Trends in radiology fellowship training: a Canadian review 2009-2011

To assess the percentage, type, and location of radiology fellowships chosen by graduating Canadian residents between 2009 and 2011.

A short e-mail questionnaire was sent to the radiology program directors at all 16 institutions in Canada that provide English or French residency. The responses were collected between December 6, 2010, and May 20, 2011.

A 75% response rate was observed for the survey: 76%-79% residents were enrolled in radiology fellowship training. In 2009-2010, 72%-73% of residents remained in Canada. This dropped to 51% in 2011. In 2009-2010, 22%-23% of residents chose U.S.-based radiology training. This rose to 49% in 2011. Europe was chosen by 0%-4% of residents: all of whom were French-speaking residents, and all programs were in France. Relatively consistent percentages of radiology residents choose abdominal (19%-30%), cardiac (4%-7%), musculoskeletal (12%-20%), and pediatrics (2%-5%) from year to year. Greater variability was noted in chest (2%-9%), women's imaging (0%-14%), intervention radiology (6%-18%), and neuroradiology (2%-18%). Radiology fellowships in split subspecialties, which were available at a small number of institutions, were chosen by 8%-9% of the residents.

Nearly 4 of 5 residents choose radiology fellowship training. In 2011, there was a 2-fold increase in the number of residents who chose training in the United States. This may be a 1-year outlier but should be observed. A wide range of fellowships were chosen, with consistent numbers in some core fellowships and variability in others year to year. Limited exploration of the rationale for, or employability value of, radiology fellowship choices has been done in Canada. Nearly 1 of 10 residents chose split radiology fellowships, an option limited by availability at few centers. The value of expanding this option is worthy of investigation.