General Background:

Vascular and Interventional Radiology is a subspecialty of radiology which uses imaging techniques, such as fluoroscopy, CT, MRI and Ultrasound to guide interventional procedures that diagnose and/or treat a variety of conditions throughout the body. The purpose of this rotation is to familiarize the resident radiologist with the indications, contraindications, and techniques used in the clinical management of these patients. These procedures are employed in the vascular, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, thoracic and skeletal systems.

Vascular procedures include diagnostic angiography, angioplasty, embolization, thrombolysis, vena caval filtration, vascular access procedures, and stent placements and TIPS. Genitourinary procedures include biopsies, nephrostomies and internal drainages, abscess drainages, Fallopian tube cannulations, and fibroid embolization. Gastrointestinal procedures include, biliary drainage, cholecystostomies, biopsies of the liver, pancreas and abdominal nodes, gastrostomies, gastrojejunostomies, abscess drainages and catheter maintenance. Chest procedures include pleural and parenchymal drainages, and biopsies. Vertebral and other bone biopsies and joint aspirations and arthrograms are also performed. The department is also developing programs for venous access and RF ablation of tumors.

Patient Care:

Routine cases are performed between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. Emergency procedures are performed at all hours.

Resident Responsibilities:

The resident experience is divided into two distinct rotations: the first, completed in the second year of training introduces the resident to these procedures and gives them "hand-on" training; the second rotation increases the responsibility of the resident, allows supervised independent performance and provides opportunities to reinforce the skills learned during the first rotation, to exert increasing independent operation.

The senior resident radiologist is a third or fourth year radiology resident who has previously completed successfully the first rotation through the Vascular Interventional Service. They are credentialed to perform some procedures independently depending upon abilities and at the discretion of the Divisional Director.

The junior resident radiologists are in the second year of radiology training rotating through VIR for the first time. They are not credentialed for independent activities. All cases, at every level of residency, are discussed with an attending radiologist and an attending radiologist supervises all cases. The degree of resident participation depends on the resident’s skill level as determined by the attending in the Vascular Interventional Service.