Pediatric Cardiac Radiology Fellowship

The pediatric cardiovascular imaging program at Texas Children’s Hospital is one of the largest programs of its kind in North America, performing approximately 1,500 MR and CT studies each year.

The cardiac MRI program is a combined program supported by the Department of Radiology and the Section of Pediatric Cardiology within the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. Four Philips MR scanners are utilized, including one 3-Tesla magnet, each with unique cardiovascular imaging capabilities. The cardiac MRI program also features two Ph.D. physicists and an image post-processing specialist.

The full spectrum of pediatric cardiovascular MR is performed, including:

• Neonatal imaging
• Complex two-ventricle repair
• All stages of single ventricle repair
• Aortopathy
• Thrombosis
• Cardiomyopathy
• Perfusion and viability

The pediatric cardiovascular CT program is based on a volumetric and dynamic approach using a 320-array scanner. Highlights include:

• Coronary anomalies
• Pulmonary perfusion
• Dynamic airway evaluation
• Neonatal imaging
• Preoperative planning for single ventricle repair
• Post-operative imaging

Our active and established cardiovascular imaging research program is termed the “Children’s Cardiovascular Imaging Biomarker Initiative (cCIBI)” and focuses on development of reproducible and cost-effective imaging biomarkers for common cardiovascular entities in children including aortopathy, anomalous coronaries, cardiomyopathy, myocardial ischemia and viability, single ventricle and complex two-ventricle repair.

Dedicated research pathways include:

• Adapting MR sequences for free-breathing 3-dimensional acquisition in sedated children
• Adapting CT sequences for low-dose acquisition in unsedated children
• Dynamic contrast enhanced MR angiography
• Advanced 3D image post-processing
• 3D printing

Our research program is well-funded, equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software in a dedicated 3D lab, and has collaborations with research partners in academia and industry worldwide who share a common goal of improving the quality of pediatric cardiovascular imaging.

All application materials may be submitted electronically to pedradfellowship@texaschildrens.org.

• Baylor House Staff Application
• Current curriculum vitae
• Personal statement
• USMLE scores (photocopies accepted)
• Three letters of reference (may be sent electronically to the fellowship email from the author)
• Letter of verification of good standing from residency program director (if program director does not provide one of the three letters of reference)

In accordance with the SCARD Embargo, all fellowship interviews will be conducted virtually.

View information on BCM’s stipends and benefits. Fellows will also receive an additional educational allowance for books and national meetings. Fellows receive a home PACS workstation for use during their fellowship year for research and conference preparation.

Maintaining your physical and emotional wellness is a prerequisite to professional success. Our fellows have access to a number of programs to support their well-being. Learn more about our wellness programs.

We accept one fellow per year. The general pediatric radiology fellows occasionally overlap when they do two-week blocks of cardiac imaging. The pediatric cardiology fellowship program also has an advanced imaging fellow who may rotate through cardiac MRI during the fellowship year.

Occasionally rotating radiology residents request one-week electives in cardiac imaging. Having additional rotators allows the cardiac fellow to teach and mentor their juniors, providing another way to practice and solidify what they’ve learned.

The majority of teaching occurs during the performance of imaging studies and during read-out. The fellow is expected to research each patient prior to the start of the procedure, to review all pertinent prior imaging studies, and to understand the goals for the procedure and any alternatives or unique aspects to the procedure.

The cardiac fellow also participates in fellow-level conferences with the general pediatric radiology fellows and in Fellows’ College activities, which are organized and sponsored by the Pediatric Fellowship Program Directors group, which serves all of the pediatric medical subspecialty fellowships by providing lectures and workshops on research, mentoring, job searching and other general topics.

In the first month of fellowship, the cardiac imaging fellow also participates in lectures for the cardiology fellows on basics of cardiac anatomy and physiology. A weekly cardiac imaging conference is organized by the cardiac imaging section and includes didactic lectures, research presentations and protocol workshops.

• Echocardiography conference
• MRI conference
• Fetal cardiology conference
• Fetal multidisciplinary conference
• Pediatric cardiology fellows’ core conference

• Quality Improvement Review

The fellow will perform one to two clinical research projects in the form of an abstract and/or the publication of a manuscript. Fellows are expected to submit their abstract to the Society for Pediatric Radiology annual meeting. Accepted abstracts will be presented by the fellow, with meeting and travel expenses paid by the department.