Overview
Program director Julie Ritner, MD explains the unique aspects of the breast imaging fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. She discusses being part of world class care at Cleveland Clinic and living and working in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Breast Imaging Fellowship is a 12-month dedicated fellowship that is 1 year in length beginning July 1 and ending June 30. There are 3 fellowship positions each academic year. The fellow receives comprehensive training in breast imaging, fully participating in all aspects of our clinical and educational work under the supervision of our 17 full and part-time staff.
The Cleveland Clinic Breast practice is a high-volume clinical service, interpreting over 90,000screening studies, 30,00 diagnostic studies, 5,000 breast MRI exams, and over 5,000 image guided biopsies and localizations, including 2 MRI-guided biopsies every day. We are a state of-the-art department equipped with Siemens digital breast tomosynthesis and digital mammography, dedicated Philips ultrasound units, Hologic Affirm prone stereotactic biopsy units, and six 1.5T Siemens MRI magnets with dedicated breast time slots.
Fellows are staffed at the CCF main campus breast center, Taussig Cancer Center, and at several satellite facilities with dedicated breast centers. This allows the fellow to gain a broad experience in academic and community settings and to foster “supervised independence.”The fellow will always be directly working with a breast imaging staff at all sites. A typical workday is 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
To complement the rich clinical experience, fellows also prepare and present at multiple conferences, including a weekly multi-disciplinary breast conference, two resident didactic or case conferences, a monthly radiology–pathology correlation conference, and a quarterly journal club. We are part of the Midwest Breast Imaging Fellowship Consortium, and the fellows have protected time to attend the weekly didactic lectures provided by this collaboration.
Research opportunities are also supported based on the fellow’s level of interest, however there is no formal research requirement. For projects where the fellow is listed as first author on the poster or presentation and is the “presenter,” the office of Graduate Medical Education provides appropriate funds for attendance pending approval by the fellowship director.
**All applicants must have completed a United States residency training program in diagnostic radiology, and must be board certified or eligible by the American Board of Radiology prior to commencing the fellowship. Foreign applicants must also be board eligible in their country of origin, ECFMG certified, and be USMLE certified with passing scores on Steps one, two, and three.
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