The Department of Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco is pleased to offer a new fellowship program in Women’s Imaging. The newly formed Women's Imaging Section incorporates the Breast Imaging Section and liaises with the Ultrasound and Abdominal Imaging Sections to provide a comprehensive and integrated service for radiological assessment of women's health issues, and education in the imaging of these diseases. This exciting fellowship training opportunity provides structured training in breast imaging, ultrasound and abdominal-pelvic imaging, with opportunities to specialize in breast cancer and gynecologic conditions. In addition to the traditional 12-month breast imaging fellowship, individual training can be tailored to focus on breast imaging/ultrasound or breast imaging/abdominal-pelvic imaging. Dedicated research time and mentoring of research projects is provided by a wealth of internationally recognized clinical and basic science faculty.

The Breast Imaging Section, under the direction of Dr. Bonnie N. Joe, is responsible for all breast-related imaging examinations including mammography, digital mammography, ultrasound, MRI and interventional procedures (including stereotactic- and ultrasound-guided core biopsy, image-guided localizations, fine-needle aspiration biopsy, cyst aspiration, ductography, and MR-guided biopsies). The section performs approximately 18,000 examinations per year, with a steadily increasing caseload and planned expansion of the breast MRI program. Fellows share in all clinical activities under the supervision of six breast imaging faculty members. A same-day assessment clinic is offered once a week as a service to the breast surgeons and both fellows and faculty attend a weekly multidisciplinary breast tumor board conference.

The Ultrasound Section, under the direction of Dr. Ruth Goldstein performs approximately 30,000 sonograms yearly including those of obstetrics, gynecology, abdominal, neonatal, thyroid, and testicular examinations. Numerous sonographically guided biopsies are performed weekly as well as many intra-operative sonograms. UCSF is a major center for in utero therapy and well known for its pioneering work on fetal therapy. Training in the Ultrasound Section includes a unique emphasis on fetal medicine and therapy. Fellows attend the weekly Fetal Treatment Conference, a multidisciplinary conference including neonatologists, perinatologists, pediatric surgeons and radiologists. Fellows are active participants in all aspects of the ultrasound section’s clinical activities and rotate through all clinical sites (outpatient and inpatient and both Moffitt/Long and Mt. Zion Hospitals).

The Abdominal Imaging Section, under the direction of Dr. Fergus Coakley, is responsible for a growing, diverse workload including advanced CT and MRI applications, GI and GU fluoroscopic studies and plain image interpretation. The section is actively involved in the staging workup of breast and gynecologic malignancies. The section also provides specialized studies for evaluation of pelvic floor dysfunction and infertility, including hysterosalpingography. Fellows will gain experience in interpretation of PET/CT examinations for initial evaluation of breast and gynecologic malignancies and their follow up. As part of the Women’s Imaging fellowship, trainees will be based primarily at the Cancer Center (UCSF-Mt. Zion Hospital) and will participate in multi-disciplinary gynecologic-oncology tumor boards.