Radiology training in Australia and New Zealand

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Radiology training in Australia and New Zealand is a five-year program overseen by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR).

Radiology training can start after two years working as an intern / hospital medical officer (resident) in an approved hospital.

There are accredited training sites in each state and territory in Australia, as well as throughout New Zealand, with varied selection processes.

Structure

The training program comprises two phases:

  • phase 1: years one to three
    • general radiology training
  • phase 2: years four and five
    • advanced radiology training
Assessments

In addition to the RANZCR examination, a variety of other assessments are required to be completed, and typically require submission at the end of each training year. These include:

  • part 1 examination: barrier to advanced radiology training
  • part 2 examination
  • direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS)
    • trainees are observed performing a procedure by a supervisor (consultant, sonographer, etc)
  • mini-individual patient exercise (IPX)
    • trainees are assessed by a consultant on their interpretation and reporting skills for an individual case
  • critically appraised topics (CATs)
    • trainees complete a critically appraised review of the literature surrounding a case they have seen, and present this for assessment
  • multisource feedback (MSF)
    • assessment of trainee communication and behavior in and around the department, and requires completion by staff from a number of different areas (radiologists, radiographers, sonographers, nurses, administration staff, etc)
  • experiential requirements
    • the college sets minimum requirements for numbers of cases to be reported for each imaging modality
    • for example, a minimum of 7000 plain films are required prior to the end of year 3, and 10,000 plain films are required by the end of year 5 of training.
  • research: projects 1 and 2

NB: details correct at time of writing. Please check with RANZCR for updated details.