Nuclear Medicine Residency

Program Overview

The nuclear medicine residency is Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited and includes one-, two- and three-year programs designed to meet the diverse needs and goals of trainees.

Three nuclear medicine residency pathways are available.

• Three-year: Requires at least one year of training in fundamental clinical education in a program accredited by ACGME or by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or equivalent
• Two-year: Requires completion of an accredited patient care specialty residency
• One-year: Requires completion of an accredited program in diagnostic radiology

Program Highlights

• High-volume clinical practice with diverse and complex case mix
• Comprehensive multimodality training across general nuclear medicine, theranostics, molecular imaging, radiation physics and radiation safety
• PET imaging experience with tracers like F-18 FDG, DOTATATE, PSMA, FES and brain amyloid imaging
• Theranostics for benign and malignant thyroid disease, neuroendocrine cancers and prostate cancer
• Multidisciplinary meetings where trainees are exposed with experience from experts of other specialties
• Collaborative academic environment with dedicated teaching and mentorship
• Opportunities for scholarly activity, presentations and publications
• Trainees serve as the officer-of-the-day (OD), along with a radiology resident rotating through the department. The OD oversees the section's clinical activities for a day, consulting with referring house staff and attending physicians, supervising clinical studies, and writing preliminary reports in patient charts
• Home calls are taken for a week at a time and are shared with the attending nuclear medicine staff and senior radiology residents

Clinical Training

The program provides collaborative clinical experience across all areas of nuclear medicine. Trainees develop expertise in the interpretation of:

• General nuclear medicine, including imaging of musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, endocrinology, genitourinary, respiratory, cardiovascular and central nervous systems
• Infection and inflammation imaging
• Imaging for dementia, epilepsy and parkinsonian syndrome
• Nuclear cardiology: SPECT and PET perfusion imaging, cardiac sarcoidosis and amyloidosis imaging
• PET/CT: including oncology, imaging for infection and inflammation, and brain amyloid imaging

Multiple PET and nuclear medicine radiopharmacies around the Chicagoland area from where we receive the radiotracers, three hot labs at Rush University Medical Center, and our dedicated and experienced technologists, physicists and radiation safety staff help to provide excellent training in nuclear pharmacy, techniques, radiation physics and radiation safety.

Multidisciplinary Conferences

Trainees actively participate and present in multidisciplinary conferences and tumor boards as part of their clinical practice. Conferences include:

• Lymphoma tumor board
• Melanoma tumor board
• Parathyroid conference

These conferences give the trainees the opportunity to discuss complex cases, understand treatment decision-making, and strengthen their communication skills.

Didactics, Research and Teaching

The educational curriculum includes:

• Interesting case conferences
• Journal clubs
• Didactic lectures
• Lectures encompassing radiopharmacy and radiochemistry, radiation safety and dosimetry, nuclear medicine physics, and radiobiology
• Trainees should complete a quality control project during their training period

Research is encouraged and administrative support is available.

Nuclear medicine trainees collaboratively work with and teach the diagnostic radiology residents and the medical students rotating in nuclear medicine.

Application Information

Applications are to be submitted with the curriculum vitae (CV), personal statement and three letters of recommendation from professional sources, including a letter from the director of your most recent training program.

Applicants must meet qualifications for a temporary Illinois medical license or must possess a valid permanent Illinois license. International medical school graduates must meet Illinois requirements for licensure and hold a valid Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates certificate. Please direct any questions regarding licensure to the Rush University Graduate Medical Education Office at (312) 942-5495.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email our Nuclear Medicine Program Coordinator, Bryent Edwards, or call (312) 942-5729.