Duration: One year fellowship in Pediatric Radiology

Bond: Applicable only in case of discontinuity of the Fellowship mid-way.

The fellows will be on contract service for a period of one year and will be required to execute an agreement and undertaking (except sponsored category). Any candidate who joins Fellowship/ Post doctoral Fellowship course and leaves the course midway, will be penalized. Penalty of Rs. 1,00,000 if resignation is tendered within 6 months of joining and Rs 5,00,000 after 6 months of joining. The salary for the month in which his/her resignation from the PG seat become effective, shall also stand forfeited. For this purpose the original certificate of the students are deposited and returned only after paying the said bond amount (this is applicable only in case of discontinuity of the fellowship mid-way).

Number of seats: Two seats per session. One session per year starting in January or July each year.

Kindly note, in some of the sessions, one of the two seats may be reserved for a sponsored candidate. Sponsorship / deputation of candidates will be accepted only from the following:

a. Central or State Government Departments/Institutions

b. Autonomous Bodies of the Central or State Government

c. Public sector colleges affiliated to universities and recognized by the MCI. In case of candidate deputed/ sponsored by the Government Medical College affiliated to Universities and recognized by Medical Council of India, deputation/sponsorship certificate signed by the Principal of Medical College concerned only shall be accepted. A sponsored candidate must meet the required minimum eligibility criteria and qualifications for the course.

In case such a seat goes vacant, it will not get filled through the general/open entrance examination. It is best to check the prospectus for the particular year and crosscheck/call the Academic Cell of the Institute directly regarding further details. 

Eligibility: MD/DNB Radiodiagnosis – MD (Radiology) or its equivalent from a University/ Institute recognized by MCI and must have completed 02 years Senior Residency on or before the month of start of the fellowship program

Details on the entrance exam: The qualifying exam is held once a year – generally in the month of December and June for the January and the July session respectively (exception – twice a year if seat goes vacant in the previous session).

Selection of candidate for Fellowship PGI courses is a two-step process, with a

Theory Examination followed by a Practical Examination. The theory examination will consist of a paper with two parts (Part 1 – General, and Part 2 – Specialty), each with 30 marks. Part 1 will consist of 30 multiple choice questions of MD level, each with four options and a single most appropriate response. Part 2 of the paper will consist of 30 multiple choice questions related to Pediatric Radiology Fellowship, each with four options and single correct response. Total duration of the theory examination is 60 minutes. Each question correctly answered in Part I & part II will be awarded one mark, with 0.25 negative marking for wrong answers.

The number of candidates eligible to appear in the practical examination will be FIVE times the number of seats to be filled in each subject, and in each category of candidates, provided the candidates score more than the cut off marks mentioned above. Candidates will be invited for the practical examination strictly in order of merit in the respective category based on the marks obtained by the candidates in theory paper.

The practical examination conducted by the respective departments will have a weightage of 40 marks and includes all spotters. The theory and practical examination marks will be added to obtain a final aggregate score (with a maximum of 100 marks). Candidates (both general and sponsored/deputed) who score at least 50 marks will qualify for a final interview with the Selection Committee consisting of consultants of Pediatric Radiology and HOD.

Preparation for the entrance examination: Generally requires 1.5-2 months. No reliable question bank of MCQs asked in the examination is available online or in hard-copy. I had read the chapters pertaining to pediatric radiology from the book “Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Whole Body by John R Haaga” for the same. Few questions are based on physics in Radiology for which Farr’s Radiology book will be of help. FRCR books of Pediatric Radiology might help in preparation as well. A daily reading of 3-4 hours for 1.5-2 months would be ideal for the entrance exam.

Fees, salary and leaves: 1,000/- INR per year is the fee. A central government salary of 1,20,000 per month is the current salary (based on salary as per the Central Institutes). Candidates admitted to the fellowship course will be entitled to avail 30 days leave, and no other kind of leave is admissible to them.

Exit exams: At the end of the year, the candidate will be examined both in theory and practical examination; Internal Assessment will be made from day to day work and its evaluation after posting in different lab / departments. Successful candidates will be presented a certificate to the effect that the candidate undertook one year Fellowship / Post doctoral fellowship in the respective fellowship in the concerned department. Exams (Theory & Practical) are conducted within a couple of months before the end of the one year training period. Theory examination includes 1 paper. Practical session is generally held on the next day during which an external examiner is also called.

Publication needed: Voluntary

Duty hours and emergencies/on call duties: Candidate will be rotated in Pediatric USG (3-4 months), Pediatric CT (2 months), Pediatric Fluoroscopy (2 months), Pediatric MRI (1-2 months), Adult Casualty/Trauma USG (1 month) and Adult Casualty/Trauma CT (1 month). It is also expected from the candidate to do Adult OPD CT for 1 month if there is less number of senior residents working in the department.

There are fixed duty hours from 9 am to 5 pm.

Candidate is expected to do emergency duties every third day as calls are divided between three persons. Sundays and public holidays are off. Emergency services are to be attended to on all days.

Pediatric fellow is on-call for intussusception reduction throughout the academic year.  

Hands-on exposure: The training period is extremely streamlined and the course is extremely well designed. As a fellow, one gets a perfect blend of patient care, complication management, procedures, academics and research.

The hands-on experience is excellent, especially for Pediatric ultrasounds, Casualty/Trauma USG and Fluoroscopy procedures. Consultants also help in solving USG doubts.

State of the art practice helps in learning on how to acquire low dose Pediatric CTs and to perform low dose fluoroscopy procedures.

Fellow will have the best possible exposure of high volume and quality of Pediatric body and Neuro MRI scans.

Hostel accommodation: Partially furnished hostel accommodation is available within the campus of the Institute. Fellows are allotted accommodation on minimum charges subject to availability. Family rooms are also available. The Institute has upheld the healthy tradition of maintaining the intellectual as well as physical fitness of its employees and trainees. Facilities for indoor as well as outdoor games like table tennis, badminton, cricket, lawn tennis, football, etc. have been consistently available to enthusiasts. A huge complex for water sports situated in the immediate vicinity of the men’s hostel is functional.

Your personal experience at the fellowship: So, I personally think this fellowship is excellent for anyone wishing to join Pediatric Radiology. Pediatric Radiology is one of the challenging branches and is still in the budding phase in our country. This is a great fellowship to learn Pediatric Ultrasounds (total 3-4 months of training) which is most frequent modality used for diagnosis. You will get to learn Pediatric Neuro MRIs (total 1-2 months of training) from the best teachers with immense knowledge.

Addressing to the concerns of the prospective applicants: Pros of joining this fellowship are in the form of hands-on experience of USG like neuro-sonography and hips. Pediatric MRI is one of the best in the country, especially Neuro MRI. Interdepartmental meets are really helpful in learning. You will be on-call for intussusception reduction for the whole year, helping you in developing your intervention skills.

As far as the cons are concerned, even being one of the most elite institutes of the country, there is no PACS. So, be prepared to do two or three power point presentations of interesting cases of the week as consultants need it. Second biggest con is that you are expected to do casualty/trauma USG and CT posting including 12 hours of night shift for a couple of months. There is no appointment system in the USG department. On odd days, you might end up doing 60-70 USGs in a day. There is no dedicated case discussions/presentation at the fellow level. You are on emergency call duty every third day throughout the year. The chances of getting to do upper GI studies are very scattered. You might not get to work in intervention even if you are qualified enough to do vascular intervention. Also, there is questionable MCI recognition.

Does it add value over MD /DNB degree: This fellowship is highly recommended for anyone who has respect and passion for pediatric Radiology. It definitely adds value to the CV. Additional experience for Pediatric Interventions is however needed after this fellowship. Since this is a one of the largest dedicated Pediatric centers, one can expect high volume and high quality state of the art work in this area.