Duke’s 3/2 Program

Applicants electing to come to Duke for residency training in Diagnostic Radiology must make two fundamental commitments:

In order to create an environment in which these two commitments can be fulfilled, we have restructured our training program into what has come to be called the “3/2 Program”.  Essentially this program provides for slightly more than three years of training in general diagnostic radiology and just under two years of training in a subspecialty area of radiology.

 

We expect many residency programs to adopt a 3+2 curriculum in response to proposed changes in the ABR exam, in which radiology residents will be tested in general radiology competency after the 3^rd year of training, and in chosen subspecialties two years later.  We developed our 3/2 program back in 2001, not in response to the ABR changes, but at a time in which it was obvious to us that the future of radiology was in subspecialization.  The commitment of additional time and effort to subspecialty training has allowed us to modify already strong fellowships to improve their scope and depth.

 

The 3/2 program also allows for 6 months of dedicated and protected research time, which the residents are encouraged to use for vigorous intellectual exploration.  It is anticipated that results will be presented at national meetings and submitted to peer-review journals. 

 

With the development of the 3/2 program, we added a series of “3/2 Enhancements” to our traditional didactic and case conference curriculum, in order to prepare our residents for their research experience.  These begin in the 1^st year, with classes to develop advanced academic-specific computer literacy and public speaking skills.  Courses in Statistics and Basic Research Design have also been incorporated into the program curriculum.

 

The overall thrust of these modifications is to create future radiologists strongly grounded in general diagnostic radiology and with almost double the amount of subspecialty experience, compared to the traditional one year fellowship experience. We believe this curriculum is far better suited to the practice of radiology during the coming years and that it will further strengthen and secure the field for future generations.