UB's new radiology residency program approved

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB has announced that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has approved its new medical residency program in radiology.

The program got the OK to recruit 16 residents specializing in radiology over the next four years, beginning with the first four to be recruited in the National Resident Matching Program that takes place next March.

“The reestablishment of UB’s radiology residency program is great news,” said Roseanne Berger, senior associate dean for graduate medical education in the Jacobs School. “Medical imaging is an important part of both the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The presence of residents will increase the scholarly and thoughtful reflection not only about the interpretation of medical imaging but also the evidence that supports the judicious use of these resources.”

The new program is the result of close collaboration between Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center, the VA Western New York Healthcare System and UBMD Radiology; the participation of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is also under discussion.

In 2006, the Jacobs School voluntarily withdrew its radiology residency program from the national accreditation process, during a time when many hospital radiology departments in the region were undergoing reorganization and UB had a limited number of radiology faculty members. Reestablishing the radiology residency program was a key goal in 2016 when Great Lakes Medical Imaging joined the Department of Radiology in the Jacobs School.

“Restoring the radiology residency was an essential goal for UB,” said Kenneth Pearsen, professor and chair of the Department of Radiology in the Jacobs School. “We are proud to be able to offer both medical students and residents exposure to a fundamentally critical specialty in medicine.”

Jonathan Marshall, chief of service, radiology and imaging at Erie County Medical Center, is the program director and Doug Drumsta with Great Lakes Medical Imaging/UBMD Radiology is the associate program director.

Core faculty are fellowship trained in the nine specialty areas of radiology, which include neuroradiology, musculoskeletal radiology, vascular and interventional radiology, cardiothoracic radiology, breast radiology, abdominal radiology, pediatric radiology, ultrasonography (including obstetrical and vascular ultrasound), and nuclear radiology (including PET and nuclear cardiology).

Stephen Rudin and Daniel Bednarek continue to teach the physics curriculum in the radiology program.