Penn Radiology offers fourth-year residents and clinical fellows the opportunity to complete specialized training in imaging informatics via the fellowship offered within the Department of Radiology. The program is designed for individuals seeking to be future leaders in informatics. It teaches participants about both foundational concepts as well as hot topics within imaging informatics, and also introduces relevant aspects of clinical informatics.
The program consists of didactic lectures, small group discussions and hands-on lab sessions designed to provide critical training in the field of imaging informatics. Completion of at least one project with presentation of results at a national meeting and publication in a journal is a requirement of the fellowship. Informatics fellows are also encouraged to seek formal certification as Certified Imaging Informatics Professionals (CIIPs) by way of the American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) examination.
Topics covered during the fellowship year include: computers and networking; database design and management; hardware, software and communications standards; enterprise imaging; informatics for patient- and family-centered care; human factors engineering; artificial intelligence; basic scripting and application design; social media; and systems interoperability. In addition, participants critically evaluate and address the current challenges in imaging informatics and explore applications of imaging informatics techniques to issues of quality and safety.
Academic time provided by the residency or the clinical fellowship is used for participation in the weekly program and development and completion of informatics projects; support and mentorship are provided for publication and presentation of informatics-related work.
Since its inception in 2013-2014, nearly 80 fellows have completed the fellowship as of 2024.
Fellows have completed projects on structured reporting, follow-up monitoring, artificial intelligence, the impact of secondary interpretations, gamification in radiology education, patient-centered care, quality improvement, protocol monitoring, radiologist decision-support, and workflow efficiency. To date, our informatics fellows have presented abstracts at national meetings, published papers, and won numerous awards, including the Roger A. Bauman Award presented by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine. Multiple fellows have also successfully earned CIIP status. Program alumni are now leaders in imaging informatics themselves; some serve as vice chair and associate CMIOs at health systems around the U.S..
Fellowship Director
Tessa Cook, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
tessa.cook@uphs.upenn.edu