Overview

The Department of Radiology at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children offers one-year ACGME-accredited fellowships in pediatric radiology. There are two ACGME-accredited spots available per year. The fellowship covers all aspects of pediatric imaging aimed at providing educational and practical training to meet all clinical and diagnostic challenges.  St. Christopher's Hospital is affiliated with Drexel University College of Medicine and has a strong tradition of clinical teaching in pediatrics and pediatric subspecialties.

Mission

The fellowship program's mission is to provide the fellow an opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience to practice pediatric radiology as a specialist; to instill in the fellow the intellectual motivation to maintain expertise by processes of life-long learning; to support the personal development of the fellow leading toward a productive and fulfilling career; to stress the importance of compassionate patient care and maintenance of high professional standards.

Radiology Department

The department currently has five diagnostic pediatric radiologists and one pediatric interventional radiologist, who hold academic appointments at Drexel University College of Medicine. Approximately 50,000 examinations are performed in the department each year. Imaging and dictation are integrated on McKesson PACS system and IDX Radiology Information System (RIS). Equipment includes three radiographic rooms, two fluoroscopic rooms, ultrasound suite with three GE ultrasound units with power Doppler and color-flow Doppler, GE 64-slice MDCT, Toshiba 80-slice MDCT, two GE 1.5T MRIs, and a nuclear medicine suite with DEXA unit. Sedation and recovery rooms are located in the department, and a team of nurses, anesthesiologists, and critical care physicians handle patient sedation and contrast injections. 

Clinical Opportunities

As a free-standing academic children's hospital, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children provides on-site imaging with all imaging modalities for pediatric patients of all ages.

There is exposure to a large, diverse population of patients, with in-depth training in the use of current imaging modalities, fundamentals of radiation dosage and safety and the socioeconomic aspects of radiology.

The training program is structured to include practical training and education in all modalities including:

  • Plain film radiography
  • Fluoroscopy
  • Ultrasound
  • Nuclear medicine
  • Computed tomography
  • Interventional radiology
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (including fetal MR, MR enterography, MR urography, and cardiac MR)

The training program is also structured to include training and education in all parts of the body, with comprehensive clinical opportunities which include:

  • Cardiovascular and thoracic imaging
  • Neuroradiology
  • Gastrointestinal/Genitourinary imaging
  • Oncologic imaging
  • Musculoskeletal imaging
  • Emergency radiology
  • Neonatal imaging

Educational Opportunities

There is a strong commitment to fellow education. The attending radiologists give daily didactic and case conferences. There are daily teaching rounds for inpatient teams, as well as multiple interdisciplinary conferences among the hospital clinical departments. The fellow is given graded responsibility and will take charge of some conferences as the fellowship progresses.

The fellow has ample opportunity to teach and supervise residents and medical students that rotate through the department from a variety of local medical schools and residency programs.

In addition to teaching conferences within the hospital, the fellow is actively encouraged to attend the monthly meetings of The Philadelphia Roentgen Ray Society, where advances in radiology are discussed within a wide range of imaging topics. The fellow has the opportunity to interact academically and socially with other local fellows and attending radiologists at the Metro Philadelphia Pediatric Radiology Group, which is held twice each year. Additionally, the fellow attends the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) meeting yearly. 

Clinical Research

There is considerable opportunity and scope for onsite clinical research because of the wide diversity and complexity of disease entities encountered on a daily basis. During the fellowship year, the fellow is required to formulate and complete a research project, with ample oversight from attending staff. Fellows typically present their research topic at the SPR annual meeting. Additionally, the fellow is required to complete a quality improvement project. 

Our Environment

The city of Philadelphia is one of the oldest municipalities and currently the 6th most populated city in the United States. The city is the home of many universities and colleges, a wide spectrum of healthcare systems, and all four major sport teams. Although it has a rich history including numerous National Historic Landmarks, the city is bustling with a thriving art and cultural scene and an abundance of restaurants and nightlife activities.

Faculty

David Aria, MD, MBA, Assistant Professor
Chair, Department of Radiology
Section Chief, Interventional Radiology
Fellowship training: Phoenix Children's Hospital

Erica Poletto, MD, Assistant Professor
Program Director, Pediatric Radiology fellowship
Section Chief of CT and Cardiovascular Imaging
Fellowship training: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Robert Koenigsberg, DO, Professor
Fellowship training: Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Robert Siegle, MD, MPA, FACR, Professor
Section Chief, Diagnostic Radiography and Fluoroscopy

Archana Malik, MD, Associate Professor
Section Chief, MRI
Fellowship training: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Evan Geller, MD, Assistant Professor
Section Chief, Nuclear Medicine
Fellowship training: St. Christopher's Hospital for Children

Recent Graduates and Current Employment

 Youck Jen Siu Navarro, MD- pursuing additional fellowship at St. Chris
Bernard Goldwasser, MD- Jacobi Hospital, NY
Juan Gonzalez, MD- Allegheny Health Network, PA
Faaiza Kazmi, MD- A.I. DuPont/Nemours Children's Health System, DE
Joshua Chern, DO- Kennedy Health System, NJ
Bret Kricun, MD- Lehigh Valley Imaging, PA

Eligibility

We welcome applications for our fellowship in Pediatric Radiology from physicians who will have completed an ACGME approved residency program and are either board-certified or eligible for board certification. 
 
Pennsylvania law requires all fellows to have successfully completed all 3 Steps of the USMLE training examination prior to entering their fellowship. Copies of the scores of each USMLE Step need to be provided with the trainee's application.

International medical graduates who have satisfied the requirements listed above are invited to apply after they have successfully completed the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) process and have a valid certificate number; copies of these documents need to be provided with the application. Where applicable, the candidate needs to have a valid visa. (The hospital supports visas other than H-visas.) After reviewing all of the information, the staff will contact competitive applicants to arrange an interview.

How to Apply

Please contact the program director at erica.poletto@towerhealth.org, in order to receive application materials.