The Head and Neck Radiology Fellowship at IU School of Medicine was created in response to the growing recognition and demand for subspecialty imaging expertise in otolaryngology and head and neck oncology. Fellows benefit from access to a large and diverse clinical caseload under the guidance of nationally-recognized teaching faculty in this subspecialty area.
This is a one-year, non-ACGME-accredited fellowship program provided by the neuroradiology team within the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, which is composed of several fellowship-trained neuroradiologists who are Senior Members in the American Society of Neuroradiology and have extensive experience in neurointerventional techniques, pediatric neuroradiology, head and neck radiology, and functional neuroimaging. Fellows in this program also work with faculty clinicians from other specialties, including otolaryngology, medical and radiation oncology, ophthalmology, and neurosurgery.
Program Requirements
To apply for this fellowship program, candidates should have completed radiology residency training in an ACGME-accredited program and have at least one year of neuroradiology fellowship training or equivalent experience, as deemed appropriate by the fellowship program.
Research work by fellows in this program is strongly encouraged; at least one publishable research endeavor is required for each resident. These projects are presented at the Campbell-Klatte Annual Oration.
Facilities and Equipment
Head and Neck Radiology fellows gain substantial experience in rotations covering seven IU Health-affiliated hospitals and the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital. These clinical facilities include two Level 1 trauma centers and the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon NCI-designated Cancer Center—all equipped with state-of-the-art imaging equipment, including multiple high-field MR systems, Spectral CT and PET-MRI. Cases are also read from several outside community hospitals and outpatient imaging centers via teleradiology. One of the strengths of this fellowship training program is the broad exposure to a large caseload ensuring experience with many disease processes as well as many types of imaging technologies and pathologies.
Curriculum
The curriculum of the Head and Neck Radiology Fellowship at IU School of Medicine provides a thorough knowledge of diseases in the head and neck and surgically relevant anatomy. Fellows participate in a week-long cadaveric dissection course in the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. The clinical rotations consist of 13 four-week blocks, with at least two of the blocks in nuclear medicine and one block in pediatric neuroradiology to enable fellows to gain in-depth clinical experience with pediatric head and neck cases.
Fellows train under the tutelage of accomplished head and neck radiologists and other fellowship-trained neuroradiologists, who give weekly didactic lectures and case conferences. Fellows are required to become familiar with otolaryngology surgical procedures and have the opportunity to observe a variety of procedures with Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery faculty. Learning to perform as an integral part of a multidisciplinary oncology team is fundamental to this fellowship program. Fellows learn proficiency in staging head and neck cancer and are responsible for presenting cases at the head and neck tumor board while working closely with other members of the oncology management team.
Call Responsibilities
Call responsibility is pooled with other fellows in the neuroradiology fellowship program and its subsections and consists of one-week blocks with at-home pager call on weeknights and daytime eight-hour shifts of cross sectional work on weekends. Fellows take no more than Q4 week call, even if the fellow complement is less than four—even less call if the fellow complement is above four. With a large residency program and neuroradiology faculty in-house around the clock, nead and neck fellows are called rarely for emergency procedures.
