Abdominal Imaging & Interventions Fellowship

Program Aims

The mission of our Abdominal Imaging and Interventions Fellowship at BIDMC is to train the next generation of leaders in Abdominal Radiology. Our program is based on the following four cornerstones:

1. Clinical Excellence:
   We pride ourselves on providing comprehensive world-class patient care. Fellows will develop the clinical knowledge to care for patients through protocoling and interpretation of a variety of CT, MRI, US, and fluoroscopic studies. They will also serve as primary consultants for both inpatient and outpatient services, including participation in the development of treatment plans in multi-disciplinary conferences. 
2. Procedural Excellence:
   Fellows will develop the skills to independently perform a full spectrum of advanced interventional cross-sectional procedures in our state-of-the-art facilities.
3. Academic Excellence:
   Fellows pursue clinical or translational research with our faculty and participate in the education of our residents and medical students.
4. Quality Improvement:
   In support of a major mission of our department and our specialty, fellows will be actively engaged in continuous practice performance improvement initiatives.

We are committed to achieving these comprehensive goals by daily, supervised interpretation of abdominal imaging and performance of cross-sectional, image-guided procedures. Daily reviews of interesting cases, weekly didactic sessions, monthly QA conferences, a quarterly journal club, and elective time in related fields broaden the educational experience for the trainee.

Rotations in Abdominal Imaging and Interventions

Diagnostic CT and Fluoroscopy

The Diagnostic CT rotation is a high-volume service shared with residents. The fellow reads a wide range of Oncology CTs; all types of vascular CT angiograms (except neuro); CT Colonography; CT Enterography; CT studies with protocols catered to specific indications such as Multiphase Liver CT; CTA Pancreas, and many others. We have more than 50 CT protocols to choose from, depending upon the clinical indication. Fellows may be consulted by residents for CT protocol guidance. Fellows also participate in interesting CT case rounds and are the first-line consultants for walk-in clinical teams seeking clarification on CT reads. The same reading room is shared with residents performing fluoroscopy, which gives the fellows an opportunity to mentor residents or be the primary operator for fluoroscopic studies.

Body MRI

Body MRI is a high-volume service with a separate fellowship and shared resident rotation. The Abdominal Imaging and Interventions fellows are partnered with our Body MRI fellows, reading a wide variety of chest, abdomen, and pelvic studies encompassing more than 75 different protocols. Trainees receive high exposure to hepatobiliary, pancreatic, enterography, prostate, rectal, perianal fistula, genitourinary, pelvic floor, and vascular imaging. Fellows are also exposed to more specialized techniques such as secretin MRCP and lymphedema staging. Interested fellows can learn to perform in-bore, MRI-guided prostate biopsies, which are performed by our MRI faculty. The rotation includes weekly MRI follow-up case conferences and daily interesting case rounds. Fellows also receive a dedicated 6-8-week MRI physics didactic lecture series taught by the faculty of the Division of MRI Research.

CT and US Interventions

The fellows are trained in a holistic approach to interventions, which includes complete pre-procedure evaluation and consultation with referring clinicians, technical training in complicated approaches and maneuvers, post-procedure follow-up and recommendations, and the management of complications. By the end of their training, fellows are expected to be comfortable performing the following procedures independently:

1. US-guided non-targeted liver biopsies
2. US- or CT-guided targeted liver biopsy
3. US-guided lymph node biopsies: inguinal, axillary, cervical
4. CT-guided lymph node biopsies: retroperitoneal, mesenteric, pelvic
5. CT-guided lung biopsies
6. CT-guided vertebral body or intervertebral disc biopsy
7. CT- or US-guided drain placement, including percutaneous cholecystostomy tubes and chest tubes

Fellows also have the option of performing CT- and US-guided ablation therapies in partnership with the Vascular and Interventional Radiology group.

Diagnostic US and US Interventions

This is a combined diagnostic and procedural rotation with a high volume and variety of cases. While residents and an ultrasonography practitioner share the diagnostic work, fellows are the primary operators for procedures except for paracentesis and thoracentesis that the residents on service perform. As described above, fellows will develop expertise in performing a variety of US-guided procedures including biopsies and drainages. They will also learn to navigate all the details of learning how to triage patients for procedures, decide which procedures to perform, and handle post-procedure patient care. The morning half of this rotation is typically spent performing procedures while the afternoon is typically spent reading diagnostic studies. The breadth and depth of diagnostic studies span all types of abdominal ultrasounds, including transplant liver and kidney Doppler studies, as well as soft tissue and small parts ultrasound and non-OB/GYN ultrasounds. Fellows develop obstetric ultrasound expertise on a separate, dedicated US rotation.

Multi-Disciplinary Conference Rotation

The conference rotation is protected time away from clinical rotations reserved for preparation and participation in all the multidisciplinary conferences (MDC) described below. The fellows review cases for MDC with the specific specialist attending in charge of these MDCs and present at most of the conferences. Downtime is available during this week, which is protected for research. This is a unique rotation because:

• we are one of the few fellowships in the nation that offer it.
• it enriches education due to a concentrated volume of positive and high-yield cases.
• it provides the opportunity for interaction with multiple teams taking care of patients.
• It encourages fellows to participate and learn patient management, particularly the care of complex oncology patients, as well as develop confidence in presenting complex cases to experts in the field.

Elective

Each fellow has 5 weeks of elective time distributed throughout the fellowship year. Fellows can choose from Research; additional weeks of Body MRI; additional weeks of cross-sectional procedures; Chest and Cardiothoracic Imaging; Neuroradiology; Mammography; and Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

Routine Conferences / Lectures

1. Thursday Noon Conference: Held weekly. A mix of didactics; interesting case presentations; journal club; quality improvement; fellow peer-learning presentations.
2. MR Physics Lecture Series: Wednesday evenings, held throughout the fall and winter.  
3. Wednesday evening Fellow Lecture Series: Wednesday evenings, held throughout the spring to the end of the academic year.
4. Multidisciplinary Conferences (MDC):
• Pancreaticobiliary: Monday and Friday
• GI Tumor Board: Wednesday
• Gynecology Oncology Tumor Board: Wednesday
• GU Tumor Board: Thursday
• Liver Tumor: Thursday and Friday
• Pelvic Floor: Quarterly
• Lymphatic Surgery: Thursday
• Med-Surg Rounds: Thursday
• Surgical M & M: Four times a year
• Coming soon: Prostate MDC

Call Responsibility

• 4-5 weekends (5 pm Friday to 8 am Monday) covering inpatient diagnostic CT and MR (except neuro), and CT/US-guided procedures (e.g., drainages, percutaneous cholecystostomy, urgent biopsies). No angiography responsibilities. Fellows must be in house 8 am-6 pm Saturday and Sunday and otherwise can cover the pager from home but be available to come in for urgent procedures.
• Approximately 20 weekday evening 5 pm-11 pm shifts covering inpatient diagnostic CT and MR (except neuro). No procedures.
• Approximately 25 weekday overnight shifts (5 pm-8 am next day) covering urgent after-hour CT/US-guided procedures (no angiography). Fellow covers pager from home but must be available to come in for urgent procedures (very infrequent). The fellow also serves as back-up to an overnight resident if they have questions or need assistance (also very infrequent).
• Fellow works at most one holiday (same as weekend call, in-house 8 am-6 pm, otherwise able to cover pager from home except for urgent procedures).

Our Abdominal Imaging and Interventions faculty are dedicated to training the next generation of radiologists through our comprehensive fellowship program.

Meet Our Faculty

After fellowship, our alumni have accepted a broad range of clinical and academic positions at BIDMC and other medical centers and private practices, including:

• Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Glen Burnie, Maryland
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
• Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
• Commonwealth Radiology Associates, Massachusetts
• David Grant Medical Center, Travis Airforce Base, California
• Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, Maine
• Emory University Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia
• Foothills Medical Center, Albert Canada
• Hamilton General Hospital, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
• King Abdulla Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
• Lahey Clinic, Burlington, Massachusetts
• Lancaster Radiology Associates, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
• Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
• Private Practice, Tucson, Arizona
• Saint Mary’s Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Scarborough Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Sligo General Hospital, Sligo, Ireland
• South Shore Hospital, Weymouth, Massachusetts
• Spectrum Healthcare Partners, Portland, Maine
• Stanford University, Stanford, California
• Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
• Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California
• Upstate Carolina Radiology, PA, Greenville, South Carolina
• XRA Medical Imaging Centers of Rhode Island, Cranston, Rhode Island
• Yale University Medical Center, New Haven, Connecticut

2022-2023
Bulent Aslan, MD
Maram Al Ghamdi, MD
Miriel Handler, MD
Brian Hayes, MD
Michael Pereira, MD
Sumit Shah, MD

2021-2022
Joseph Dadour, MD
Yael Perl Hadanny, MD
Francesca Rigiroli, MD
Diana Murcia Salazar, MD
Betsa Parsai Salehi, MD
Michael Samuel, MD

2020-2021
Yarab Al Bulushi, MD, FRCPC
Thomas Carraway, MD
Nan Nancy Jiang, MD, BHSc
Natasha Larocque, MD
Fei Li, MD
Syed Yasir Andrabi, MD, MPH

2019-2020
Margaret Adejolu, MD
Afnan Althubaity, MD
Emmanuel Berchmans, MD
Maera Haider, MD
Alina Makoyeva, MD, FRCPC
Daniela Tridente, MD

2018-2019
Kenny Ah-Lan, MDCM
Abraham Fourie Bezuidenhout, MD
Matthew Bligh, MD, MASc
Ramy Karam, MD
Alireza Mojtahedi, MD
Nicolas Tabah, MD

2017-2018
Arwa Badeeb, MD
Andrew Chung, MD
Andrew Fox, MD
Arvind Shergill, MD

2016-2017
Fernanda Cabral, MD
Patricia Jo, MD
Laura Miller, MD
Robert Ruef, MD
Azize Sahin, MD
Yifei Wang, MD

2015-2016
Christina M. Chingkoe, MD
Almamoon Justaniah, MD
Borko Kereshi, MD
Trevor C. Morrison, MD
Michele Perillo, MD
Summit Sawhney, MD

2014-2015
Monica Agarwal, MD
Thomas W. Keimig, MD
Jeremy J. O’Brien, MD
Amogh Srivastava, MD
Corinne D. Strickland, MD
Nathaniel N. Temin, MD

2013-2014
Kristopher Daley, MD
Kathryn McGillen, MD
Noam Z. Millo, MD
Deidre E. Moran, MD
Kamaldeep S. Sahi, MD
Bahar Tamjeedi, MD

2012-2013
Sami Abedin, MD
Gentta Dani, MD
Dell Dunn, MD
Joan Hu-Burkhardt, MD
Sumayya Jawadi, MD
Giselle Revah, MD

2011-2012
Ian Brennan, MD
Ann Michelle Browne, MD
Liran Domachevsky, MD
Marie Fortin, MD
Balasubramanya Rangaswamy, MD

2010-2011
Corey Cuoto, MD
Catherine Dewhurst, MD
Jennifer Ni Mhuircheartaigh, MD
Jay Pahade, MD
Payal Patel Gupta, MD
Aarti Kamala Sekhar, MD