National Capital Consortium Diagnostic Radiology Residency

We Train the Military Radiologist

Our vision is to be a global leader by transforming the teaching and practice of diagnostic radiology. As the only tri-service (Army, Navy, Air Force), diagnostic radiology residency within the Defense Health Agency, our mission is to provide innovative patient-centered care, while advancing military medical readiness, quality, education, and research, via world-renowned medical imaging. To that end, we provide state-of-the-art training in radiology and the radiological sciences, wellness, in-garrison and deployment related skills, and leadership, which results in resilient graduates who have balanced experience as military general radiologists across the radiologic subspecialties. Given our unique location in the DC metro area and relationships with local governmental agencies and civilian medical centers, our program strategically benefits from the strengths of these sister centers of excellence.

AIM 1: Train military radiologists – We prepare our trainees via a robust didactic and clinical curriculum delivered by subspecialty subject matter experts who model ideal military medical officer behavior as mentoring faculty.

AIM 2: Develop balanced leaders – As military officers with medical expertise, our graduates are often placed in positions of authority early in their careers. Accordingly, we train our residents in leadership, flexibility/wellness, non-interpretive skills, communication, feedback, conflict resolution, and mentorship, in order to function as professionals with limited assets in non-ideal situations.

AIM 3: Inspire institutional citizenship – We encourage residents to seek opportunities to serve on committees within the residency, department, hospital, and national societies. The residency places value on involvement in non-RVU activities and provides protected time for residents to participate in military, interdisciplinary, research, and inter-professional activities.

Residency

Our program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Incoming classes usually have 5-7 residents depending on the needs of the services and the quality of applicants. Our residents are Army, Navy, and Air Force officers.

Faculty

Our faculty is made up of military and civilian radiologists, many of whom are nationally and internationally known experts in their subspecialties.

Equipment

Our equipment is top-notch and continually updated. Recent installations include a 3T MRI system, dual energy CT scanners and a 128-slice PET/CT.

Curriculum Highlights

There are thirteen 4-week rotations per year.

PGY2 residents will rotate through the Cardiothoracic, Neuroradiology, Ultrasound, and Musculoskeletal radiology services TWICE during the year, with single rotations in Pediatric radiology, and Nuclear Medicine. Three rotations in Body Imaging (to include fluoroscopy) are performed.

PGY3-5 year residents have several more rotations in these primary subspecialties of radiology, with an average of 5-6 total blocks of instruction in each.

• PGY3 residents have one Interventional Radiology rotation, 1 month at the Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in DC for Pediatric Radiology and 1 month of Breast Imaging.
• PGY4 residents have a CNMC rotation, Cardiac Imaging rotation, 2 months of Breast Imaging, Abdominal and Cancer Imaging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 4 weeks at the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP) for the Radiologic Pathology course, one Interventional Radiology rotation, and one ER/Trauma Imaging rotation at George Washington University Hospital.
• PGY5 residents have three electives, as well as a CNMC rotation, Trauma Radiology rotation at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, 1 Breast Imaging rotation, and a third procedural rotation (either in-house via Interventional Radiology or at Washington Hospital Center focusing on percutaneous biopsies).

Call

We have a night float system (8pm-8am), with each PGY3-5 resident having about three 1-week blocks of call spread over the year. Weekdays from 4:30-8pm are covered by a PGY3-5 resident doing a twilight shift.

PGY2 residents take no independent call. However, they are on "buddy call" with a senior resident for the weekday afternoons (about once a week) and the weekend day shifts (about once a month).

Conferences

Conferences are held twice a day; typically beginning at 7:45am and 12:15pm. Each subspecialty area of radiology has two slots per month, always repeated on the same day of the week (for example, Tuesdays alternate between Ultrasound and Musculoskeletal Radiology).

In addition, there are monthly slots for non-imaging skills, ACGME, and unique military curricula (professionalism, communications, resident fatigue, deployments, etc.), Journal Club, resident meetings, and Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement (QA/QI). There is a biweekly physics lecture and a weekly resident-led didactic and case conference. Resident-led conferences are prepared and delivered by PGY4 and PGY5 residents.

FAQs

What else is special about the NCC program?

In addition to our expert faculty at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, we work closely with the radiologists assigned to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP). These internationally known experts spend their clinical time in our departments with our residents, and give many of our lectures. They are also a fantastic source of mentorship, assisting our residents in their research endeavors.

I'm a fourth year medical student who wants to rotate within the NCC Diagnostic Radiology program. Who should I contact?

Please contact our Program Coordinator at (301) 319-4699.

I would like to interview for the NCC Diagnostic Radiology program. Who should I contact?

Please contact our Program Coordinator at (301) 319-4699.