until November 1, 2024. A completed application and recommendation letters can be submitted before, but will not be reviewed until November 1st.

We recognize that applicants have very busy clinical, call, and family schedules, and we do not currently plan on hosting a virtual open house prior to the interview. The fellowship program will be discussed in great detail on the interview days.

Interview

An interview is required before an offer for a fellowship position can be formally extended to a candidate. Our abdominal fellowship program has signed a pledge agreeing to adhere to the SCARD guidelines for this fellowship season.

Interviews will be conducted virtually in January, 2025.

Questions?

Please reach out with any questions to bodyimaging@cumc.columbia.edu and expect an answer within 24 hours.

2024-25 Fellows