Factors Influencing Radiology Residents' Fellowship Training and Practice Preferences in Canada.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to examine the postresidency plans of Canadian radiology residents and factors influencing their fellowship choices and practice preferences, including interest in teaching and research. METHODS: Institutional ethics approval was obtained at McMaster University. Electronic surveys were sent to second to fifth-year residents at all 16 radiology residency programs across Canada. Each survey assessed factors influencing fellowship choices and practice preferences. RESULTS: A total of 103 (31%) Canadian radiology residents responded to the online survey. Over 89% from English-speaking programs intended to pursue fellowship training compared to 55% of residents from French-speaking programs. The most important factors influencing residents' decision to pursue fellowship training were enhanced employability (46%) and personal interest (47%). Top fellowship choices were musculoskeletal imaging (19%), body imaging (17%), vascular or interventional (14%), neuroradiology (8%), and women's imaging (7%). Respondents received the majority of their fellowship information from peers (68%), staff radiologists (61%), and university websites (58%). Approximately 59% planned on practicing at academic institutions and stated that lifestyle (43%), job prospects (29%), and teaching opportunities (27%) were the most important factors influencing their decisions. A total of 89% were interested in teaching but only 46% were interested in incorporating research into their future practice. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of radiology residents plan on pursuing fellowship training and often receive their fellowship information from informal sources such as peers and staff radiologists. Fellowship directors can incorporate recruitment strategies such as mentorship programs and improving program websites. There is a need to increase resident participation in research to advance the future of radiology.

What do family physicians know about interventional radiology? A survey of family physicians at a Large Canadian Annual Scientific Assembly.

PURPOSE: To quantify the level of background knowledge among family physicians with regard to interventional radiology (IR) procedures, duties, and clinical responsibilities and to develop recommendations on how to further educate family physicians in IR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Paper surveys were administered to family physicians who attended the Ontario College of Family Physicians' Annual Scientific Assembly. Each survey consisted of 14 questions pertaining to IR procedures, clinical duties, collaboration, and education. RESULTS: A total of 213 of 229 (93%) attempted paper surveys were completed. Family physicians rated their knowledge of IR as poor (31%), adequate (53%), good (14%), or excellent (2%). A total of 98%, 71%, 47%, and 38% correctly identified that interventional radiologists performed image-guided biopsies, uterine artery embolization, radiofrequency ablation of tumors, and vascular angioplasties, respectively. Only 7% correctly identified that interventional radiologists are currently not recognized as distinct subspecialists by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Approximately 71% would refer patients directly to an interventional radiologist. A total of 96% believed that future education about IR would be "very" or "somewhat" helpful. Approximately 43% selected presentations given by interventional radiologists at family medicine conferences as their preferred method of future education. CONCLUSIONS: The data quantify and demonstrate the knowledge gap that exists among family physicians in Canada regarding IR procedures, duties, and responsibilities. Family physicians strongly support future education and collaboration with interventional radiologists. Eight results-based recommendations are made to further educate family physicians about IR and promote increased collaboration.

FPGA Implementation of the Coupled Filtering Method and the Affine Warping Method.

In ultrasound image analysis, the speckle tracking methods are widely applied to study the elasticity of body tissue. However, "feature-motion decorrelation" still remains as a challenge for the speckle tracking methods. Recently, a coupled filtering method and an affine warping method were proposed to accurately estimate strain values, when the tissue deformation is large. The major drawback of these methods is the high computational complexity. Even the graphics processing unit (GPU)-based program requires a long time to finish the analysis. In this paper, we propose field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based implementations of both methods for further acceleration. The capability of FPGAs on handling different image processing components in these methods is discussed. A fast and memory-saving image warping approach is proposed. The algorithms are reformulated to build a highly efficient pipeline on FPGA. The final implementations on a Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA are at least 13 times faster than the GPU implementation on the NVIDIA graphic card (GeForce GTX 580).

Radiology in the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum: Too Little, Too Late?

There is an anecdotal need to increase radiology education in medical school. Surveys were distributed to three medical schools, with a respondency of 55 %. Over 91 % of students believed there should be more radiology teaching in medical school. Students prefer different methods of teaching, lectures, group learning, and web-based modules.

The role of morbidity and mortality meetings in interventional radiology.

PURPOSE: To understand the current practice of interventional radiology (IR) morbidity and mortality (M&M) meetings among interventional radiologists in Europe, and to develop a set of results-based recommendations to increase the prevalence of IR M&M meetings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Online electronic surveys were sent to members of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe (CIRSE). Each survey consisted of 18 questions pertaining to IR M&M meetings. RESULTS: A total of 150 CIRSE members responded to the survey. Approximately 47% of respondents held IR M&M meetings in their departments. Among those who held IR M&M meetings, 42% held them monthly and 68% rated the quality of the meetings as good or excellent. Of those who did not have M&M meetings, 94% were interested in incorporating M&M meetings into their future practice. The most common reasons for not holding IR M&M meetings were lack of time (68%) and small IR practice groups (43%). A total of 85% were interested in learning more about IR M&M meetings. The preferred method of education about M&M meetings included annual radiology meetings (44%), peer-reviewed articles in radiology journals (31%), websites (26%), and newsletters (15%). CONCLUSIONS: The data demonstrate that although current practice of M&M meetings in European IR departments is limited, the majority of respondents believe that M&M meetings are beneficial to their practice. There is a need for guidelines or standards of practice to incorporate such meetings in IR departments to prevent medical errors, which may ultimately lead to enhanced patient safety and outcomes.

Comparison of Canadian medical graduates and international medical graduates in Canada: 1989-2007.

PURPOSE: To compare Canadian medical graduates (CMGs) and international medical graduates (IMGs) who completed postgraduate medical education in Canada from 1989 to 2007 by age, gender, specialty, and practice characteristics. METHOD: Data on all CMGs and IMGs who completed residencies or fellowships in Canada from 1989 to 2007 were extracted from the Canadian Post-M.D. Education Registry. Data from 1989-1993 and 2003-2007 were pooled for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 8,501 CMGs and 1,828 IMGs completed post-MD training at Canadian institutions between 1989 and 1993 inclusive; 7,734 CMGs and 1,879 IMGs completed such training between 2003 and 2007. From 1989-1993 to 2003-2007, the average age of CMGs increased from 29.8 to 31.1 years, and average age of IMGs increased from 36.1 to 37.0 years. From 1989-1993 to 2003-2007, the percentage of women increased from 41% (3,471/8,501) to 52% (4,016/7,734) and from 28% (509/1,828) to 42% (791/1,879) for CMGs and IMGs, respectively. The proportion of CMGs who trained in family medicine declined from 54% (4,568/8,501) to 38% (2,921/7,734) from 1989-1993 to 2003-2007. The percentage of IMGs who trained in family medicine increased from 19% (344/1,828) to 37% (699/1,879) during the same period. CONCLUSIONS: IMGs tended to be older, more likely to be men, and more likely to pursue family medicine than their CMG counterparts. These differences have implications in designing future health care policy and recruiting physicians from abroad. Other countries could look at their own physician demographics using this study's methods.

Heteromeric complexes of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) family members, including Hsp70B', in differentiated human neuronal cells.

Human neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have been termed "protein misfolding disorders." Upregulation of heat shock proteins that target misfolded aggregation-prone proteins has been proposed as a potential therapeutic strategy to counter neurodegenerative disorders. The heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) family is well characterized for its cytoprotective effects against cell death and has been implicated in neuroprotection by overexpression studies. HSP70 family members exhibit sequence and structural conservation. The significance of the multiplicity of HSP70 proteins is unknown. In this study, coimmunoprecipitation was employed to determine if association of HSP70 family members occurs, including Hsp70B' which is present in the human genome but not in mouse and rat. Heteromeric complexes of Hsp70B', Hsp70, and Hsc70 were detected in differentiated human SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. Hsp70B' also formed complexes with Hsp40 suggesting a common co-chaperone for HSP70 family members.