Intern Year

Below is a sample rotation schedule for interns.  The academic year is comprised of thirteen 4-week rotation blocks.

Specialty# of Blocks
Emergency General Surgery1-2
GI Surgery1-2
Pediatric Surgery1-2
Surgical Oncology1-2
Transplant Surgery1-2
VA General Surgery1-2
Vascular Surgery1-2
Cardiothoracic Surgery1
Cedar Rapids1
Night Float1

R1 Year

Required Rotations

During the first year, new residents are introduced to all radiology subspecialties required for certification by the American Board of Radiology (ABR).  Every three weeks residents (all years) rotate through one of the following clinics where they will learn to identify anatomical structures and disease processes, as well as learn about specific imaging modalities:

  • Body CT
  • Body Fluoro
  • Breast imaging
  • Chest
  • Head & neck
  • Musculoskeletal
  • Neuro CT, MR
  • Non-invasive neurointerventional
  • Nuclear medicine, including PET and cardiac
  • Pediatric radiology
  • Ultrasound
  • Vascular interventional
  • Veteran’s Administration Medical Center
     

Call Responsibilities

No call responsibilities during the first year.

In-House Conferences

In addition to clinical rotations, residents will also attend morning and noon conferences, interdisciplinary conferences, Journal Club, as well as lectures based on the text, Core Radiology by Jacob Mandell. 

State/National Conferences

  • Iowa Radiologic Society annual meeting (expected attendance) - conference fees paid for by department
  • Radiologic Society of North America annual meeting (must attend at least twice during residency)

Additional Requirements

  • Begin working on Physics Modules in preparation for the ABR Physics written and oral boards taken in the 2nd and 4th years, respectively
  • Begin working through Dictation Modules
  • Submit an ethics case
  • Complete at least 2 CME credits during the year
  • Maintain a case/procedure log

Examination Requirements

  • ACR In-Training Exam (February)
  • Rotation exams

R2 Year

During the 2nd year, residents will continue to rotate through the subspecialty clinics every three weeks and can choose one elective in either education (medical student teaching), research or other clinic.

Call Responsibilities

Second-year residents begin taking long call (night float). Call responsibilities occur in blocks of 6 nights, plus occasional weekends, dispersed throughout the year. The number of weeks the resident will spend on call during the second year varies according to schedule requirements.

In-House Conferences

  • Morning conferences
  • Noon conferences
  • Journal clubs
  • Interdisciplinary conferences. 

State/National Conferences

  • Iowa Radiologic Society annual meeting (expected attendance) - conference fees paid for by department
  • Radiological Society of North America annual meeting (must attend at least twice during residency)

Additional Requirements

Examination Requirements

  • ACR In-Training Exam
  • Rotation exams

R3 Year

Call Responsibilities

In addition to rotating through subspecialty clinics every three weeks, 3rd-year residents will also take short call.  They will be responsible for reading more complex imaging studies, such as ultrasound, abdominal CTs, and MRI, and will also perform interventional procedures (drainages/lumbar punctures).  Call responsibilities will total approximately 3-4 weeks.

In-House Conferences

  • Morning conferences
  • Noon conferences
  • Journal clubs
  • Interdisciplinary conferences

State/National Conferences

Additional Requirements

  • Complete Physics Modules
  • Submit an ethics case
  • Complete at least 2 CME credits during the year
  • Maintain a case/procedure log
  • Complete a systems-based practice project
  • Present article for journal club
  • Participate on a department committee

Examination Requirements

  • ABR core exam (end of 3rd year)
  • Rotation exams

R4 - R5 Year

During the 4th and 5th years of residency, residents will rotate exclusively through the Interventional Radiology service.  

The first 3 years residents begin by assisting with IR procedures during their IR rotations, then transition to perform routine procedures with assistance.

Gradually the resident is trained to perform routine procedures independently during their 4th year, and then to perform complex procedures independently during their 5th year.

Call Responsibilities

IR residents will take home call every 4th night and no in-house call.  

An attending physician is always assigned to the resident, whether on call or during regular business hours.  

Clinic hours are from 7:00 am - 4:00 pm, M-F.  

The on-call resident is expected to stay until they have finished their daily clinic duties.

If the resident is called in to perform a procedure with the attending physician during the night, the resident is not required to come in the next day and can stay home for a minimum of 10 hours. 

In-House Conferences

  • Interventional Radiology Core Conference
  • VIR Case and QA Conference
  • Core Curriculum Session based on material selected from Vascular and Interventional Radiology: The Requisites and Abrams Angiography: Interventional Radiology
  • M&M Conferences
  • Multidisciplinary Vascular Conference
  • Radiology Grand Rounds
  • Radiology/VIR Board Review
  • Journal Club
  • Tumor Board
  • Multidisciplinary Thrombosis Group Conference
  • GI Conference
  • Transplantation Conference
  • Renovascular/Nephrology Multidisciplinary Conference

State/National Conferences

  • Iowa Radiologic Society annual meeting (attendance expected) - conference fees paid for by department
  • Radiologic Society of North America annual meeting (must attend at least twice during residency)

Additional Requirements

  • Submit an ethics case
  • Complete at least 2 CME credits during the year
  • Maintain a case/procedure log
  • Present article for journal club
  • Present research project at senior research day (during the 4th year)

Examination Requirements

  • Periodic assessment exams