SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 5, 2009) — The program that trains resident physicians in nuclear medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has been awarded accreditation through 2014 by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The program received an exemplary rating from the ACGME, which oversees the accreditation of post-M.D. training programs in the United States.
The Nuclear Medicine Residency Program, which is within the Department of Radiology at the Health Science Center’s School of Medicine, integrates its training curriculum with the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, which trains military physicians in nuclear medicine. The ACGME commended this unique training approach.
The ACGME review committee also recognized the residency program’s “Radiation Safety Passport” document and deemed it as a “Notable Practice” form. The Radiation Safety Passport document, developed for logging radiation safety experience and procedures, is posted on the ACGME Web site for other residency programs to emulate. Darlene Metter, M.D., professor and vice chair of clinical education in the Department of Radiology, directs the Nuclear Medicine Residency Program and has been instrumental in the program’s design and implementation at participating sites, which include Brooke Army Medical Center, Wilford Hall Medical Center, the University Health System and the Texas Cancer Clinic.
Nuclear medicine refers to imaging and procedures, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and radiotherapy, that use radioactive material to diagnose and treat diseases including cancer.
The residency program trains a maximum of four nuclear medicine residents. This rigorous program is for three years. It is one of 57 ACGME-accredited residency programs that will train more than 700 residents in the School of Medicine this academic year.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $36 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 25,600 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.