Core Education

MORNING CONFERENCES

Morning Teaching Conference

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, all residents gather at 7:30 AM for a teaching conference. These conferences are a carefully designed organ-system based series of didactic lectures given by the radiology faculty. This lecture series also incorporates a review of normal anatomy and radiologic-pathologic correlation.

Radiology Grand Rounds

On Thursday, the entire Department of Radiology gathers at 7:30 AM for Radiology Grand Rounds. The curriculum is designed to expose the faculty, residents, and fellows to a variety of relevant topics and speakers. Named lectureships include The Robert Wilkerson, M.D. Lecture in Nuclear Medicine, The Ralph Heinz, M.D. Lecture in Neuroradiology, and The Herman Grossman, M.D. Lecture in Pediatric Radiology.

NOON CONFERENCES

Hot Seat

All of the residents attend “Hot Seat” conferences at noon on Monday and Friday. These specialty-specific case conferences give residents ample opportunity to practice formulating differentials for unknown cases and model real-life radiology practice, simulating the interaction with referring clinicians, and prepare for the ABR certifying oral boards.

Subspecialty-Specific Conferences

Each subspecialty rotation has a daily teaching conference at noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These conferences are subspecialty-specific lectures or interactive case conferences given by the radiology faculty to only those residents rotating on the service.

Resident M&M Conferences

The resident M&M conferences are held once per month in lieu of Hot Seat and offer a safe, confidential space to review errors and provide constructive feedback. Residents volunteer to present cases, and the discussions are led by a faculty representative from each division, who is nominated by residents.

Physics Instruction

Week-long intense “mini-courses” are offered every year in the physics of MR, CT, nuclear medicine, and ultrasound, as well as in radiation biology and safety in lieu of Hot Seat and Subspecialty-specific conferences. These “mini-courses” are supplemented with small group hands-on sessions outside the lecture room in the imaging area. Our physics and clinical faculty present the courses.

AFTERNOON CONFERENCES

Sectional Roll-out Conferences

Most of our sections have regular “roll-out” conferences when the most interesting cases of the day or week are reviewed as a group. The Musculoskeletal and Abdominal Imaging sections have daily afternoon roll-outs. The Neuroradiology section holds its conference twice weekly. Roll-outs in Pediatric Radiology and Nuclear Medicine are held weekly. Breast Imaging has a weekly radiology-pathology correlation conference.

SPECIAL CONFERENCES

Board Preparation

Clinical and medical physics faculty provide 2 hours of daily case-based conferences for 3rd-year residents in the months leading up to the ABR Core Exam. Faculty presenters are invited by the 3rd year residents.

• Core Examination Preparation: For three months leading up to the Core examination, faculty members provide hour-long case conferences at 7:30 am and 12:00 pm for the R3 residents every weekday. Residents preparing for the examination are asked case-based questions at or above the level of knowledge necessary for the Core Examination to solidify their understanding of both high-yield and advanced concepts. 
   
• Oral Board Preparation: For three months leading up to resident graduation, faculty members provide hour-long case conferences at 7:30 am and 12:00 pm for the R4 residents every weekday, in addition to the Hot Seat conferences every Monday and Friday during R1-R3 years. Residents take cases in a similar manner to the oral boards format so that they are well prepared to succeed.

Healthcare Economics and Business Education

Conferences covering topics related to health care economics, policy, personal finance, and the radiology interview are offered every year. Every year a question and answer panel based on the radiology job market consisting of practicing radiologists from both academic and private practice is also organized.

Healthcare Disparities and Equity

An interdisciplinary team including Duke physicians, interpreter services, and financial counselors provides an annual week-long course covering topics on healthcare disparities and equity.

Interdepartmental Conferences

The various divisions within the Department of Radiology participate in numerous interdisciplinary conferences, including breast oncology, endocrine, hepatobiliary, neurosurgery, pediatric orthopedics, otolaryngology, pulmonology, sports medicine, and vascular surgery. These conferences are open to interested radiology residents when clinical duties allow.