Message from the Program Director

The Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program at the University of Calgary takes great pride in training the radiologists of the future.

We are a medium-size program of 25-30 residents. We foster a positive and collegial work environment which emphasizes teamwork. On their journey to becoming experts in the field of Diagnostic Radiology, our residents work alongside subspecialty trained radiologists, diagnostic imaging nurses, technologists, and physician assistants to provide the highest quality of care to our patients.

The bulk of training is done at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, one of Canada's largest tertiary care centers and the largest Level 1 trauma center in Western Canada. In addition to its state-of-the-art stroke care, the Foothills Medical Center offers a wide variety of oncologic and subspecialized surgical services. Throughout their core years of training, our residents are exposed to a wide variety of pathologies across all body systems and all imaging modalities.

All faculty who are involved in resident teaching are subspecialty trained radiologists who practice within their scope and who are integrated into multidisciplinary patient care teams through their regular participation in radiological-pathological rounds. Residents are encouraged and expected to participate in these rounds alongside our fellows. Our comprehensive interventional radiology curriculum is offered early and throughout residency training. Multiple resources are available to guide residents in their research endeavors and fellowship applications. Finally, community training is provided through various rotations in smaller community hospitals and community clinics.

Resident education highlights include a core curriculum taught during weekly protected academic half-days, daily noon rounds, grand rounds, peer-learning rounds, and various additional educational activities which are organized by residents, fellows, and faculty. A dedicated summer lecture series is offered yearly by our senior residents and is devoted to the PGY2 resident cohort to prepare them for call. Lectures are broadcast from the R.D. Johns Lecture Theater, which is a state-of-the-art teaching classroom with an integrated PACS viewing station and a 98” LCD monitor. Residents who are on offsite rotations are encouraged to participate virtually. Trainees have access to e-Anatomy, StatDx, and RadPrimer, which are comprehensive online references. The program also has a dedicated budget for textbooks and regularly reviews and updates materials available in the resident library.

Research is an important feature of our residency program, with several high-profile research groups affiliated with the residency program, including the Seaman Family MR Research Center, the Experimental Imaging Center, the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, the Bone Imaging Laboratory, the Stephenson Cardiovascular MR Center and the Pediatric 3T Imaging Program. The University of Calgary Diagnostic Radiology residents and researchers at the Department of Radiology Image Science Division collaborate on a variety of projects, with research presented at the annual Department of Radiology Research Day which takes place in the spring. The program strongly encourages research endeavors and supports residents in their participation in national and international conferences. 

Last year, we successfully welcomed our first CBD cohort. We have formed a dynamic and integrated Competence Committee which has assisted the Residency Training Committee in supporting resident promotion. Our program also recently underwent a successful external review in the fall of 2022 and is fully accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The program is attentive to resident needs and has made many positive changes over the years based on resident feedback.

Over the last five years, we have been building a wellness curriculum under the guidance of our wellness director, as we understand the utmost importance of maintaining mental, physical, and psychological wellbeing throughout residency. As a diverse and multicultural program, we are currently in the process of organizing a separate Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee, with the explicit goal of offering education to our faculty and trainees on systemic barriers and biases which could potentially affect our patients and our practices.

We have a strong track record of excellence in radiology education and research. Our graduates are routinely successful on Royal College and Board examinations and go on to competitive fellowships at various prestigious institutions across North America. It is a testament to our success that many trainees choose to come back to practice in Calgary.

We look forward to your application to our program. Applications to the University of Calgary Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program are accepted through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS).