Combined Radiology Residency/PhD Program for Education of Academic Radiologists: A Response to Revitalizing the Radiology Research Enterprise

Abstract

In a 1999 RadioGraphics article (1) entitled "Revitalizing the Radiology Research Enterprise," Staab and Brady announced an initiative of the same name by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The Revitalizing the Radiology Research Enterprise (RRRE) is designed to help academic radiology departments strengthen their research infrastructure and clarify their research strategy (2). Our department was one of six elected in 2000 to be surveyed and assisted by the RSNA's RRRE committee. A site visit that year provided a review of our research facilities and programs. In 2001, as a response to the challenge of the RRRE, we established a fully integrated 6-year residency/PhD program. The program combines radiology residency, under the guidelines of the B. Leonard Holman Research Pathway of the American Board of Radiology (ABR), with pursuit of a doctorate degree in radiological sciences.Our program is designed to produce academic radiologists who are proficient in research and competitive for national funding. Herein, we describe the educational structure of the program and its results during its first several years. Background Current Standing of Research in Academic RadiologyAcademic radiology faces two major challenges. First, the vitality of our specialty depends on continuing innovation and discovery by research-oriented radiologists. Second, faculty recruitment by academic departments is hampered by limited resources and competition from private practice. These challenges have been attributed to several factors, including the economic restructuring of academic departments (3), the severe salary discrepancy between academic and private practice, increasing barriers to national funding (4), and the lack of research training of most physicians (4-6).Historically, most radiology research has been descriptive (4,7,8 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript competitiveness in this arena is tied in part to the nature of our residency programs, in which there is little research training (4,7,10-12).Most radiologists in academic departments devote time to an escalating volume of clinical responsibilities, as well as to resident education, and have little time for research (4,5,13). Nonetheless, they face research requirements in university tenure tracks to achieve promotion (4,5,9). Many productive academicians sacrifice their free time for writing and research activities, and, if academicians are not located in large academic centers, they have little aid from statisticians, research associates, or scientist collaborators (4,5,7).These circumstances call attention to the crucial need to sustain the growth of radiology, to compete for national funding, and to maintain scientific standards in research. National Efforts to Strengthen Radiology ResearchThe current movement to strengthen radiology research began more than a decade ago. In 1994, a special National Institutes of Health (NIH)-cosponsored conference was held to address priorities for more than 30 areas of imaging res...

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