University of Rochester Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

The University of Rochester Diagnostic Radiology residency is an academic, tertiary/quaternary-care program centered at Strong Memorial Hospital, a Level I trauma center housing Golisano Children's Hospital, the NCI-designated Wilmot Cancer Center, and a large referral catchment across Upstate New York, generating over 1.2 million annual imaging studies. The four-year (PGY-2 to PGY-5) curriculum uses a subspecialty block structure with a dedicated PGY-3 quality-improvement project, a night-float call system with graduated autonomy, and flexible senior-year electives allowing pursuit of Holman, Nuclear Medicine, or Pediatric Radiology pathways, international rotations, or private-practice-based experiences. Fellowship subspecialization is the norm among graduates (interventional, neuro, ER, pediatric, MSK, breast, body), and the program explicitly frames itself as preparing residents equally for academic medicine or private practice rather than pushing a single trajectory. Structurally, the program appears to value flexibility, mentorship, and case-volume-driven competence over a rigid research mandate, with residents frequently changing subspecialty tracks as interests evolve.