For Elective Students

Elective Courses

RADI 4001A: Diagnostic Radiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Diagnostic Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center includes exposure to all areas of diagnostic radiology including: breast imaging, abdominal imaging, cardiothoracic imaging, neuroradiology, pediatric imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, nuclear medicine, and interventional radiology. Students will be exposed to interpretation of all imaging modalities including plain film, mammography, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, CT/PET-CT, and MRI. Students will also be exposed to a variety of multimodality radiological special procedures. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to all aspects in the practice of diagnostic radiology, proper indications and ultilization of various modalities, relevance of imaging in clinical practice and with other specialties, radiation protection, and insight into radiology as a career. DUTIES: Students will work with subspecialty trained radiologists and radiology residents rotating throughout the various sections of the department. Students may also observe a variety of radiologic special procedures. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and one per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluations. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4002A: Pre-Clinical Introduction to Radiology (University Hospitals): This clinical elective is designed as a lecture-based introduction to radiology for medical students who are primarily in the 2nd and 3rd year of their study. This elective is not designed to place current radiology electives offered at University Hospitals, Metro, or CCF, but rather serves to introduce pre-clinical and clinical students into radiology, including the basis of radiographic imaging and background X-ray and CT, relevant clinical anatomy systematic approaches to the interpretation of radiographs, and common pathologies seen in the thorax and abdomen. This elective will primarily focus on X-ray and CT, through MRI principles will also be introduced. Objectives: At the end of the elective, students should be able to do the following: 1) be comfortable with using a systematic approach to X-rays and CT of the thorax and abdomen, 2) be comfortable with identifying the anatomic radiologic structures of the thorax and abdomen, and 3) be comfortable identifying and interpreting common pathologies seen on X-ray and CT of the thorax and abdomen.
RADI 4003A: Interventional Radiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Interventional Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center includes exposure to all aspects of radiological special procedures including: angiography, angioplasty, thrombolysis, GI interventions, GU interventions, venography, and interventional oncological procedures. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to the practice of interventional radiology, proper use of this methodology, relevance to other specialties, radiation protection, and insight into interventional radiology as a subspecialty career. DUTIE: Students will observe a variety of radiologic special procedures. Students are encouraged to interview and examine patients, with permission of the attending physician. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4004A: Neuroradiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Neuroradiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center includes exposure to all aspects of diagnostic neuro-imaging and neuro-radiological special procedures including: angiography, angiplasty, lumbar punctures, and myelography. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to the practice of neuroradiology and interventional radiology, proper use of this methodology, relevance to other specialties, radiation protection, and insight into neuroradiology as a subspecialty career. DUTIE: Students will observe the interpretations of CT and MRI of the head, neck and spine as well as observe neuro-radiologic special procedures. Students may observe subspecialty neuro tumor boards. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4005A: Musculoskeletal Radiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Musculoskeletal Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will focus on all imaging modalities pertaining to evaluation of the orthopedic and rhematology patients including radiographs, CT and MRI. Emphasis will be placed on establishing a basic knowledge of MRI, normal and abnormal anatomy of the knee, shoulder and hip. Plain film emphasis will be placed on assessment of skeletal trauma, arthritis and follow up of the post-operative patient. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to the practice of musculoskeletal radiology, proper use of this methodology, relevance to other specialties, radiation protection, and insight into musculoskeletal imaging as a subspecialty career. DUTIE: Students will work with dedicated musculoskeletal radiologists, radiology residents, and musculoskeletal imaging fellows to observe the interpretations of diagnostic musculoskeletal imaging during read-out sessions. Students will also observe various musculoskeletal procedures including joint aspirations/injections and bone/soft tissues biopsies. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4006A: Cardiothoracic Radiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Cardiothoracic Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will focus on all imaging modalities pertaining to the thorax including plain radiographs, high-resolution lung CT, cardiac CT, and cardiac MRI. Emphasis will be placed on establishing a basic knowledge of lung and cardiac normal and abnormal anatomy and pathology. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to the practice of cardiothoracic radiology, proper use of this methodology, relevance to other specialties, radiation protection, and insight into cardiothoracic radiology a subspecialty career. DUTIES: Students will work with dedicated cardiothoracic radiologists to observe the interpretations of various diagnostic imaging during read-out sessions. Students may also observe the protocol techniques with the CT and MRI technologists of post-processing of the images in the image laboratory. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4007A: Abdominal Radiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Abdominal Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will focus on all imaging modalities pertaining pertaining to abdominal imaging including fluoroscopy, CT, ultrasound and MRI. Emphasis will be placed on establishing a broad basic knowledge of abdominal imaging including emergency/trauma evaluation, inflammatory disease, and oncology. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to the practice of abdominal radiology and insight into abdominal radiology as a subspecialty in radiology. Students will understand the basics of abdominal image interpretation, indications for studies, appropriate imaging protocols and basic fluoroscopic technique. Students may observe ultrasound and CT-guided interventional procedures. DUTIES: Students will observe all aspects of abdominal imaging including fluoroscopy, sonography, CT and MRI. Students may work with the ultrasound and MRI technologists to understand scanning technique and protocols. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4008A: Ultrasound (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Ultrasound at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will focus on all aspects related to ultrasound including both diagnostic ultrasound studies and ultrasound-guided procedures. OBJECTIVE: Students will understand how ultrasound works, the various applications of ultrasound in abdominal diseases, how ultrasound is used for Doppler evaluation, and the indications for ordering ultrasounds and ultrasound-guided interventions. DUTIE: Students will work with dedicated abdominal radiologists, radiology residents and abdominal imaging fellows to observe the interpretations of a variety of sonographic studies including: abdomen, pelvis, liver and renal transplant, 1st trimester obstetrical ultrasound and DVT studies. Students will have the opportunity to work with the sonographers to learn scanning technique. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None
RADI 4011A: Pediatric Radiology (University Hospitals): DESCRIPTION: The elective in Pediatric Radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will focus on all imaging modalities pertaining to evaluation of the pediatrics including radiographs, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, CT and MRI. Emphasis will be placed on establishing a basic knowledge of pediatric imaging including emergency/trauma evaluation, acute abdominal pain, inflammatory disease, and pediatric oncology. OBJECTIVE: Students will be exposed to the practice of pediatric radiology and insight into pediatric radiology as a subspecialty in radiology. Students will understand the basics of pediatric image interpretation, indications for studies, and basic fluoroscopic technique. DUTIE: Students will work with dedicated pediatric radiologists observing all aspects of pediatric imaging including radiography, fluoroscopy, sonography, CT and MRI. All students will attend twice daily resident conference. There will be dedicated medical student lectures three days a week given by attending radiologists, and once per week given by radiology residents. Grading will be based on a combination of daily attendance, weekly quizzes, interesting case reports, and attending evaluation. Please refer to our website: http://www.caseradiology.com. There will be no responsibility for interpretation. PREREQUISITES: None

All electives incorporate a "flipped classroom" approach which aligns with the guideline principles of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. This includes active learning components with the following:

Interactive anatomy sessions
Question-based case conferences
Radiology staff
Resident lectures

There are ample opportunities for time in the reading rooms, interventional cases and medical student-driven case presentations.

Mentoring Elective Experiences

Medical students applying to a Diagnostic or Interventional Radiology Residency may indicate preferences for additional experiences to get to know our residents and faculty for recruitment purposes. We have implemented a medical student mentoring program with select faculty throughout the department. Students matched with these mentors will be assigned to reading rooms based on those faculty in order to get more face time with faculty.

For medical students pursuing other specialty careers, more time may be arranged in the reading rooms that relate to your specialty of choice. As an example, if you are pursuing neurosurgery or neurology, more of your elective will be spent in the neuroradiology reading rooms with the neuroradiology elective.

About Our Curriculum

For all our Department of Radiology medical school electives, we have standardized assignments and quizzes utilized for grading. There are two quizzes for a four-week elective (or one quiz for a two-week elective). Students are also expected to complete at least one case presentation about an interesting imaging study reviewed during the elective. Please see the linked documents below for further details:

The final grade will be a combination of the weekly quizzes, case reports and conference attendance.

Quiz One – 40 points (weeks one and two)
Quiz Two – 40 points (weeks three and four)
Case Presentation – 15 points
Aquifer Cases – 20 points
Attendance – 20 points
Forms – 15 points

Final Grade

Honors 95-100 percent (142 points or greater)
Commendable 81-94 percent (120-141 points)
Satisfactory 71-80 percent (105-119 points)
Unsatisfactory <70 percent (104 points or less)

Borderline grades can be raised based on the End of Rotation Assessment.