Magnetic Resonance Imaging Fellowships

Two fellowships per year are offered in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Faculty are MRI fellowship-trained; they include Paul Weatherall, M.D., Doug Sims, M.D., Ronald Peshock, M.D., and Dianne Mendelsohn, M.D.

MRI fellows will be exposed to a wide range of patients and the disease/injury of all organ systems in both hospital and outpatient environments. This will include a full range of examinations involving the musculoskeleton, pelvis, abdomen, chest, breast, and cardiovascular system and, to a lesser extent, spine, outpatient brain, head, and neck imaging. The fellow will be responsible for planning, monitoring, and interpretation of these examinations. At least 10 months of the fellowship is spent on the MRI services, with one or two months of rotations scheduled in other imaging areas, including ultrasound and CT. Research opportunities are plentiful in the form of clinical topics, development of MRI techniques, or more fundamental MRI/MRS projects. Responsibilities also include teaching residents and involvement in multidisciplinary conferences

The MRI program is divided between activities at a hospital-based and an outpatient MR center. The Meadows Imaging Center houses three 1.5 Tesla systems: 2 GE Horizon LX systems and a Philips ACSII system. One magnet has 40mT/m gradient strength for optimal functional and cardiovascular imaging. The outpatient MR center contains two 1.5T (Philips NT Intera) units with 30mT gradients, fMRI, real-time imaging, and dual-channel spectroscopy capabilities. This building also includes five MRS/MRI systems for spectroscopy, and is slated for a 3.0T installation in 2003. The available equipment includes all accessories/specialty coils that are used for standard cardiac, angiography, endorectal and breast examinations, multi-nuclear spectroscopy, functional imaging, and MR-guided biopsy/localization procedures with additional 0.7T open and 3.0T systems to be installed 2002-2003.

For further information, please contact the fellowship coordinator, Sandra Davis, at 214-645-2716 or by email address at Sandra.Davis@UTSouthwestern.edu.