The Abdominal Radiology Fellowship Program at UMass Chan Medical School provides trainees with an in depth, 1-year comprehensive training experience and offers exposure to all aspects of abdominal radiology practice.  The goals of fellowship are established by the ACGME with core competencies of professionalism, patient care and procedural skills, medical knowledge, systems-based practice including quality improvement and scholarship. The ACGME recognizes the diversity of fellowships our program prepares physicians for a variety of roles, including clinicians, scientists, and educators.

Clinical rotations are designed to enable the fellows to accumulate a broad base of knowledge, develop technical skills and establish decision making and consultation skills. The rotations provide the fellow with the opportunity to develop, under supervision, progressively independent skills in the performance and interpretation of abdominal and pelvic imaging studies and nonvascular interventional procedures such as image guided drainage, biopsy, and RF ablation.

Core rotations include abdominal and pelvic MRI, CT (including CT colonography and 3D imaging), ultrasound, fluoroscopy/plain radiography, PET-CT, and non-vascular interventional procedures. Directed elective time of one month is available.

The abdominal radiology fellow will develop clinical expertise in the interpretation of all diseases of the abdomen and pelvis with particular emphasis on the following areas: hepatobiliary diseases, pancreas disease, genitourinary disease, gynecologic disease, oncology, trauma, various organ transplantation (liver, pancreas, kidney), vascular studies (Doppler, CTA, MRA).

The Fellowship Program trains the fellows to be able to interact with their referring physicians and function as consultants. This is accomplished during the day-to-day activities at the hospital and through participation in interdepartmental conferences.

Another important educational objective of the Program is to encourage fellows to participate in research projects within the section. Fellows are encouraged to submit abstracts/papers/posters for SAR, ARRS and RSNA.

Monthly goal setting and feedback on evaluations from both core and non-core rotations are based on ACGME competencies and subspecialty specific milestones. This allows for the trainee to reinforce well performed tasks and duties and to correct any area of deficiency with the goal of progressive autonomy throughout the year and unsupervised practice upon graduation.  At the conclusion of the fellowship, the fellow will demonstrate accurate clinical decision-making and interpretation of studies in all areas of abdominal radiology and be able to function independently.

The Abdominal Division of the UMass Chan Radiology Department is staffed by eight, fellowship-trained radiologists who are committed to training and graduate medical education. Abdominal imaging fellows are an integral member of the division, participating in daily patient care and facilitating the performance, interpretation, and timely reporting of abdominal imaging studies.

Fellows will also be an essential member in the work-up and performance of non-vascular interventional procedures.

This ACGME accredited one-year abdominal imaging fellowship offers training in abdominal and pelvis imaging including dedicated training in MRI and nonvascular intervention.

Rotations include:

• 12 weeks Body MR
• 12 weeks body CT
• 12 core US/Fluoroscopy
• 4 core weeks Body IR (If fellow desires more IR then can increase # of weeks)
• 4 Core PET-CT
• 4 weeks elective: MSK, Breast Imaging, Cardiothoracic Imaging, Emergency Radiology.

Fellows participate in general teaching and research activities and have access to scheduled departmental and interdepartmental conferences.

Fellows are exposed to a diverse patient population and a wide range of abdominal disease processes in both the hospital and outpatient settings.

Fellows will have many opportunities to teach both medical students and residents and present one case conference per quarter to residents.  Fellows will be involved in various tumor boards: GU, GI pancreatico-biliary, GI colorectal, Gyn-Oncology, Hepatology-HCC and Lymphoma.

Call Duty:

During 10 call weekends, fellows assist in-house faculty in the interpretation of abdominal imaging exams at Memorial Hospital.

Benefits:

• Pay is commensurate with PGY level 6.
• Fellows have four vacation weeks (20 working days)
• Fellows receive health care, dental and vision benefits as provided by GME to all trainees.

Fellows are encouraged to participate in current research projects or initiate projects under supervision of the faculty. Academic time is provided for Scholarly activity and QI project and is ½ day per week during the core rotations for research and preparation of each activity once that activity has commenced.

Fellows are expected to present an electronic poster and or paper in a societal annual conference by the end of the year.

Various interdepartmental as well as divisional conferences are held almost every day of the week and fellows are expected to participate in these conferences.

• GI tumor board every Friday
• Gynecology tumor board every Friday
• GU tumor board every other Monday
• Hepatology Conference every Thursday

Radiology resident teaching conferences are held every day throughout the year and fellows are welcome to attend these conferences, as service duties allow.

Abdominal imaging-specific resident conferences are held between 2-3 times per month. Fellows are expected to prepare and present at least two “Case of the Week” conferences for the diagnostic radiology residents during their fellowship.

Visiting lecturers are hosted throughout the year with prestigious visiting and local professors, offering the opportunity to meet and learn from leading national authorities on a wide variety of topics.

Fellows will rotate through University Campus and Memorial Campus. Community Radiology Elective can be arranged at our community campuses for a more clinical community-based rotation at UMass Marlborough, UMass Harrington and UMass Health Alliance Hospitals.

University Campus is located on Lake Avenue and is home to the UMass Chan Medical School and its research facilities. UMass Memorial Medical Center's trauma center stroke services are located on this campus providing a large volume of abdominal radiology cases. University Campus is the primary site of all abdominal radiology services.  

Memorial Campus is the sister campus located a mile from the main University Campus. It houses the OBGY services.

Shields MRI - Shrewsbury Street is our outpatient MRI center located on Shrewsbury Street just minutes from University and Memorial Campuses. It houses three 1.5T MR systems. PET-CT is also performed at this site and interpreted by the Nuclear Medicine Division.

UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC) is a 781-bed tertiary care hospital and the major teaching hospital for the UMass Chan Medical School. UMMMC is Worcester county’s only Level I trauma center and the referral center for central New England.

Clinical Facilities include:

• 5 CT scanners including one 128 slice Siemens dual energy CT.
• 5 Clinical MR systems (1.5 Tesla)
• 1 Research MR system (3 Telsa)
• 9 Philips EPIQ Elastography compatible Ultrasound units
• 3 Fluoroscopic Units
• 1 PET/CT
• State-of-the art interventional surgery suite with two Philips Allura C arms

Positions Available: 2
Length of Fellowship: 12 months
ACGME: Yes
NRMP: No
Application Dates: Begin accepting 2026-2027 applications: November 1, 2024
Interview Dates: January through March
https://abdominalradiology.org/sar-subpages/fellowship-timeline/

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2025-2026 academic years.

Contact Information:
Wendy Diamond
Fellowship Coordinator
Tel: 508.856.5749
Fax: 508-334-9108
RadiologyFellowship@umassmed.edu

Requirements:
Applicants must have completed a radiology residency program accredited by the ACGME by the time they begin their fellowship at UMMMC. Applicants must be certified or eligible for certification by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) or equivalent. Acceptance is contingent on obtaining an unrestricted Massachusetts medical license by start date of Fellowship.

Applications must include:

• Fellowship Application (click here to download PDF)
• Personal Statement
• Curriculum vitae
• Three letters of recommendation, one of which must be from your residency program director
• USMLE Scores
  • Fellowship applicants need to have passed ALL USMLE scores, Step 1, Step 2CK, Step 2CS and Step 3.
  • Applications that are missing USMLE Step 3 will not be considered.
• Medical school transcript
• Deans Letter
• ECFMG Certificate (if applicable)

Candidates will be considered for interviews once all application materials are received. Letters of Recommendation should be addressed to the respective Program Director and emailed to Wendy Diamond directly by your Program Coordinator or letter writer.  All application materials must be submitted electronically via email to:

Abdominal Imaging Fellowship Program
Attention: Wendy Diamond
Department of Radiology, Room S2-302
UMass Chan Medical School
55 Lake Avenue North
Worcester, MA 01655

Due to COVID, applications must be submitted electronically via email to Wendy Diamond (RadiologyFellowship@umassmed.edu).  If email is not a viable option, please contact Wendy Diamond to discuss alternative modes of delivery.