Integrated IR residency
Medical students who have decided to pursue a career in Interventional Radiology are invited to apply to the Duke Integrated IR Residency Program. This 5-year program is designed to optimize both diagnostic radiology training as well as interventional radiology training, with an additional emphasis on clinical training. Three medical students are accepted into the Duke Integrated IR Residency Program each year.
We participate in the NRMP match, and applications are through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). Choose “Interventional Radiology Residency – Integrated” on the ERAS website. Interviews take place in November and December. For the clinical internship year requirement, applicants have the option of applying to Duke’s Department of General Surgery for a preliminary internship year. However, this is not a requirement.
Independent residency
DR residents who desire to pursue formal IR specialty training upon completion of their DR training will apply into an Independent IR residency during the fall of their PGY4 (R3) year through the ERAS/NRMP match. This specialized additional training is essentially equivalent to an “IR fellowship.” However, the main difference is that it is now 2 years long, which was designed to increase the procedural experience and allow additional rotations in associated fields such as ICU, surgical oncology, etc. To ensure optimal case numbers and educational experience for all trainees (integrated IR residents, ESIR residents, and independent IR residents), and due to the variable length of the independent residency pathway, the number of available independent IR residency positions will vary year to year but generally varies between 1 and 3.
PGY4 (R3) DR residents, at Duke or outside of Duke, who are interested in applying into an independent IR residency position should submit an application through ERAS in September of their PGY4 (R3) year to begin training in their PGY6 year.
Early Specialization in IR ESIR
For DR residents who are in excellent academic and clinical standing and who know early on that they desire to pursue a career in IR, there is an accelerated pathway, called ESIR (early specialization in IR). Residents who are accepted into the ESIR program need to perform 500 procedures and additional clinical rotations by the end of PGY5 (R4) year. The PGY5 (R4) curriculum and rotation schedule will be identical to the integrated IR residents. For residents who successfully complete the ESIR requirements, the independent residency will be only 1 year in duration. Details of both training pathways are available on the SIR website for those interested: Society of Interventional Radiology - IR Residency (sirweb.org). To ensure optimal case numbers and educational experience for all trainees (integrated IR residents, ESIR residents, and independent IR residents), and due to the variable length of the independent residency pathway, the number of available ESIR residency positions will vary year to year, but generally varies between 2 and 3.
Duke DR residents who are interested in the Duke ESIR program should submit an application to Brendan Cline, Program Director, by June 30th at the end of their PGY3 (R2) year.
Additional Information
The Society of Interventional Radiology Residents Fellows Students (SIR-RFS) website has many excellent resources for interested students. Medical students interested in learning more about the new Interventional Radiology Residency can read “The Interventional Radiology / Diagnostic Radiology Certificate and Interventional Radiology Residency” by John Kaufman, M.D. (Radiology 2014;273:318-21). Details can also be found at http://www.sirweb.org/fellows-residents-students/.