The Diagnostic Radiology Residency Training Program at Bridgeport Hospital is an ACGME accredited, four-year residency training program approved for 16 residents. We participate in the National Resident Match Program (NRMP) administrated by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Residents in the program are exposed to a variety of patients with a wide range of medical needs. Both the inpatient and outpatient population reflect the pathology of the diverse populations represented in the greater Bridgeport area. This diversity in the patient population ensures that residents experience a wide range of disease entities.
With our many subspecialty-trained faculty members, residents receive the hands-on training necessary to become excellent radiologists and exceptional teachers. The program’s goal is to fulfill the ACGME core competencies, from medical knowledge to patient care, and prepare residents for the American Board of Radiology exams.
Message from the Program Director
Welcome to the Bridgeport Hospital Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program. We have an outstanding program that provides first-rate training and excellent opportunities for hands-on experience in all areas of diagnostic radiology. Residents are taught by our sub-specialty trained, dedicated and friendly faculty who have an unparalleled depth and breadth of experience in clinical radiology. The case mix and case volume are on par with any major teaching hospital. Very few radiology programs can offer the volume and diverse case mix residents experience here including trauma, oncology and preoperative cardiovascular imaging, as well as exposure to community imaging centers.
In addition to the superb clinical training you will receive, the faculty is eager to guide resident research projects and encourage residents to attend and present their work at national meetings. Residents are also encouraged to become actively involved in hospital committees where they have the opportunity to influence decisions that affect patient care, demonstrate clinical knowledge and hone vital leadership skills.
With such a dynamic and well balanced program, it is not surprising that graduates frequently earn very competitive fellowships. We are very proud of our residents’ 100 percent board pass rate. Our residents graduate with the confidence and the experience to work in any environment — private practice or academic.
Please explore the program in greater detail and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
| Kiran Sheikh, MD Program Director |
The residency program is designed to give gradual increased responsibility to the residents in all Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology subspecialties during the first three years, prior to the CORE examination administered by the American Board of Radiology (ABR). It is important to undertake the multiple specialties gradually so that the acquired skills are maintained during the entire residency.
Throughout the four years of training, residents can expect to go through the following rotations:
Additional rotations are provided including Pediatric and PET/CT Imaging at Yale New Haven Hospital as well as Breast Imaging at the Park Avenue Medical Center.
Third year radiology residents also participate in elective rotations at the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (AIRP). Fourth year radiology residents participate in “mini-fellowships” for 6 months, including access to “On-Demand Fellowships” through MRI Online.
Residents are required to participate in on-call rotations. These rotations include weekday short calls and weekend long calls. The weekday short call is from 4:45 to 9 pm and the weekend call is from 9 am to 9 pm. The night float residents take over the responsibilities at 9 pm. Afterhours calls and night float are quite busy, with adequate exposure to wide variety of ED pathologies. Full support and supervision by radiology is provided 24/7. There is graduated learning from junior to senior years, and the residents learn radiology as well as the collaborative effort in managing a high-volume workload.
Daily Conferences
Conferences are given daily at 7:30-8:30 am and 12:00-1:00 pm. The daily conferences are provided by the attending radiologists at Bridgeport Hospital and Yale New Haven Hospital, as well as visiting radiologists in all radiological subspecialties. Conferences include didactics, anatomy and anatomy-pathology correlation as well as case review conferences.
Physics Curriculum
A comprehensive physics curriculum is provided by the medical physics team at Yale University on a weekly basis.
Interesting Case Conferences
Interesting case conferences are held by the residents on a biweekly basis to share and discuss interesting cases seen while on night float.
Tumor Boards / Multidisciplinary Conferences
The residents and radiologists actively participate in tumor boards/multidisciplinary conferences held at Bridgeport Hospital. These include GI, Thoracic, Breast and Ob-Gyn conferences.
Peer Learning / Morbidity and Mortality Conferences
The residents and radiologists actively participate in peer learning conferences on a quarterly basis.
Educational Resources
As part of their training, residents in the Diagnostic Radiology residency are provided with free access to online educational systems, including STATdx, RADPrimer, e-Anatomy, and MRI Online. STATdx is a digital, clinical decision support system that helps physicians make fast, accurate diagnoses in complex cases. RADPrimer provides residents and program directors with tools to assess and track imaging knowledge in the core disciplines of radiology. E-Anatomy is an award-winning online atlas of the human anatomy. MRI Online is a premium online educational resource that provides cases, radiology lectures and fellowships across all modalities. GME provides up to $1,000 for eligible educational expenses incurred during the academic year and up to $1,000 for board review expenses in the third year of Radiology.
Our Medical library has recently switched to a completely online platform with a large variety of journals and books as well as on-demand materials that are provided free of charge to residents.
Research
Diagnostic Radiology and the GME office encourage all interested residents to engage in academic research. The department provides 5 conference days for all residents to attend a national meeting. For any research accepted as a first author presentation at a meeting, the resident may receive additional conference days with approval of the program director, and the GME office will reimburse expenses up to $1,500 for each first author presentation (maximum of 2 presentations per academic year).
Our residents consistently present at a variety of national meetings. Recent examples include:
Review a sample of publications in the section in PubMed.
Early Specialization in Interventional Radiology (ESIR) is a training option for diagnostic radiology residents and medical students who identify an early desire to specialize in interventional radiology. Our program has been approved for two positions for the ESIR track starting the R2 year. This offers extra dedicated interventional radiology rotations (including IR rotations at Yale New Haven Hospital in R4 year), as well as rotations in the ICU, ultrasound, and vascular surgery. These extra rotations meet the ESIR requirements. This is particularly helpful for residents applying to competitive, independent IR fellowships, as they are able to perform more complex procedures even before they start their fellowships.
Chief Residents / PGY-5
Ashwin Deshmukh, MD
Rasha T. Ismail, MD
Gaurav Parmar, MD
Aishwariya Vegunta, MD
PGY-4
Bhagat Namita, MD
Rachana Borkar, MD
Hagar Mahmoud, MD
Ahmed Ragab, MD
PGY-3
Gaurav Cheraya, MD
Anisa Chowdhary, MD
Anish Neupane, MD
Ismail Yardimcioglu, MD
PGY-2
Baarkullah Awan, MD
Jordan Hughes, MD
Mohammad Jalili, MD
Edward G. Walczak, MD
Residents live all over Fairfield County with many affordable towns/cities near the hospital including Stamford, Milford, Stratford, Trumbull, Fairfield, Norwalk and New Haven.
Because residents spend four years of their lives in the program, it is important that everyone maintains a healthy working relationship within the program and with the other residency programs in the hospital. The House Staff Council organizes multiple events throughout the year, from the annual welcoming-the-first-years’ party to the end of the year gala event. Previous events have included ice-skating, bowling, taco trucks, summer barbecue, and Halloween and holiday parties. The radiology residents also like to get together for happy hours, as well as for games of soccer and tennis. In addition, every radiology class elects a “Social Chair” to help coordinate social events for the radiology residents.
For outdoor adventures, Fairfield County offers a wide range of activities for residents who choose to live nearby. Area towns offer hiking, biking, several beaches, museums and state parks. The MetroNorth railroad makes trips to New York City, New Haven, Boston and Rhode Island easy. Vermont is also easily accessible for people interested in skiing.
The program puts great emphasis on work/life balance and is very supportive of residents with families and children. The relationships built during residency are important and ideally will continue well beyond graduation.
Graduate Fellowships (2019-2024)
2024
Ashwin Deshmukh, MD, Interventional Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis
Rasha Ismail, MD, Breast Imaging, Yale University
Gaurav Parmar, MD, Interventional Radiology, Yale University
Aishwariya Vegunta, MD, MRI, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2023
Anas Bamashmos, MD, Musculoskeletal Imaging, New York University
Ashkan Heshmatzadeh Behzadi, MD, Interventional Radiology, University of Minnesota
Kareem Elfatairy, MD, Abdominal Imaging and Interventions, Beth Israel Deaconess
Ayah Megahed, MD, Interventional Radiology, Oregon Health and Science University
2022
Mohamed Elbanan, MD, Abdominal Imaging, University of Pennsylvania
Kegha Kureti, MD, Neuroradiology, Yale University
Mohammed Osman, MD, Musculoskeletal Imaging, Virginia Commonwealth University
Amir Rahsepar, MD, Cardiothoracic Imaging, University of California Los Angeles
2021
Muhammad Umer Afzaal, MD, Abdominal Imaging, Johns Hopkins University
Gunjan Garg, MD, Abdominal Imaging, Yale University
Rahul Hegde, MD, Emergency Radiology, Yale University
Harpreet Sawhney, MD, Neuroradiology, University of Texas Houston
2020
Ahmadreza Ghasemiesfe, MD, Cardiac Imaging, University of California Davis.
Puneet Kochar, MD, Neuroradiology, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Pranav Sharma, MD, Interventional Radiology, University of Minnesota
2019
Ahmed Abdelbaki, MD, Interventional Radiology, University of Iowa
Neeraj Bhatt, MD, Neuroradiology, Yale University
Jubin Jacob, MD, Interventional Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Francisco Lazaga, MD, Body Imaging, University of California San Francisco
Our Residency Program participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). We have 4 ACGME-approved PGY2 positions in Diagnostic Radiology for 2024-2025.
To process your application, we require the following materials to be submitted to ERAS by Dec. 1.
Invitations for interviews will be sent by email. Interviews are typically held in December and January.
Successful completion of an ACGME-approved PGY1 medical, surgical, or transitional internship will be required prior to appointment to a PGY2 position in our residency program.
If you are interested in applying to the Bridgeport Hospital's Internal Medicine Preliminary Internship, you must submit a separate ERAS application to Internal Medicine Preliminary with the NRMP code of 1079140P1. Note, the application review process and interviews for preliminary internship will be conducted separately by the program director of Internal Medicine, Dr. Armand Wolff.
