Ochsner Health is a system that delivers health to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate.
Clinical Experience - Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program
Residents work closely with staff physicians on each rotation. Most rotations have junior residents paired with a senior resident.
In our Outpatient Imaging Center, residents will rotate through musculoskeletal (MSK) radiology, ultrasound, and chest radiology. The MSK rotation is busy with cross sectional spine and joint imaging as well as plain film radiography. Ultrasound includes both inpatient and outpatient exams. The Ochsner ultrasound department is very strong and works closely with our busy transplant surgery teams. Chest radiology incorporates CT and plain film chest exams from across the Ochsner system.
The Neuroradiology rotation is performed in the main department. Ochsner residents find their neuroimaging rotations to be a very strong experience, as we have excellent teaching with a mix of tertiary and primary care imaging. Neuroscience is a major growth area of Ochsner, and a Neuroscience Center of Excellence facility has been completed behind the OIC.
The Breast Imaging rotation is performed in the Tansey Breast Center, located in our Benson Cancer Center, which is part of the OMC Complex. The Tansey Breast Center offers multidisciplinary, patient centered care. Residents have broad exposure to digital mammography, tomosynthesis, contrast-enhanced mammography, hands-on breast ultrasound, and breast MRI, including performance of biopsies using all modalities.
Interventional Radiology has become a major strength of the Ochsner residency, where residents work directly with staff in a busy, high-level department with many well-trained Body Interventionalists supporting OMC’s top ranked transplant department and growing cancer services. There is also a supplemental one-month IR rotation at the Westbank community hospital. The residency offers the Early Specialization in Interventional Radiology (ESIR) pathway, allowing residents to enter advanced one-year positions in independent IR programs. We also have one integrated IR resident per year.
Interventional Neuroradiology is performed alongside the body IR rotation where there are 2 biplane neuroangiography rooms. Ochsner residents will rotate at least one month with the INR faculty. The INR service supports the Ochsner Comprehensive Stroke Center, which is at the center of a 53-site hub-and-spoke telestroke system, the largest stroke program in the Gulf South. Our INRs perform the full gamut of neurovascular and spinal interventions.
The Nuclear Medicine program is growing, as Ochsner has its own Cyclotron and is investing heavily in cancer services. Theranostics is a significant growth area in our department. Interested residents have the potential to perform the 16-month nuclear medicine dual pathway.
Ochsner is currently building a new pediatric hospital adjacent to the main hospital, with a target completion date in 2027-2028. In anticipation, Ochsner has hired many new pediatric subspecialists, including pediatric radiologists. Our pediatric radiology experience continues to grow in quality.
Body imaging is a significant growth area in Ochsner. Residents have early exposure to body MRI including high volumes of rectal, prostate, and liver MRI. Ochsner has partnered with MD Anderson to increase our Cancer Services and clinical trials offered to Ochsner patients.
Residents also participate in evening and night rotations where they interpret acute hospital and Emergency Department scans. Ochsner is committed to becoming a trauma center within the next year, which will significantly increase our resident trauma exposure to trauma imaging. There is complete 24/7/365 staff coverage interpreting imaging studies with residents after hours and on weekends.
Why Choose Ochsner?
Ochsner Health is the leading nonprofit healthcare system in the Gulf South, serving patients across Louisiana, Mississippi, and surrounding regions.
- 47 hospitals and more than 370 health and urgent care centers
- Over 40,000 team members
- Approximately 4,900 employed and affiliated physicians
- Care for 1.6 million patients annually from all 50 states and dozens of countries