Body Imaging Fellowship
Two types of Fellowships are offered in Body Imaging:
- Cross-Sectional Imaging (4 positions):
- 6 blocks Body MR, 2.5 Body CT, 2.5 US, and 2 blocks of electives in other areas (including Mammography, Breast MRI, PET-CT, Chest and IR)
- Body/Cardiac Imaging (1 position)
- 6 four-week blocks of Cardiovascular MR and CT
- 6 four-week blocks of Body Imaging (Body MR, CT, US)
- 1 Block of elective
Elective time is flexible depending on service coverage requirements.
Clinical Services:
MRI
The clinical MRI service includes four 3.0T (Siemens Verio and Skyra) and three 1.5T (Siemens Avanto, Espree, and Aera) scanners within Yale-New Haven Hospital, one off-site 1.5T (GE HD) scanner in a nearby facility, and three 3T (Siemens, 2 Skyra and 1 Vida) scanner at a separate off-site facilities. In addition, we have a 1.5T (Siemens, Aera) and 3.0T (Siemens, Vida) at Yale New Haven Hospital Saint Raphael Campus.
The Body MRI service performs between 40-50 cases per day, and our read-out sessions provide the perfect balance between clinical workload, teaching, and hands-on experience.
We do a high volume of Liver MRI for hepatocellular carcinoma screening, as well as transplant evaluations and monitoring of disease following loco-regional therapies such as TACE, RFA, and Y-90 ablation. Other busy clinical programs include MR enterography, imaging of the female pelvis, MRI abdomen/pelvis for cancer staging and surveillance, and MRI prostate for targeted biopsy and tumor surveillance.
Fellows are responsible for running the clinical service with primary responsibility for protocols and initial interpretations. The goal of the fellowship is to provide fellows with the skills necessary to be the “go to” person for MRI issues in their future practices. In addition to clinical knowledge, relevant physics, MR safety, protocol design, and image optimization are included in the curriculum. Rotating Body Imaging Fellows, who spend 3-4 four-week blocks on the service, will also gain the skills necessary to interpret almost any Body MRI case they are likely to see in their future practices.
CT and PET/CT
Fellows supervise and interpret all Body CT exams including inpatient evaluations, CT colonography, CT angiograms, oncologic evaluations and living donor kidney and liver exams. They work daily with onsite attending physicians, and participate heavily with clinical consultations as well as have the opportunity to teach and assist junior residents on service.
US
The US service provides comprehensive training in all areas of ultrasound. Attendings and trainees are physically stationed in the inpatient/outpatient clinic where they provide direct support for 9 ultrasound rooms including checking scans and interacting with patients. Support is also provided for scans performed in the Emergency Department, Transplant Clinic, Vascular Lab, Thyroid Clinic, as well as other off-site outpatient clinics.
In addition to the standard fare (US of the right upper quadrant, kidneys, gynecology, early OB, carotid arteries, and leg veins), fellows will gain experience in performing more subspecialized exams, such as pre and post-transplant renal and liver Doppler, thyroid/parathyroid US, hemodialysis access evaluations, upper/lower extremity arterial Doppler, transcranial and MSK ultrasound. The US rotation includes experience in image-guided biopsy FNA of thyroid nodules and lymph nodes.
Cardiovascular
The cardiovascular fellow is responsible for supervising and monitoring all cardiac MRI, cardiovascular MRA (thoracic and peripheral), and coronary CTA examinations; post processing the images on a dedicated cardiac imaging workstation; and generating reports. The fellow will also be responsible for interpreting aortic and certain lower extremity CTAs. Fellows have the opportunity to rotate through nuclear cardiology (SPECT and PET). Post processing software/hardware includes a GE ADW, Vital Images Vitrea, and CMR42 cardiac MR workstations. We perform between 500-600 Cardiac MRI / Thoracic MRA cases per year, including assessment of adult and pediatric congenital heart disease, evaluation of cardiomyopathy and arrhythmia (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, ARVC, and atrial fibrillation), and evaluation for viability.
ED
Partially paid service component is required in the Emergency Radiology Department. For the 2025-2026 year the requirement is as follows: To fulfill your call commitment, all fellows are expected to cover 12 weekend shifts per year on the Emergency/Teleradiology Service as an attending physician.
[Weekend shifts include Saturday and Sunday day (8:00AM - 5:00PM)]
Research
Fellows are encouraged to, but are not required to, participate in clinical research projects. For those interested in basic research, there is an array of whole body and animal research magnets in a dedicated research MR facility in the Yale University School of Medicine. These include 10 research scanners (with 1.5T, 3T, 4T, and 7T human scanners and 4.7T, 9.4T, and 11.7T small bore animal scanners). There are active research programs in cardiovascular MRI, MR spectroscopy, oncologic imaging, radiation safety, image processing, and contrast agents.
Conferences
There are two Fellow conferences a week. One of these is the Body Division club where fellows present interesting and challenging cases for discussion. The other is a dedicated lecture given by the faculty in the Body Imaging division. Fellows are also encouraged to virtually attend one or both of our 2 resident conferences per day (these lectures are recorded and archived so the Fellows can also review these at their own convenience). Prominent guest speakers present Diagnostic Radiology Grand Rounds . There are also a variety of interdisciplinary conferences (GU cancer, prostate, pancreaticobiliary, GI cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, liver tumor board, and liver donor) that fellows participate in, as well as many other interesting lectures at the medical school and on the Yale University campus.
Call
Call responsibilities will be shared equitably among all Fellows.
While there is no in-house overnight call for fellows, an MRI beeper call is shared with the senior residents. The “on call” MRI fellow is responsible for interpreting emergency afterhours Body MRI exams (a laptop with PACS access is provided on a rotating basis) and reading weekend CT and MRI exams at the hospital. All Body Call cases are co-interpreted with an attending radiologist.
Body Faculty
Body Imaging Division Faculty < Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
Cardiac Section
Cardiac Imaging Faculty < Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
Current Fellows
Spencer Beck, MD
Fellowship Application
Applications will be accepted beginning November 1, 2024, through January 8, 2025 for the 2026-2027 academic year, (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027).
In accordance with SCARD recommendations, no formal interviews will be conducted before January 13, 2025 and will be completed by March 31, 2025. Candidates selected for an interview will be contacted via e-mail and interviews will be virtual.
If you are interested, please apply as below and email ydrbodyfellowship@yale.edu.
How to Apply
APPLY TO YALE BODY IMAGING FELLOWSHIP
You must submit your application through the following secure portal. Do not submit your application materials directly to us via email.
Yale Radiology Fellowship Applicant Portal
The information & documents (please upload PDFs) requested through the portal includes:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Personal Statement - Please limit the personal statement to one page: double spaced and 12 point font Times New Roman.
- Universal Application
- Medical School Transcripts or Dean’s Letter
- 3 letters of recommendation (signed and on official letterhead): One letter must be from the residency program director
- A photograph is requested but not required.
- USMLE Steps I, II and III score
- ECFMG Certificate, if applicable
Applicant Criteria
- Candidates should be eligible or certified by the American Board of Radiology.
- Hold or be eligible for a permanent medical license in Connecticut.
- Must have evidence of valid work authorization.
- Being authorized to work in the United States is a precondition of employment in this Cross-Sectional Imaging Fellowship Program.
- The fellowship program and the department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging are unable to sponsor applicants requiring a work visa.
Open Positions
In addition to positions for the 2026-2027 academic year with application process as above, open fellowship positions are also still available for 2025-2026. Please review our application criteria and send all inquiries and required documents to ydrbodyfellowship@yale.edu.
Applications will be reviewed as they are received.
Point of Contact:
M. Lisa Varipapa, MPH
Program Coordinator
E-mail (preferred): ydrbodyfellowship@yale.edu
Kirsten Cooper, MD
Fellowship Director
E-mail (preferred): ydrbodyfellowship@yale.edu
Education Program Manager:
Address:
Yale School of Medicine
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging
Body Imaging Fellowship Program
P.O. Box 208042
New Haven, CT 06520-8042
Fellowship Verifications
To verify a fellowship in Yale Radiology & Biomedical Imaging
please visit our webpage at: YDR Verifications
Requests may be emailed to: ydrverifications@yale.edu