UPDATE ON NATIONAL RESIDENT RELATED ISSUES

AFIP
Senator Edward Kennedy’s (D-MA) planned amendment to the Defense Department Reauthorization bill was forestalled after the Defense bill was tabled amid disagreement for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The planned amendment would have required the Department of Defense to maintain core functions of the AFIP in a newly-created Joint Pathology Center to be located at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Similar language was included in the House-passed version of the Defense Reauthorization bill.

It is expected that the Defense Reauthorization Bill will be brought back to the Senate floor following the August recess. Should that happen, members of the RFS will again be called upon to voice their support for AFIP.

Oral Boards

The April meeting of the Association of the University of Radiologists brought about discussions on the timing of the oral boards. During this meeting, the Society of Chairmen in Academic Radiology Departments nearly unanimously decided to support delay of the oral board exam until two years after residency is completed. The RFS drafted and proposed a resolution asking the ACR to develop a task force to investigate the potential impact of changing the timing of the oral board exam on residents, recent residency graduates, private practices, academic practices, and the job market. The resolution was discussed, supported, and approved by the ACR council. Since the June meeting of the American Board of Radiology, no changes have been implemented regarding the structure or timing of the oral board examination. The ABR recognizes that issues related to the timing of the oral board exam are very complex, and time is required in order to make and implement any recommendations for change.

Radiology residency curriculum
At the ACR’s 84th Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference, Dr. N. Reed Dunnick, incoming chair of the American Board of Radiology met with the RFS to discuss proposed changes to the structure of radiology residency training. Dr. Dunnick (and the Intersociety Conference) believes that the field of radiology is becoming increasing subspecialized and more relevant and integrated clinical training is required. The proposal would eliminate the traditional internship year and replace it with a 3 year “core” radiology curriculum followed by a 3 year fellowship in radiological and clinical training where trainees would specialize in 1-4 areas of radiology. The idea is in an early phase and it will be interesting to see if and how it develops.

MRI teaching file
In response to resident feedback that expressed dissatisfaction with training in MRI, the RFS created a teaching file of MRI cases. That teaching file went live in June and is available at http://mri.acr.org. Further contributions to the teaching file are welcome, and the RFS will pay for cases, so encourage residents in your program to contribute.

LOCAL UPDATE

●   The RFS-RSNJ website is being updated with current information on residency related issues.
●   We are again updating our database of residents in New Jersey with the new class that started in July, and will reach out to them with an introduction to the RFS and the RSNJ.

Thank you,
Vishal Bindal
President, RFS-RSNJ

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