Department of
Neuroradiology

Program Design

The guiding principle for rotation scheduling is fulfillment of resident educational objectives. The rotation schedule and educational program for residents assure adequate training in all domains of practice with graduated responsibility. Opportunities are abundantly provided for supervised practice of radiological consultative, interpretive, and interventive skills in tertiary and primary care settings. 

Program Information

Our program has full continuing accreditation by the ACGME. We were granted a permanent increase in our resident complement from 16 to 24 in May 2017. 

ADVANCED track positions only are offered for the fall 2019 recruiting season (i.e., an ACGME accredited preliminary year must be completed prior to starting radiology residency at WVU)

Start date of training July 1, 2021
NRMP Program Code 1837420A0
Quota: 6 positions to fill

Program Director: SoHyun Boo, MD

Rotation Schedule

1st year

Our program has a highly structured first year with several assessments and assignments to ensure residents are ready for successful transition from directly supervised duties to indirectly supervised overnight call duty that begins in the second year of residency. We provide subscription based access to StatDx, e-anatomy, and RadPrimer, which is a comprehensive radiology curriculum used by more than 80% of University based radiology residency programs.  

  • First Month Online Curriculum for Radiology Reporting
  • August through October: Emergency Radiology Course 7-8am Monday mornings
  • Initial 5 blocks for R1 trainees include Cardiothoracic, Abdominal, Neuro, Musculoskeletal, and Emergency radiology rotations. All rotations are 4 weeks in length. These 5 initial first year resident rotations ensure initial immersive experiences in clinical areas needed to begin  evening (4-9pm) Emergency Radiology coverage, which is taken with a more senior resident + the on call faculty member who provides on-site direct supervision
  • January ACR Diagnostic In-Training Exam (DXIT) is given to R1 (and all other radiology resident levels)
  • Mid to Late March: RadExam OnCall Readiness exam Online exam to assess readiness for indirectly supervised overnight call, provides specific case based feedback about any existing areas needing improvement.
  • Mid to late May: ED Sim exam. This is an online OSCE type high fidelity simulation examination that very closely mimics the role the trainee will take on at the beginning of the R2 year. This OSCE simulation examination is scored by specifically trained board certified radiologists at another institution, eliminating familiarity bias. Structured feedback on all cases taken is provided the learners, so the examination provides identification of gaps in observation, interpretation, and communication with specific feedback for improvement.

2nd year

13 four week long rotations per academic year. Residents rotate though the various domains of practice needed to build increasing proficiency in interpretations, decision making, and gain hands on procedural experience. Our second year residents are guided by faculty to make progressive academic progress and undergo professional growth as part of an effective team member, gradually gaining skills to lead teams delivering top quality radiological care.

3rd year

13 four week long rotations per academic year. Residents rotate though the various domains of practice and achieve specialty expertise in interpretations and polish experience in procedure related decision making and hands on performance. Most residents begin seriously exploring fellowship options and begin interviews.  Third year residents continue making academic progress and undergo professional growth into leadership roles in effective teams delivering top quality radiological care with faculty oversight and guidance. 3rd year residents continue reading to refine and supplement their enhanced levels of clinical responsibility, and this gradual integration, application, and organization of knowledge is the effective clinical component of preparation for their mastery of the discipline.

In Spring of the 3rd year, program provides time and funding for residents to attend the 4 week AIRP course in Washington, DC in preparation for taking the ABR Core Exam. Beginning in early March and continuing until the ABR Core Exam, the 3rd year residents who are scheduled to take the exam are scheduled preferentially in rotations that are primarily interpretive (i.e., do not have as heavy direct patient care workload, do not have major procedures of long duration, do not require as much communication/coordination with referring services as the more procedurally oriented rotations). These also are rotations in which the faculty supervised clinical learning opportunities efficiently run from either 7:30 or 8:00 am and finish up at 4:30 or 5:00 pm. When the work finishes early, 3rd year residents are sometimes excused early during the pre-exam blocks. Faculty members offer focused high yield pre-Board review sessions. This structure has enjoyed success to ensure readiness and qualification of our third year residents to successfully take the American Board of Radiology (ABR) Core Exam at the end of the third year of residency. Our program has enjoyed a 100% pass rate since 2014.

4th year

Our program offers flexibility during the 4th year of residency for trainees to prepare for their individual career trajectories. We have allowed residents to take up to 3 months in domains of practice selected by the resident. Research and clinical electives can be arranged with approval of the program director.

On Call Training

We use a night float system for covering the hospital from 9pm-8am. This assignment is shared by senior residents (R2-R4).  The duty cycles are divided into weekday / 5 night (Sunday through Thursday) and weekend / 2 night (Friday and Saturday) blocks.  Night float occurs at a frequency of two weeks and two weekends every six months.

Weekend call is shared by two residents, with one covering the ED and the other covering inpatient exams.  From Mid- November through June, 1st year residents join in the responsibility for covering the ED under the direct supervision of the staff and with the aid of a senior resident. This assignment is 8am-9pm.

Similarly, Weekday Evening call is also shared by two residents with one covering the ED and the other covering inpatient CTs.  From Mid-November through June, 1st year residents join in the responsibility for covering the ED under the direct supervision of the staff and with the aid of a senior resident. This is but one of the places where intentional laddered mentoring is incorporated into our program. This assignment is 4pm-9pm.