On a summery June evening, the Department of Radiology and Imaging Science celebrated its fourth year residents (R4) as they completed the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program and prepared for the next phase in their careers.

Honored for their year of service were Chief Residents of AY 2015-2016, Dr. Bethany Milliron Cavazuti, Dr. Keirsun Crockett, and Dr. Jay Patel.

Each year, the residents select by vote a Teacher of the Year and a Fellow of the Year. This year’s honorees devoted countless hours at all hours to coaching and supporting the residents.

Teacher of the Year: Brent Little, MD, assistant program director for the Diagnostic Imaging Residency and assistant professor of radiology (cardiothoracic imaging)

Fellow of the Year: Adam Singer, MD (musculoskeletal imaging)

The RSNA Research and Education Foundation Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award recognizes and encourages outstanding residents and fellows for their involvement in imaging sciences research. 

RSNA Resident/Fellow Research Award: Dr. Nima Kokabi

The Patrick Mullen Award is bestowed by secret ballot by the third and fourth year residents. The award honors former resident, Dr. Patrick Mullen, who overcame multiple obstacles after a life-changing accident to return to medicine and become a radiologist.

Patrick Mullen Memorial Award: Dr. Arvind Vijayasarathi

The Adopt-A-Resident Program provides residents with funding and mentorship to undertake an original project aimed at improving radiology residency training and/or patient care while also advancing their own training and supports their career goals. Adopt-a-Resident Awardees: 

Dr. Faramarz Edalat received Adopt-A-Resident support to create an anonymous, HIPPA-compliant web-based interface to catalog residents’ diagnostic errors and missed cases. This new application has advanced searchability by diagnosis, body section, and modality, and can calculate high-frequency misdiagnoses and errors, making it an excellent teaching and training tool. 

Dr. Nima Kokabi received Adopt-A-Resident support for a comparative investigation of adherence to imaging guidelines and patterns of unnecessary imaging examinations across the U.S. and Canadian health care systems. The project was informative for the Emory Radiology Resident Quality Assurance Committee, initiated to assess and advance adherence to best practice guidelines.

The farewell reception included a heartfelt thank you by the departing residents to Dr. Christopher Ho, who just completed his first year as director of the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program, and Dr. Mark Mullins, professor and vice chair of education and the former director of the residency program.