Clinical Experience



Clinical Experience at Boston Medical Center

Interventional Radiology at Boston Medical Center provides a rich, high-volume clinical experience across the full spectrum of IR. Residents participate in hands-on procedures, longitudinal patient care, multidisciplinary collaboration, and a wide range of routine and advanced interventions.

Common clinical experiences include:

  • Vascular access (tunneled dialysis catheters, ports, PICCs, midlines)
  • Biopsies (lung, liver, renal, soft tissue, bone, lymph node)
  • Abscess drainage, thoracentesis, paracentesis, and tube management
  • Interventional oncology including ablation, TACE/DEB-TACE, Y-90, cryotherapy
  • Biliary interventions including drains, stents, cholangioplasty
  • Gastrointestinal and genitourinary interventions
  • Dialysis access interventions
  • Central venous, portal venous, and hepatic vascular procedures
  • Trauma embolization and hemorrhage control
  • Spine procedures including vertebral augmentation
  • Pulmonary thrombectomy
  • Portal venous interventions
  • Prostate artery embolization
  • Breast cryotherapy
  • Lung cryotherapy
  • SpyGlass cholangioscopy
  • Lymphangiography and thoracic duct embolization

Equipment

Interventional Radiology at BMC has 4 fully equipped procedural suites including a biplane neuro suite with digital subtraction angiography, cone-beam CT, 3D post-processing, and roadmap imaging. Additional CT and ultrasound-guided suites and minor procedure rooms support full procedural capability.

Diagnostic imaging includes 4 spectral CT scanners, 3 MRI units, 10 ultrasound units, PET-CT, SPECT-CT, and CR/DR units. Duplex vascular imaging is also available.

Curriculum

The first 3 years focus on diagnostic radiology; the final 2 years focus on interventional radiology, IR-related rotations, and ICU experience. Residents complete 18 months IR, 5 months IR-related, and 1 month ICU rotations.

  • ICU – one 4-week rotation (PGY-5)
  • Vascular Surgery – two 4-week rotations (PGY-5 and PGY-6)
  • Neurointerventional Radiology – two 4-week rotations (PGY-5 and PGY-6)
  • MSK Radiology Procedures – one 4-week rotation (PGY-5 or PGY-6)

Interventional Radiology Clinic

Residents participate in the outpatient IR clinic providing consultations, pre-procedural evaluations, and longitudinal follow-up for patients.

Call

IR/DR residents take diagnostic radiology call during the first 3 years and home IR call during IR rotations. Call experiences include high-acuity patient care and procedural exposure.