Neuroradiology is the subspecialty of radiology that focuses on the diagnosis and characterization of abnormalities of the brain, spine, and head and neck using neuroimaging techniques. 

Unlike medical students and radiology residents, Fellows should already be performing at a junior consultant level. Fellows should be confident reading the vast majority of scan types, including radiographs, CTs, and MRIs of the entire neurologic axis, including brain and spine, as well as head and neck. The Fellowship is a time that should be more devoted to developing a greater depth of knowledge about subspecialty areas like brain tumors, vascular disorders, and head and neck malignancies, shortening and improving differential diagnoses, and producing concise ‘value-added’ reports.

The University of Calgary Neuroradiology Fellowship Program is based at the Foothills Medical Centre (FMC). The Foothills Medical Centre, one of Canada’s largest hospitals, provides advanced healthcare services to more than two million people from Calgary, southern Alberta, southeastern British Columbia, and southern Saskatchewan. The FMC is a comprehensive tertiary care hospital, Level I trauma centre, and has Level II and III neonatal intensive care units. It is the major referral centre in Southern Alberta for patients requiring inpatient neurology and neurosurgery care, and is the home of the Calgary Stroke Fellowship program which is one of the premier programs for subspecialty training in stroke internationally. Our Neuroradiology Fellowship program operates alongside the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Training Program (approximately 25 residents) and the Neurointerventional Fellowship Program that is coordinated with our Neurovascular Neurosurgery and Stroke Neurology Colleagues, as well as numerous (non-neuroradiology) Fellows throughout other subspecialty areas within the Diagnostic Imaging Department. The Cumming School of Medicine, the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and the new Calgary Cancer Centre are each located on the FMC campus. The Calgary Cancer Centre will be a world-class health care facility and academic centre for the provision of cancer services in Southern Alberta when it opens later in 2024. The Alberta Children’s Hospital is also located only a short walking distance away.

The Neuroradiology Program at the University of Calgary is fully accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, allowing eligible candidates who complete the program and are successful in the examination to gain RCPSC certification in neuroradiology. Entrance to our Fellowship Program first requires successful completion of radiology residency training. Our Neuroradiology training program underwent its most recent Royal College accreditation review in September 2022 and maintained its full accreditation status with the next scheduled regular review in 2030. Our program was recognized as having leading practices and innovation elements.

The standard Neuroradiology Fellowship Program is a two (2)-year program that allows eligible candidates to gain FRCPC certification in Neuroradiology and is the recommended pathway for candidates who wish to gain sufficient depth of knowledge and understanding required to function as a subspecialty-based consultant. A one (1)-year program option is also offered, although it has less opportunity for acquiring skills in advanced imaging techniques and/or disease focus, and elective time. Fellows who complete only a single year will receive a University of Calgary fellowship certificate in neuroradiology instead of a 2-year RCPSC Neuroradiology Specialty Certificate. The structure of the one (1)-year program option is very similar to the first year of the two (2)-year program, and both follow RCPSC-directed educational standards. Should you wish to contest the Royal College certification examination in Neuroradiology at a later date with only one year of training in our accredited program, the option still exists using the Practice Eligibility Route (PER). More information about this is available on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada website.