The active partnership between the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville and Shands Jacksonville applies to the university's Department of Radiology. Currently comprised of 21 board-certified radiologists (many with formal subspecialty training), five to six radiology fellows, 20 to 22 radiology residents in training, three imaging scientists, and over 150 employees (technologists, nurses, administrative personnel, and clerical assistants), the department is rapidly growing and maturing into a full-service, subspecialized group to meet the equally expanding and developing clinical and academic needs of the other departments at Shands Jacksonville.

Until recently, the Department of Radiology has operated solely on the main campus as a 24-hour per day, 7-days per week service, performing over 260,000 radiologic procedures per year. However, with the increase in imaging services planned for the main campus and several off-site locations, extensive expansion of the subspecialty imaging offerings and overall number of patients served by the department is anticipated.

Clinical Care

The primary focus of the Department of Radiology has been, and will continue to be, to provide the highest level of imaging-based diagnostic and therapeutic contributions to the care of patients within the system or referred in for radiological services. A future goal is to provide increasing imaging subspecialization, supported by focused imaging and/or interventional radiology expertise emphasizing integrated and judicious utilization of state-of-the-art imaging technology to optimize yield and safety, and minimize cost and risk, on a patient-by-patient basis.

Investigation

Focused diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology expertise, combined with employment of state-of-the-art imaging technology, will provide the basis for relevant clinical and basic imaging research. This pursuit will be greatly enhanced by the formation of partnerships of academic radiologists with imaging scientists in the department on one hand, and with external clinical and/or industrial collaborators (e.g. Master Research Agreement with Siemens Medical Solutions currently in place), on the other. Imaging-based research will be incorporated into the training of residents, fellows and faculty.

Education

Educational efforts are multi-tiered and will be directed at:

• Radiology residents - program expansion and enhanced subspecialty instruction
• Radiology fellows - development of new fellowship programs
• Radiology faculty - increasing support of continuing medical education activities
• Radiologic technologists - enhancement of technologist training programs with subspecialization opportunities
• Clinical trainees - instruction in utilization of imaging techniques

Current Imaging Facilities and Equipment