Radiology

Start by emailing with Dr. John Nazarian. He will gauge your interest and fit and assign you a career goal advisor.

RADY 401 or RADY 410 (if applying to IR) should be scheduled as early in the year as possible (March-June), both to confirm your interest and to help with letters of recommendation. At least one subspecialty radiology elective should be scheduled early as well.  If you are interested in a specific program, and especially if interested in Interventional Radiology, strongly consider an away rotation.

Recommended Courses

AI/Acting Internship
1 of either Internal Medicine or Surgery, 2nd AI per student’s choice

Electives
RADY 401, at least 1 additional Radiology Elective, also encourage IR elective if interest in IR

Interventional Radiology – Yes. Diagnostic Radiology – Optional, only if strong interest in a particular place.

Yes

We are happy to meet at any stage of training.  Please have CV, grades, Step 1 and 2 (if applicable) available if requested.  The earlier the better, even if you are not sure what your specialty of choice will be.

Three. At least one should be from a radiologist. One should be from one of your 3rd or 4th year clinical rotations (many but not all are from AI rotations). A second radiology letter may be preferred by some but not all programs. A fourth letter can be useful in select circumstances.

As soon as you feel like you have finished contact with the letter writer, so you are fresh in their mind.  CV, skeleton personal statement, deadline.

This is quite variable and individualized based on the student.  Speaking with the career goal advisors and current radiology residents may be helpful.

YES

Send a friendly reminder to your letter writers.

Email them!  Give a clear reason of why you are interested in their program.

Yes! Give clear reasons of why that program and city interest you.  Do not be generic.

To the Program Director only.

YES! And have clear verbiage.

Be very excited, do not promise something that isn’t true.

Very important. Signals were added to the main ERAS application for the 2023-24 application cycle. Applicants have a total of 12 signals (6 gold and 6 silver) to send to signals indicating strong interest in interviewing at those programs. Presence of a signal has been shown to significantly increase odds of receiving an interview. Furthermore, a synergistic effect of signals aligned with geographic preference has been noted. You should carefully consider your signaling strategy. The advising team is happy to review this with you.

– Multiple publications
– Prolonged ir exposure
– Minimum 1 away rotation
– Competitive (greater than 245) step 2 scores

Competitive applicants in diagnostic radiology will have the following characteristics:

• Step 2 CK score >240, and ideally higher to obtain interviews at competitive programs. The median score for matched applicants in 2024 was 256, and the most competitive applicants will have scores >260.
• Strong performance in clinical rotations, with grades of “honors” or “high pass” in most rotations.
• Interest in diagnostic radiology demonstrated via completion and strong performance in at least one radiology rotation and via at least one letter of recommendation from a radiologist.
• Research experience during medical school, with at least some of this experience ideally resulting in presentation(s) and/or peer-reviewed publication(s). Note that applicants are not necessarily penalized if their research experience came in fields other than radiology.