Penn Veterinary Medicine | University of Pennsylvania

Residency

 

Welcome

The Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania is one of the largest and most diverse in the United States and provides an unparalleled opportunity for postgraduate education. The mission of the residency program is to train leaders in veterinary diagnostic imaging.

The Section of Radiology enjoys a varied practice, thereby providing a broad range of experiences for our residents. Our program is enriched not only by the diversity of the cases we see, but also by the different backgrounds that our faculty and residents come from.

We thrive for excellence and leadership and accomplish this through an intensive training program, relying on a busy caseload and true mentorship. Our residency program offers constant presence of faculty next to the residents in training, on a daily basis.

 

“The atmosphere at work is always excellent. As a resident, I feel lucky to be trained and to learn every single day in such a good environment. The residency in veterinary radiology at Upenn is at the same time an incredible training and human experience.”  Romain Cavrenne, Class of 2010

 

Several of our graduates serve in leadership positions in academia: Penn Vet radiology alumni include current faculty members of radiology sections at various universities such as UC Davis or Michigan State University. Others are successful radiologists in practice and own flourishing specialty practices.

 

Meet the residents

	Susannah Lillis, BSc, BVMS (Hons), Class of 2009: Susannah graduated with an Honours degree in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from Murdoch University in Western Australia in 2002. Before joining Penn in July 2006 Susannah completed a rotating internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at The University of Melbourne and enjoyed a brief period in private small animal practice. She has recently completed a Master of Veterinary Science from The University of Melbourne.
	Romain Cavrenne, DMV, Class of 2010: Romain obtained his DMV from the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Liege (Belgium) and then pursued a small animal clinical internship at the same school. He then practiced in various veterinary hospitals in France until 2005, when he returned to academia to complete a 2 year long clinical internship at the department of radiology of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Liege.
	Hadley Bagshaw, VMD, Class of 2010: Hadley graduated from Princeton University in '93 and worked for 2.5yrs in Niger, West Africa as a part of the Peace Corps. He traveled and worked abroad and across the U.S. for the next four years before starting work as a technician in the Radiology Department at VHUP. He started vet school the next year, graduating from UPenn in '02 before going on to an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Animal Medical Center in NYC and then a surgical internship at the MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center West in Springfield, MA. He worked mostly emergency for the next three years at Red Bank Animal Hospital in NJ and then Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in R.I., from where he applied to Radiology residency programs.
	Jantra Suran, DVM, Class of 2011: Jantra was born and raised in NYC. She graduated from Southampton College of the Long Island University in 2000. She started off in scientific research before attending veterinary school at Cornell University. In 2006 she received her DVM, and went on to complete a small animal medicine and surgery internship at the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey. The next year, she worked as a small animal general practitioner in Ithaca, NY. In 2008, she started her Diagnostic Imaging residency here in UPenn.
	Vicente Cervera-Castellanos, DVM, Class of 2011: Vicente graduated in 2001 at the Veterinary School of Valencia, Spain. After this he worked for a year in a small animal veterinary practice in Valencia before moving to France, where he completed a 7 months externship and then a one year rotating small animal internship at the Veterinary School of Lyon. He then returned to Spain to work in private practice and completed several externships including at UC Davis, California; CVS, San Marcos, California; Central Florida Radiology Specialists, Florida; University of Edinburgh, UK. He then held a position of assistant professor of veterinary radiology at the University of Valencia, Spain, before joining us at UPenn in 2008 to start a residency in Veterinary Radiology. Besides radiology, Vicente loves to travel, hiking, climbing, triathlon, biking and cooking.

 

Starting your residency training

Radiology is a new language, indeed a new world, for incoming residents, even those who have had significant prior clinical or research experience prior to entering residency. Residents initially rotate through radiology and ultrasound to learn the technical basis of image acquisition and fundamentals of ultrasound technology and image acquisition.

 

"The program at Penn is comprehensive and the caseload is unmatched, but it is the people that make it what it is-- it is an energetic, diverse, young and dynamic department (and good-looking, too). The atmosphere is positive, and often laced with humor, but always charged with a professional efficiency in handling the clinical caseload while educating the students and residents. Every day at Penn makes me want to be a better clinician and reminds me why I chose to pursue Radiology."  Hadley Bagshaw, Class of 2010.

 

The bulk of the rotations throughout the first year of residency consist of covering the floor in small animal radiology, performing special procedures and contrast studies, and abdominal ultrasonography, and large animal radiology and ultrasound. During years 2 and 3, residents start to rotate through Computed tomography and Magnetic resonance imaging.

The residency starts on July 15 and residents are present on the floor from day 1. Residents are on clinical duty all days of the week (Mon-Fri) except for one day dedicated to reading and research, where there is no clinical responsibility. Residents are expected to use this time off to catch up with literature and advance their research project. All residents on clinical duty work under the direct supervision of a board-certified radiologist.

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Clinical Education

The radiologists in the Section of Radiology are recognized for their clinical expertise and research accomplishments. Even more importantly, they are committed to resident education.

We take great interest in providing advice, help and answer questions every day. We are always physically present within the section of radiology to provide guidance and support.

 

"The strengths of the program here at Penn are the caseload and the faculty. The perpetually high numbers of diagnostic imaging cases that you are exposed to as a resident - in radiology, US, CT, and MR - serve you well in all stages of your residency. They force you to acquire technical proficiency quickly, to read the literature, to learn how to handle the high moment-to-moment demands the hospital has of its radiology department, and to delegate the snippits of time you have left to your own projects. The faculty are uniquely involved in every step of the program, and not only are they widely available to assist with case interpretation and to provide research guidance, but truly help keep you on the right path throughout your residency." Marina Ivancic, Class of 2008

Morning rounds are held daily. These rounds are often case-based ("hot seat") conferences designed to stimulate thought, simulate clinical problem solving, and to prepare residents for their oral boards, with focus on clinical radiology. Special rounds include Known Case Conferences focusing on ultrasound, CT or MRI. Small group presentations focusing on some particular aspects of the board exam objectives are also organized by the residents on a regular basis, with faculty presence to emphasize the important points and relevant information as it relates to board preparation.

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"The caseload at Penn is enormous which is a tremendous advantage for our Residency program as we are able to see many examples of both common and uncommon conditions and gain a lot of practical experience. Young, energetic faculty, friendly and helpful technicians and a great team of residents ensures we have a lot of fun whilst getting the work done!" Susannah Lillis, Class of 2009

 

Additional first year introductory courses are provided by the School of Medicine covering the topics of Physics of Diagnostic Imaging.

A journal club is conducted once a month to help residents read literature critically. Each journal club meeting focuses on 5 to 6 significant papers relating to Diagnostic Imaging and published in journals other than Veterinary Radiology and Ultrasound.

Two 2 week rotations in cardiology are integrated into the first and second year of the residency program. Additional rotations in an area of interest can be taken during the residency program.

We are continuously expanding our array of digital teaching media, ranging from digital presentation on many topics related to diagnostic imaging with emphasis on the board objectives, radiographic anatomy presentations, and an expanding electronic teaching file hosted on the PACS. All of our residents can access the PACS system from home, making access to images and interesting cases possible virtually 24-7.

 

Research Opportunities

Research is an integral component of our residency, and all of residents now undertake research. Flexibility is the hallmark of the program, but most residents need to devote a significant amount of their time to completing their research project. A variety of retrospective and prospective projects are available, and even though the residents areas of interest are taken into account, most projects relate somehow to the areas of research project/expertise that our section has developed over the past few years. The residents are expected to complete their research by year 3 of residency and present their results at one of the ACVR annual meetings.

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On-Call Responsibilities

Radiology resident on-call starts in August/September, during the first year of residency.

Faculty back-up is provided for three months after the residents start taking call: the faculty will be physically present every time the resident will have to come in.

Call duties are equally divided amongst the residents regardless of the year they are in. This usually corresponds to one night a week and one week end a month. All calls are taken from home, with the residents coming in only if required. For week end calls, residents are expected to come in from 9 am to 4 pm and then take calls from home and come in on demand.

 

“It has been an awesome opportunity to be a member of the radiology department at the University of Pennsylvania. It is an excellent residency program with a large diversified caseload, very good guidance and great camaraderie.” Alejandro Valdes-Martinez, Class of 2008

 

Teaching responsibilities

We involve our residents in teaching the veterinary students when and where appropriate. We believe that being forced to teach is a great way to learn. In addition to daily interaction with students on the clinics, our residents are involved in teaching a few morning student radiology rounds (year 3), as well as the ultrasound hand-on lab (starting year 2). They also participate in a few of the radiology labs given yearly to the 1st and 2nd year veterinary students, with topics such as radiographic anatomy and orthopedic radiology. They also teach a yearly radiology review including two sessions of three hours to the interns of the veterinary hospital.

 

Travel funds and other benefits

The residents have an amount of $1,200.00 every year available to travel to conferences. These funds do roll over across the three years of residency.

The section of radiology furnishes an additional $500.00 over three year, to be used towards externships, or to complete funding for travel to conferences or continuing education sessions.

Limited funds are available for exceptional needs regarding educational purposes and availability can be discussed with the section on a case by case basis.

Residents share an office and all have their own working space with a dedicated desktop.

 

Library

Radiology residents have a dedicated library which may be accessed 24 hours a day. It contains bound radiology journals, textbooks (both recent and older versions), and educational CD-roms and laser discs.

The libraries of the School of Veterinary Medicine (Ryan Hospital and New Bolton Center) also offer a full array of textbooks and journals and on-line access to tens of electronic resources including most veterinary journals is possible from anywhere, making access to information extremely convenient.

If you want to know more information about our program, please consult the on line description.

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Where are they now?

After residency most of our residents go to private practice, either working as radiologists in large referral hospitals or building their own radiology or teleradiology practice. A fair number of our graduates have chosen academic careers and are now participating in training more veterinary radiologist and advance the knowledge in veterinary radiology and veterinary science. Below is a list showing where our recent residents are now, and a list of their resident-authored publications.

Dr. Allison Zwingenberger (Class of 2004), DACVR, DECVDI, Assistant Professor of Radiology, UC DAVIS School of Veterinary Medicine

1. Zwingenberger AL, McLear RC, Weisse C. ”Diagnosis of arterioportal fistulae in four dogs using computed tomographic angiography.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2005 Nov-Dec;46(6):472-7.
2. Zwingenberger AL, Schwarz T, Saunders HM. ”Helical computed tomographic angiography of canine portosystemic shunts.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2005 Jan-Feb;46(1):27-32.
3. Zwingenberger AL, Schwarz T. ”Dual-phase CT angiography of the normal canine portal and hepatic vasculature.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2004 Mar Apr;45(2):117-24.

Dr Yael Porat-Mosenco (Class of 2004), DECVDI, Staff Veterinarian, Radiology Section, School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania

1. Porat-Mosenco Y, Schwarz T, Kass PH. ”Thick-section reformatting of thinly collimated computed tomography for reduction of skull-base-related artifacts in dogs and horses.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2004 Mar-Apr;45(2):131-5.

Dr Ana Caceres (Class of 2005), DACVR, Staff Veterinarian, Radiology Section, School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania

1. Cáceres AV, Zwingenberger AL, Hardam E, Lucena JM, Schwarz T. “Helical computed tomographic angiography of the normal canine pancreas. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2006 May-Jun;47(3):270-8.

Dr Jennifer Reetz (Class of 2006), DACVR, DACVIM, Staff Veterinarian, Radiology Section, School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania

1. Reetz JA, Maï W, Muravnick KB, Goldschmidt MH, Schwarz T. ”Computed tomographic evaluation of anatomic and pathologic variations in the feline nasal septum and paranasal sinuses.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2006 Jul-Aug;47(4):321-7.
2. Reetz JA, Seiler G, Mayhew PD, Holt DE. ”Ultrasonographic and color-flow Doppler ultrasonographic assessment of direct cutaneous arteries used for axial pattern skin flaps in dogs.” J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2006 May 1;228(9):1361-5.

Dr Jennifer Kinns (Class of 2007), DACVR, DECVDI, Assistant Professor of Radiology, University of Michigan

1. Kinns J, Mai W. “Association between malignancy and sonographic heterogeneity in canine and feline abdominal lymph nodes.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2007 Nov-Dec;48(6):565-9.
2. Kinns J, Mai W, Seiler G, Zwingenberger A, Johnson V, Cáceres A, Valdés-Martínez A, Schwarz T. ”Radiographic sensitivity and negative predictive value for acute canine spinal trauma.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2006 Oct-Nov;47(6):563-70.
3. Berent AC, Kinns J, Weisse C.” Balloon dilatation of nasopharyngeal stenosis in a dog.” J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2006 Aug 1;229(3):385-8.

Dr Mathieu Spriet (Class of 2007), DACVR, DECVDI, Assistant Professor of Radiology, UC DAVIS School of Veterinary Medicine

1. Spriet M, Mai W, McKnight A. “Asymmetric signal intensity in normal collateral ligaments of the distal interphalangeal joint in horses with a low-field MRI system due to the magic angle effect.” Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2007 Mar-Apr;48(2):95-100.

Dr Marina Ivancic (Class of 2008), DACVR, Veterinary Radiologist in Private Practice, Vancouver, BC, Canada

1. Ivancic M., Mai W. "Qualitative and quantitative comparison of renal vs. hepatic ultrasonographic intensity in healthy dogs." Vet Radiology Ultrasound. 2008;49(4): 368-373.
2. Ivancic M, Long F, Seiler G. "Contrast Harmonic Ultrasound of Splenic Masses and Associated Liver Nodules in Dogs." JAVMA 2008, in press.

Dr Alejandro Valdes-Martinez (Class of 2008), DACVR, Assistant Professor of Radiology, Colorado State University

1. Valdes-Martínez A., Seiler G., Mai W., Bolt D.M., Mudge M., Dukti S.A., Hubert J.D. "Quantitative analysis of scintigraphic findings in tibial stress fractures in Thoroughbred racehorses." AJVR. 2008;69(7): 886-890.
2. Valdes-Martínez A., Cianciolo R., Mai W. "Association between renal hypoechoic subcapsular thickening and lymphosarcoma in cats." Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2007;48: 357-360.

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