Special ReportThe Radiology Fellowship and Fellowship Match: Current Status
Section snippets
Historical Perspective
Prior to the 1960s, radiologists were generalists. There was no subspecialization in radiology. There were no subspecialist role models and no funding for fellowships. In 1959, Juan Taveras organized the first neuroradiology fellowship at Columbia University with funding from the National Institutes of Health (2). Other fellowship programs soon were developed, modeled after this example and similar programs in Europe. Osteoradiology fellowships have existed since 1977 (3).
During the 1980s and
The Effect of the Radiology Job Market on Fellowships
The radiology job market has an important effect on residents' decision to pursue a fellowship (7). Like other job markets, that in radiology tends to fluctuate cyclically. The market is currently very favorable for those seeking a position. In 1988, in the estimation of the radiologists surveyed, the demand in private practice was increasing, and radiology group practices had begun to hire more graduates. By 1994, there were fewer vacancies in the job market, and in 1995 the hiring rate for
Reasons for Pursuing a Fellowship
During radiology residency, residents are faced with the decision of whether to pursue a fellowship and what fellowship will best suit them. The decision may not be easy, and the resident must weigh the benefits against the costs.
The drawbacks of doing a fellowship are related mainly to time and money. An additional year or more of training is required to complete a fellowship, and during this time, the trainee earns a salary that is only one-third to one-eighth that available in radiologic
The Fellowship Application Process
Inconsistency in the fellowship application process is a long-standing problem. A lack of uniformity in application schedules from institution to institution sometimes creates a situation in which an applicant receives an offer from one program before having had a chance to interview at a more desirable program. If this offer is made with a short deadline for acceptance, the applicant may be forced to choose between taking “the bird in hand” and gambling that a better offer may come later. A
Conclusion and Forecast for the Future
The fellowship match appears to have been successfully implemented, even though many positions still go unfilled because of market conditions. Strong support from the radiology leadership now sustains the match process. The expectation is that the match will be moved back to the fall of the 4th year of residency for all radiology fellowships that begin in July 2005.
Events of the fall of 2001 remind us that the future is uncertain. There is currently a shortage of radiologists, and the
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Non-interventional Radiology Fellowship Programs: What Is Out There?
2021, Current Problems in Diagnostic RadiologyProspects of a Fellowship Match for Abdominal Imaging: A National Survey by the Society of Abdominal Radiology
2020, Journal of the American College of RadiologyCitation Excerpt :The SAR Resident and Fellow Section leadership developed a questionnaire with input from fellowship PD mentors and a biostatistician, which was subsequently reviewed by a senior survey methodologist expert in health workforce education and training surveys. Themes were derived from the discussion at the annual meeting as well as relevant literature regarding fellowship recruitment and position matching [4,6,9-11]. The questionnaire contained 32 items, with a variable number of questions according to response group.
Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship Application and Selection Process: Perceptions of Residents, Fellows, and Fellowship Directors
2018, Academic RadiologyCitation Excerpt :Survey results supported development of a neuroradiology fellowship match through the NRMP in 2001 and encouraged formation of a Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments (SCARD) Task Force to consider instituting a match for all radiology subspecialty fellowships. SCARD and NRMP reached a match agreement in 2002, with the first universal radiology fellowship match day in June 2003 for fellowships starting on July 1, 2004 (7). Waning match participation and compliance in the years that followed led to abandonment of the match process between 2009 and 2012 for all fellowship subspecialties except vascular and interventional radiology and neuroradiology (8).
Double Fellowships in Radiology: A Survey of 2014 Graduating Fellows
2017, Current Problems in Diagnostic RadiologyCitation Excerpt :Conversely, future improvement in the job market for recent graduates could motivate them to enter practice over pursuing additional training, thereby reducing the number of candidates for fellowship program positions. This inverse relationship between the favorability of the job market and the number of filled fellowship programs is not a new concept, with a documented example occurring in the 2002 US radiology fellowship match.1 The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) data indicates increasing number of interventional radiology and neuroradiology–filled fellowship positions over the past 4 years.16,17
The Radiology Fellowship Arms Race Cannot Be Won
2016, Journal of the American College of RadiologyTrends in radiology fellowship training: A Canadian Review 2009-2011
2013, Canadian Association of Radiologists JournalCitation Excerpt :When considering the limited availability, this is an interestingly sizable statistic. Fellowship training in radiology begin in 1959, with speciality training in neuroradiology at Columbia university [5]. The judgement to pursue fellowship is multifaceted and often an individual choice, but repercussions from this decision have an obvious major influence on our speciality.