Nuclear Medicine Residency

The nuclear medicine residency is Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited and includes one-, two- and three-year programs designed to meet the diverse needs and goals of trainees.

In our residency, you'll be guided by accomplished faculty in a positive environment focused on excellence in learning, patient care and research, with all programs focused on helping you build competence and confidence as a successful nuclear medicine physician. Each year, more than 7,000 nuclear medicine procedures are performed at Rush University Medical Center, enabling residents to learn and practice a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.

Three nuclear medicine residency pathways are available.

• Three-year: Requires at least one year of training in fundamental clinical education in a program accredited by ACGME or by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or equivalent
• Two-year: Requires completion of an accredited patient care specialty residency
• One-year: Requires completion of an accredited program in diagnostic radiology

Residency highlights

• Training emphasizes the relationship of nuclear medicine procedures to other diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.
• Lectures encompass radiopharmacy/radiochemistry, radiation safety and dosimetry, nuclear medicine physics, radiobiology, and clinical procedures.
• Two rigorous and engaging daily clinical interpretation conferences center the clinical training program. In general and nuclear cardiology conferences, studies from the previous day are read, and residents defend their preliminary reports.
• Residents serve as officer-of-the-day, or OD, along with a radiology resident rotating through the department. The OD oversees the section’s clinical activities for a day, consulting with referring house staff and attending physicians, supervising clinical studies, and writing preliminary reports in patient charts.
• Home call is taken for a week at a time and is shared with the nuclear medicine attending staff and senior radiology residents.
• Residents may participate in existing research projects or start their own. Many residents publish in peer-reviewed journals as primary authors.

How to apply

Please submit applications with three letters of recommendation from professional sources, including a letter from the director of your most recent training program.

Applicants must meet qualifications for a temporary Illinois medical license or must possess a valid permanent Illinois license. International medical school graduates must meet Illinois requirements for licensure and hold a valid Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates certificate. Please direct any questions regarding licensure to the Rush University Graduate Medical Education Office at (312) 942-9551.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email Tiffany T. Rodgers, assistant coordinator, or call (312) 942-4184.