Musculoskeletal Radiology Trainee Position Description and Essential Functions

This is unpublished

Musculoskeletal Radiology

Position Identification: Acting Instructor Fellow

Position Summary: This full-time position will be based in the clinical section of MSK at the University of Washington Medical Center-Roosevelt where you will work under the direction of Dr. Felix Chew, Fellowship Director, and Dr. Majid Chalian, MSK Section Chief.  While at the University of Washington, you will have responsibilities to the clinical service, teaching of residents and fellows, and participating in the teaching of medical students.  We would expect you to participate in our active research program and would provide protected academic time consistent with those efforts.  This is a one-year fellowship in MSK and does not support the option of supplemental training in other areas of our program. As a member of our faculty, we also expect that you will actively participate in the general activities of the Department, such as faculty meetings, research conferences, journal clubs, and Grand Rounds.

General Overview of the Fellow Role

The MSK Acting Instructor Fellow is training to become a radiologist with subspecialty expertise in conditions of the musculoskeletal system. An MSK radiologist is a specialized physician who uses medical imaging technologies like X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans to diagnose and treat diseases. Their essential functions include ordering and evaluating imaging tests, generating diagnostic reports, performing image-guided procedures, and collaborating closely with referring healthcare providers.

Essential functions in a MSK Acting Instructor Fellow’s job can be broken down into five core areas:

1. Image Interpretation & Diagnosis

  • Reviewing Scans: Analyzing and interpreting imaging modalities such as radiographs, MRIs, CT scans, nuclear scans, ultrasounds, to identify abnormalities.
  • Differential Diagnoses: Correlating imaging findings with clinical data and a patient's medical history to formulate an accurate diagnosis.
  • Documentation: Preparing comprehensive, detailed reports of diagnostic findings and entering them into patient medical records.

2. Clinical Procedures & Interventions

  • Image-Guided Interventions: Assessing the appropriateness of image-guided interventions and the medical fitness of patients to receive the intended procedure. Performing minimally invasive surgical procedures using imaging guidance, such as biopsies, arthrograms, and other needle procedures involving the musculoskeletal system. Ensuring appropriate arrangements for care after discharge from Radiology.
  • Administration: Administering contrast materials to enhance anatomic features and lesion conspicuity.

3. Patient Care & Consultation

  • Consultation: Acting as an expert consultant to referring physicians, helping them select the most appropriate imaging tests and participating as a team member to guide patient management plans.
  • Safety & Monitoring: Reviewing patient history to ensure procedures are safe, and monitoring patient progress over the course of imaging procedures.

4. Leadership & Equipment Oversight

  • Staff Supervision: Directing and supervising radiologic technologists and other supporting team members to ensure scans and procedures are performed correctly and safely.
  • Quality Control: Ensuring imaging exams are performed to meet the highest standards of image quality and radiation safety.

5. Education

  • Teaching & Evaluation: Teach and evaluate junior learners, such as radiology residents and medical students.

For detailed professional standards and certification guidelines, refer to the American Board of Radiology or review the overview on the American College of Radiology.

UW GME Expectations for Professional Behavior

Essential Functions

Essential functions are the fundamental job duties of the position that cannot be eliminated or substantially modified without changing the nature of the position.

A job function may be considered essential for the following reasons:

  • The reason the position exists is to perform that function
    • Resident educational requirements and patient care responsibilities
  • A limited number of available residents can perform that function
  • Varies by program, rotation, year, risk pools, etc.
  • The function may be highly specialized so that the trainee in the position is hired for their expertise or ability to perform the particular function
    • Cannot easily hire more trainees, especially of a specific R level
  • The percentage of time spent on a function does not determine whether or not it is essential.

Essential functions for trainees must include consideration of:

  • Specialty board requirements
  • UW program requirements
    • Unique to each UW training program and must consider:
      • Complexity of rotations/service requirements
      • Size of program
      • Structure and depth of risk pools
      • Please refer to the program’s Clinical Coverage Policy
    • Inclusive of the hospital system requirements:
      • Rotations dependent on residents’ service for patient care
      • Coverage options available

A trainee must perform the position’s essential job functions with or without an approved reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation means modifying or adjusting practices, procedures, policies, job duties, or the work or application environment so that a qualified individual with a disability can still perform a position’s essential functions. Approved reasonable accommodations are determined via an interactive process involving the resident, DSO/HR/GME and the program.

Essential functions ensure the safe and smooth delivery of education and patient care and are identified in alignment with program aims to facilitate trainee readiness for independent practice across an appropriate range of clinical settings for that specialty. Transparent documentation of a program’s essential functions is also an important resource for applicants evaluating the training program during recruitment.

Essential Program Administrative Functions

Onboarding

The Fellow must:

  • Comply with all program and institutional tasks required for credentialing and onboarding by the requested deadlines. This includes but is not limited to:
    • Completion of moderate sedation training and related modules
    • Completion of online training modules as required by the section, department, and university
      • This includes, but is not limited to, completion of privacy (HIPAA) training, the documentation, billing, and coding compliance training, Asbestos Awareness Training, Cultivating Community at UW, Husky Prevention & Response (Title IX), Violence Prevention and Response, Reporting Suspected Child Abuse.
    • Completion of TB and FIT testing by Employee Health as required by Employee Health
    • Obtain a Physician Limited or a full Physician and Surgeon license to practice medicine in the state of Washington by July 1 of the program start year.
    • Obtain a fee-exempt DEA license
    • Other onboarding tasks as required by the program

Program Tasks and Documentation

The Fellow must:

  • participate in all requests for schedule preferences, requests for absence or schedule changes of requests for clinical coverage on the requested timelines or deadlines.
  • complete in a timely manner all evaluations requested for the program, including the biannual program evaluation
  • complete case or procedure logs
  • Attend all required program meetings and conferences and present when assigned. This includes but is not limited to:
    • Program-specific Fellow Conferences
    • Sarcoma Conferences
    • MSK-Sports Ortho Conference
    • Intergalactic Conference
    • MSK Fellow Collaboration Conference
    • Faculty meetings, research conferences, journal clubs, and Grand Rounds

Essential Program Core Educational Functions

Didactics

The Fellow must:

  • Comply with all standards for attendance at didactics or other core educational activities
  • Adhere to the preferred mode of attendance (in-person, virtual, hybrid)

Scholarship

The Fellow must:

  • Comply with all program or specialty requirements for research or scholarship, quality improvement, national or regional conference presentation, publication or scholarly writing or teaching and presentations internal to the program (e.g. journal club, didactics, case conference, M&M, etc.)
  • Complete a QI/QA project

Essential Patient Care Functions

Presence and preparedness

The Fellow must:

  • present to work as physically, mentally and emotionally fit for duty
  • arrive at the patient care setting on schedule
  • arrive at work in attire appropriate for the professional and safe delivery of patient care
  • satisfy expectations that precede sign-out and/or departure from the clinical setting, including an appropriate handoff and follow up on all patient assessments/data/studies that will alter care in the near term.
  • notify the appropriate attending(s) and program administrator/coordinator in the event of sickness

Administrative

The Fellow must:

  • complete patient health record documentation on the schedule prescribed by the program or medical center. Examples include but are not limited to radiology reports and procedure notes.
  • comply with expectations for EHR inbox management, including timely responses to messages from patients, medical staff and tracking and patient follow up of expected results

Patient Care Communication

The Fellow must:

  • respond in a timely manner to pages, phone calls and Epic Secure Chat
  • remain within the program-prescribed geographic range while on call or eligible for coverage

Patient Care Volumes

The Fellow must:

  • work toward (with supervision) or meet benchmarks for patient care volumes in all clinical settings
  • appropriately request and utilize supervision
  • work toward or ultimately meet procedure certification standards

Consultation

The Fellow must:

  • appropriately respond to, triage, and staff consultations in a timely manner
  • document findings and recommendations in a timely manner
  • communicate with the requesting service directly (e.g. Epic Secure Chat, in-person, phone) in appropriate situations following the assessment
  • ensure that consultations are staffed and finalized with a faculty member in a timely manner

Essential Shift and Schedule Functions

Settings

  • complete assigned shifts in settings deemed essential by the program, such as inpatient units and outpatient specialty and primary care clinics
  • complete assigned rotations deemed essential by the program at UWMC-Montlake, UWMC-Roosevelt, UWMC-Northwest, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and Harborview Medical Center.

Shift length and timing

The Fellow must:

  • complete shifts of all lengths deemed essential by the program, which may include daytime, swing, nights, weekends, and holidays
    • Shifts must not exceed ACGME limits of up to 28 hours per shift, and up to 80 hours per week averaged over a 4 week period
  • where appropriate, comply with designated break lengths (to meet personal needs and not impact patient care)

Call Responsibilities

The Resident must:

  • complete assigned shifts of overnight call, as deemed essential by the program
  • complete assigned shifts of home call, as deemed essential by the program
  • remain within the prescribed geographic range while on call or eligible for coverage
  • notify the appropriate attending(s) and program administrator immediately if unable to carry out call responsibilities
  • be assigned for on-call coverage at Northwest Hospital in the event of an IT outage

Essential Cognitive Functions

Functions/details specific to the program:

  • Assess and identify urgency of radiological cases.
  • Develop and demonstrate sound clinical judgement in diagnosis of radiological cases.
  • Reflect on and apply performance feedback to support continuous improvement.
  • Analyze, synthesize, and apply knowledge from clinical experience, readings, and didactic learning to support clinical decision-making.
  • Demonstrate reliability through consistent participation in responsibilities and timely completion of assigned tasks.
  • Identify, prioritize, and manage patient care and professional responsibilities to support safe, timely, and effective outcomes.
  • Apply clinical reasoning effectively in situations involving uncertainty and changing conditions.
  • Seek guidance and incorporate input from others as appropriate to support patient care and professional development
  • Adapt to evolving clinical clinical environments and changing patient care needs
  • Provide guidance, support, and teaching to junior learners.

Essential Communication Functions

(including verbal and written)

Functions/details specific to the program:

  • Communicate fluently in the English language, both in written language and verbally
  • Gather, interpret, and exchange information effectively with patients, families, and members of the healthcare team
  • Communicate clinical information clearly and in a patient centered manner to support understanding and shared decision-making.
  • Recognize and respond appropriately to the perspectives, needs and emotions of others
  • Collaborate effectively with members of the healthcare team across roles and settings to support coordinated, high-quality care.
  • Engage respectfully with individuals from diverse social, cultural, and lived experiences.
  • Contribute to a professional inclusive and respectful care and learning environment.

Essential physical functions

(including senses, stances and mobility, manipulation and technical skills)

Functions/details specific to the program:

  • Basic computer skills
  • Use of Visage and Powerscribe 360
  • Visually identify and assess radiological imaging
  • Perform clinical procedures and technical aspects of patient care competently to support safe and effective diagnosis and treatment
  • Sustain performance of clinical responsibilities over scheduled shifts to ensure continuity of quality patient care

Statement Of Nondiscrimination

The University of Washington prohibits discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct in any education program or activity that it operates. Individuals may report concerns, make complaints, or direct inquiries to the Civil Rights Compliance Office. View the Statement of Nondiscrimination.

Key Principles for ADA-Compliant Language:

  • Focus on results, not methods
  • Essential function is a completed task, not how that task is completed

 

More Inclusive Term

Example of Physical Demand

Move/traverse

Walk, run

Ascend/descend

Climb

Transport

Carry

Relocate

Lift

Stationary position

Sit, stand

Position, detect, operate

Feel, handle

Maneuver

Pull, push

Attain

Reach

Retrieve from ground level

Squat

Repetitive movement

Performing a task repeatedly

Communicate

Speak, talk, hear

Communicate in written language

Write

Input data

Use keyboard

Position self (to move)

Crouching, stooping, crawling

Work atop

Balance

Determine, identify, assess, recognize

See

Assess

Hear

Review

Read

Adhere

Remember

Apply

Think

 

This document reflects requirements, established practices, policies, procedures, and resources as of the date of publication; however, parts of this document may be updated from time to time in accordance with changes in the law and applicable requirements, established practices, policies, procedures, and resources. Continued participation by a resident in the program will demonstrate agreement by the resident to adhere to the updates. The program will communicate such change by UW email.