Fellowship Details & Requirements

In addition to the GME office's requirements, eligibility requirements include but are not limited to:   

• Trainees must have also completed an ACGME approved (or equivalent) residency training program in Diagnostic Radiology.

Each application is reviewed by the program director of thoracic imaging with the consultation of other faculty members in the department. Top applicants, chosen based on their credentials and letters of recommendation, are invited for a formal interview. 

Interviews will take place over a half day and include participation of the staff. Applicants will have the opportunity to meet with faculty and current fellows. The final selection of fellows is made in a series of joint meetings of all staff members. 

A sample contract for prospective trainees may be viewed here. 

Applications will be accepted for academic year 2026-2027 starting November 1, 2024 and interviews will begin January 2025 as per the SCARD guidelines.

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 Thoracic Imaging Fellowship are to: 

• To educate trainees in the advanced interpretation of chest radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography/computed tomography. 
• To educate trainees in the biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, staging, pathology, treatment, and complications of thoracic malignancies, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, thymic malignancies, and mesothelioma. 
• To provide an opportunity for academic research using the case material and resources of MDACC.

The trainee will spend their time in the areas of chest radiography, chest CT, chest MRI and PET. In CT and MRI, responsibilities will include protocol design for patient studies and monitoring of studies for patient safety and diagnostic accuracy. However, the focus will be on the interpretation of clinical cases, especially chest CT. The studies will be dictated by the fellow and reviewed with a faculty member. 

Optional electives include a rotation in Cardiothoracic service at UT Houston/Memorial Hermann Hospital under the supervision of the program director and a rotation in PET/CT imaging at MD Anderson to enhance the trainee’s knowledge of the staging of lung cancer, esophageal cancer and mesothelioma. 

In addition, the trainee will review cases presented at the Multidisciplinary Conference for Lung Cancer, the Multidisciplinary Conference for Esophageal Cancer. In addition, via zoom, the trainee may present cases at the Multidisciplinary Conference of General Oncology at our Houston Area Locations in tThe Woodlands, West Houston and League City. The trainee will review the films and patient histories with the faculty assigned to that conference and attend an/or present the cases at that conference to clinicians including those from Thoracic Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Pathology and Pulmonary Medicine. 

The trainee will have one academic day per week to do research. It is the responsibility of the trainee to identify a project early in the year and to complete a potentially publishable paper by the end of the year. 

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. The Esophageal Tumor Board, Thoracic Cancer Multidisciplinary Tumor Board and DI Fellows/Residents Teaching Session conferences have been chosen as the fellows’ responsibility, and the trainees will rotate through them all during the year. 

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: 

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

Trainee 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. 

Trainee 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. 

Trainee 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. 

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

Supervision: 

Thoracic 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 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:  

Sartin SL, Shetty DR, Strange CD, Gayer G, Ahuja J, Agrawal R, Truong MT, Pitfalls in PET/CT in the thorax and abdomen, Seminars of Ultrasound, CT and MRI journal, 2024 

Dalla Pria HRF, Agrawal R, Shroff GS, Truong MT, Moran CA, Ahuja J. Case of the Season: Pleural Talcoma Mimicking Metastasis. Semin Roentgenol 2023 Oct;58(4):387-390. 

Shroff GS, Strange CD, Ahuja J, Altan M, Sheshadri A, Unlu E, Truong MT, Vlahos I. Imaging of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Immunotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Radiographics. 2022 Nov-Dec;42(7):1956-1974 

Godoy MCB, Lago EAD, Ferreira Dalla Pria HR, Shroff GS, Strange CD, Truong MT. Pearls and Pitfalls in Lung Cancer CT Screening. Semin Ultrasound CT MR. 2022 Jun;43(3):246-256. 

Godoy MCB, Ferreira Dalla Pria HR, Truong MT, Shroff GS, Marom EM. Invasive Fungal Pneumonia in Immunocompromised Patients. Radiol Clin North Am. 2022 May;60(3):497-506. doi: 10.1016/j.rcl.2022.01.006. PMID: 35534133. 

Virarkar M, Iyer R, Bhosale P, Bathala T, Chong W, Shroff G. Esophageal pneumatosis: Case report and review of literature. Clin Imaging. 2019 Nov-Dec; 58:15-21. 

Virarkar M, Tayyab S, Thampy R, Bhosale P, Viswanathan C. Primary pulmonary angiosarcoma: case reports and review of the literature. Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2019 Jun;27(5):347-352. 

Benveniste MF, Gomez D, Carter BW, Betancourt Cuellar SL, Shroff GS, Benveniste APA, Odisio EG, Marom EM. Recognizing Radiation Therapy-related Complications in the Chest. Radiographics. 2019 Mar-Apr;39(2):344-366.  

Odisio EG, Truong MT, Duran C, de Groot PM, Godoy MC. Role of Dual-Energy Computed Tomography in Thoracic Oncology. Radiol Clin North Am. 2018 Jul;56(4):535-548. 

Godoy MCB, Odisio EGLC, Erasmus JJ, Chate RC, Dos Santos RS, Truong MT. Understanding Lung-RADS 1.0: A Case-Based Review. Semin Ultrasound CT MR. 2018 Jun;39(3):260-272.   

Godoy MCB, Odisio EGLC, Truong MT, de Groot PM, Shroff GS, Erasmus JJ. Pulmonary Nodule Management in Lung Cancer Screening: A Pictorial Review of Lung-RADS Version 1.0. Radiol Clin North Am. 2018 May;56(3):353-363. 

Odisio EG, Marom EM, Shroff GS, Wu CC, Benveniste APA, Truong MT, Benveniste MF. Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: Diagnosis, Staging, Pitfalls and Follow-up. Semin Ultrasound CT MR. 2017 Dec;38(6):559-570. 

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. 

Thoracic Imaging department

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.