Radiologists who want to specialize in musculoskeletal imaging  have a new fellowship option. The Hospital for Special Surgery was recently accredited to offer a musculoskeletal radiology fellowship by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The accreditation is retroactive to 2009.

The imaging fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery offers radiologists several unique options, including exposure to spine pathology, which in the majority of fellowships is referred to neuroradiology. Spine education includes complex spine and scoliosis. The hospital also offers an ultrasound service that includes both diagnostic and therapeutic guided interventional examinations. Fellows will have access to patients of all ages, inclusive of patients with pediatric to geriatric conditions, including a mix of arthroplasty and sports medicine.

Reflecting the strength of the hospital’s expertise in education and radiology, the ACGME accredited the program without the support of its parent diagnostic radiology residency programs. This means that the Hospital for Special Surgery is the sole sponsoring institution for its musculoskeletal radiology fellowship program; the only one of its kind in the country.

This status brings both privileges and a responsibility, according to Laura Robbins, DSW, vice president for education and academic affairs at the Hospital for Special Surgery. “This accreditation allows us options on programming and educational decisions independent of a sponsoring institution. More importantly, the accreditation holds us to an even higher standard and reflects the excellence  associated with the department of radiology and imaging’s  outstanding musculoskeletal fellowship,” she said in a press release announcing the fellowship program.

 

(Source: Press Release)