Fellowship Details & Requirements

Our GME Office has preliminary eligibility requirements that all prospective trainees must meet before applying for a training program at our institution. In addition to these criteria, our program also has the following requirements: 

• Trainee must have completed medical school through a recognized and accredited institution (LCME accredited, AOA accredited, WHO recognized, etc.).  
• Trainees must have also completed an ACGME approved (or equivalent) residency training program in Diagnostic Radiology.

Candidates will be able to access the current training program application during the acceptance period via the program’s public website. Application acceptance and interviews are delineated by SCARD and the NRMP Match Guidelines. Selection is supervised by the Program Director and chair of breast imaging, with the consultation of other faculty members in the section. Materials solicited for review will include a CV, medical school transcripts, residency program director’s recommendation, three letters of reference and a personal statement. Additionally, foreign applicants must be able to obtain a Credentialing Evaluation by an approved agency to ensure candidates have met the educational requirements for the position. Chosen applicants are notified via email and provided a copy of the program description, sample contact and GME benefits handbook. 

A sample contract for prospective trainees may be viewed here. 

Applications will be accepted for academic year 2026-2027 starting November 1, 2024. The deadline to submit an application is December 19, 2024.

The Breast Imaging fellowship program participates in the National Resident Matching Program Specialties Matching Service. The match is sponsored by the Society of Breast Imaging. Interviews will be held February 24-28, 2025.

Required application documents for preliminary review: 

• Curriculum Vitae 
• Medical school transcript 
• USMLE and/or Complex transcript 
• Three additional letters of recommendation (one from current residency program director) 
• Personal statement 
• Recent photograph 
• Interviews will be required 

Additional documents for foreign medical school graduates:

Note: Documents in a language other than English must be submitted with certified translation. 

• ECFMG certificate 

Additional documentation may be required before a candidate can be appointed. 

The goals and objectives of the Breast Imaging Fellowship are to: 

• Educate trainees in the advanced interpretation of mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI and in the accompanying image-guided biopsies.
• Educate trainees in the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathology and therapy of breast cancer including screening for breast cancer and identification patterns of recurrence of malignant breast tumors.
• Provide an opportunity for participation in academic research with the case material and resources of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
• Familiarize trainees with federally- mandated regulations relative to mammography with peer review standards and daily quality control measures. 

The trainee will split their time between the following rotations: Screening mammography, the diagnostic imaging clinic, breast MRI, breast interventional procedures, an elective period, and a clinical non-radiology rotation. During the diagnostic imaging clinic rotation, trainees supervise diagnostic workup algorithms, interact closely with imaging technologists, interpret and report diagnostic cases, as well as perform ultrasound-guided breast biopsies. All cases reviewed by the fellow will be checked by a faculty member, and then reported by the fellow.

The trainee will be expected to perform breast localization procedures using a variety of devices including Magseed, Scout, Elucent, and needle/wire systems.  Fellows will perform stereotactic core needle biopsies with graded levels of responsibility, including planning the procedure, consenting the patient, performing the biopsy, and communicating the results to the patient and physician.

During the breast MRI rotation, the fellow will be responsible for protocoling individual cases and interpreting MRI examinations with faculty oversight. Additional responsibilities will include planning and performing associated MRI-guided biopsies.

Trainees will be expected to correlate image-guided biopsy results with the mammographic, sonographic, and MRI findings after each biopsy performed and appropriately addend the biopsy report with radiology-pathology concordance and final recommendation. Trainees will also participate in the weekly Clinical Management Conference for high-risk lesions.

During the clinical non-radiology rotation, the trainee will rotate through clinical services in breast surgery, pathology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, and the cancer prevention clinic.

The elective period can be used for further training or research within breast imaging or another radiology subspeciality of the fellow’s choosing.

Didactics: 

In addition, part of the “academic day” will be spent preparing for a weekly clinical conference,  (i.e., reviewing the films and the patient histories with the assigned faculty to that conference and attending and/or presenting the cases at the conference). 

On-Call: 

The trainee is responsible for “call” on a rotating basis, but no more frequently than every third or fourth weekend. This involves coverage of all Emergency CT, US exams, CT Head and Neck. All trainees in Diagnostic Radiology will participate in the on-call pool. 

Patient Care Responsibilities:

Trainees must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems requiring diagnostic body imaging. 

Trainees must demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care. 

Trainees must demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and life-long learning. 

Trainees must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources in the system to provide optimal health care. 

Trainee must demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities and an adherence to ethical principles. 

Trainees must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and health professionals. 

Supervision:

Breast imaging faculty will provide supervision on all cases interpreted by a trainee. Initially procedures will be closely supervised; however, it is expected that less faculty involvement will be required as the year progresses and is documented in their ACGME milestone evaluation to allow for graduated autonomous growth of the trainee.

Scholarly activity (publications, posters, abstracts, etc., that trainees are expected to produce during fellowship) Our trainees gain the skillsets they need to participate in clinical research and present their findings in an impactful way. 

Scholarly Activity:  

Xie CL, Whitman GJ, Middleton LP, Bevers TB, Bedrosian I, Chung HL. Isolated Flat Epithelial Atypia: Upgrade Outcomes After Multidisciplinary Review-Based Management Using Excision or Imaging Surveillance. J Breast Imaging. 2023 Jul 22;5(5):575-584. doi: 10.1093/jbi/wbad049. PMID: 37744722; PMCID: PMC10516722. 

Akpolat YT, Dryden MJ, Scoggins ME, Patel MM, Yalniz C, Hassid VJ, Whitman GJ. Imaging Features Following Breast Explant Surgery: A Pictorial Essay. Diagnostics (Basel). 2023 Jun 26;13(13):2173. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13132173. PMID: 37443566; PMCID: PMC10340536. 

Engel AJ, Shin K, Adrada BE, Moseley TW, Krishnamurthy S, Whitman GJ. Review of the Sonographic Features of Interpectoral (Rotter) Lymph Nodes in Breast Cancer Staging. Ultrasound Q. 2023 Jun 1;39(2):69-73. doi: 10.1097/RUQ.0000000000000601. PMID: 35439235. 

Glover AM, Whitman GJ, Shin K. Ergonomics in Radiology: Improving the Work Environment for Radiologists. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2022 Sep-Oct;51(5):680-685. doi: 10.1067/j.cpradiol.2022.03.001. Epub 2022 Mar 5. PMID: 35361509. 

Musall BC, Adrada BE, Candelaria RP, Mohamed RMM, Abdelhafez AH, Son JB, Sun J, Santiago L, Whitman GJ, Moseley TW, Scoggins ME, Mahmoud HS, White JB, Hwang KP, Elshafeey NA, Boge M, Zhang S, Litton JK, Valero V, Tripathy D, Thompson AM, Yam C, Wei P, Moulder SL, Pagel MD, Yang WT, Ma J, Rauch GM. Quantitative Apparent Diffusion Coefficients From Peritumoral Regions as Early Predictors of Response to Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 Dec;56(6):1901-1909. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28219. Epub 2022 May 2. PMID: 35499264; PMCID: PMC9626398. 

Omofoye, Ts., MD, Millet, A., MD, Lane D., MD, Vlahos, I., MD. A Thoracic Radiologist's Guide to  Identification and Management of Mammary Findings on Chest CT. Educational Exhibit. Radiologic Society of North America, Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 2021. 

Musall BC, Abdelhafez AH, Adrada BE, Candelaria RP, Mohamed RMM, Boge M, Le-Petross H, Arribas E, Lane DL, Spak DA, Leung JWT, Hwang KP, Son JB, Elshafeey NA, Mahmoud HS, Wei P, Sun J, Zhang S, White JB, Ravenberg EE, Litton JK, Damodaran S, Thompson AM, Moulder SL, Yang WT, Pagel MD, Rauch GM, Ma J. Functional Tumor Volume by Fast Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI for Predicting Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy Response in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2021 Jul;54(1):251-260. doi: 10.1002/jmri.27557. Epub 2021 Feb 15. PMID: 33586845. 

Zhang S, Rauch GM, Adrada BE, Boge M, Mohamed RMM, Abdelhafez AH, Son JB, Sun J, Elshafeey NA, White JB, Musall BC, Miyoshi M, Wang X, Kotrotsou A, Wei P, Hwang KP, Ma J, Pagel MD. Assessment of Early Response to Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Using Amide Proton Transfer-weighted Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI: A Pilot Study. Radiol Imaging Cancer. 2021 Sep;3(5):e200155. doi: 10.1148/rycan.2021200155. PMID: 34477453; PMCID: PMC8489465. 

Abdelhafez AH, Musall BC, Adrada BE, Hess K, Son JB, Hwang KP, Candelaria RP, Santiago L, Whitman GJ, Le-Petross HT, Moseley TW, Arribas E, Lane DL, Scoggins ME, Leung JWT, Mahmoud HS, White JB, Ravenberg EE, Litton JK, Valero V, Wei P, Thompson AM, Moulder SL, Pagel MD, Ma J, Yang WT, Rauch GM. Tumor necrosis by pretreatment breast MRI: association with neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) response in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Jan;185(1):1-12. doi: 10.1007/s10549-020-05917-7. Epub 2020 Sep 13. PMID: 32920733; PMCID: PMC8294182. 

Morani AC, Jensen CT, Habra MA, Agrons MM, Menias CO, Wagner-Bartak NA, Shaaban AM, Roman-Colon AM, Elsayes KM. Adrenocortical hyperplasia: a review of clinical presentation and imaging. Abdom Radiol (NY). 2020 Apr;45(4):917-927. doi: 10.1007/s00261-019-02048-6. PMID: 31093730. 

Raj SD, Agrons MM, Woodtichartpreecha P, Kalambo MJ, Dogan BE, Le-Petross H, Whitman GJ. MRI-guided needle localization: Indications, tips, tricks, and review of the literature. Breast J. 2019 May;25(3):479-483. doi: 10.1111/tbj.13246. Epub 2019 Mar 28. PMID: 30924216.

Our trainees have the opportunity to work alongside leading  cancer experts at MD Anderson and institutions across the Texas Medical Center. Additionally, our trainees receive exceptional support from the fellowship leadership team. 

Department of Breast Imaging

In addition to gaining unparalleled education and training experience, MD Anderson trainees have access to exceptional resources and benefits to help them build meaningful careers and lead fulfilling lives.

Institutional benefits and support

GME trainees’ salary stipends are updated every year based on the ACGME’s recommendations, and because our trainees are considered workforce members, they also enjoy MD Anderson’s employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement planning, disability insurance and six weeks of parental leave.

Our GME House Staff Senate offers trainees the opportunity to experience a leadership role in a medical field career, and the institution’s Academic Mentoring Council provides avenues to secure tailored academic mentoring from faculty. Our GME trainees benefit from the extensive support offered to our research trainees, too; they are invited to participate in grant application workshops, apply for pilot grants to support their research ideas and receive monetary awards for securing extramural grant funding.

Trainee wellness is also of utmost importance at MD Anderson.

Our trainees have access to MD Anderson’s employee networks, fitness center and other wellness resources provided by the institution. Additionally, our Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), which provides oversight of our accredited programs, regularly assess our trainees’ needs and implements various initiatives, such as providing free call meals and discounted parking to GME House Staff, to address those gaps. The committee even has a subcommittee entirely dedicated to supporting the wellness of our trainees.

Our efforts to ensure a welcoming and supportive education and training experience have been commended nationally. In 2023, the Office of Graduate Medical Education received the DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr. Award, a prestigious national award that recognizes our institution for its respectful and supportive environment for delivering medical education and patient care.

Beyond MD Anderson

MD Anderson’s location has many benefits, too. Our main campus is nestled inside the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center which boasts about 10 million patient encounters each year. Many of our faculty are involved in interorganizational research collaborations, both within the TMC and across the nation, exposing trainees to groundbreaking advancements in medical care in real time.

Most importantly, the city of Houston is a great place to call home and raise a family. We are one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation. More than 145 different languages are spoken across the city, placing us behind only New York and Los Angeles. In fact, about 30% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home. And, paychecks here stretch farther than most U.S. metro areas, thanks to our low cost of living.

Visit our Why Houston page to learn more about our city’s affordable housing, fine dining, entertainment scene, nationally renowned museums and other great attributes.