Pediatric Imaging
Pediatric Imaging at the University of Toronto is based in the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the largest children’s hospital in Canada. This world-class center is also a focus of leading research, educational, and teaching endeavors, and in 2021 was voted the no.1 children’s hospital in the world by Newsweek. The General Division in Diagnostic Imaging encompasses body, musculoskeletal and cardiac imaging, caring for patients from across the Greater Toronto Area and the wider region, and is a referral center for provincial, national and international patients.
SickKids is an approximately 300-bed pediatric tertiary care centre, performing over 125,000 diagnostic imaging studies per year involving all aspects of imaging and interventional therapeutic procedures in children (70,000 plain films; 3,000 GI/GU; 4500 CT; 27,000 U/S; 6,700 angio/interventional; 2000 nuclear medicine; 15,000 MRI).
Educational Activities (Staff, Fellow, and Residents):
The Pediatric Imaging Faculty, Fellows, and Residents are an international group, coming from across the globe. The residency program includes trainees from the University of Toronto as well as from McMaster University in Hamilton and Queen’s University in Kingston. Fellows can participate in advanced training in pediatric radiology through 1 and 2-year programs in the General Division, rotating through body, musculoskeletal and cardiac MRI and CT, general radiography, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound. Electives can also be undertaken within SickKids in neuroradiology, nuclear medicine, and interventional radiology. There is also the option to rotate to other centers that are part of the family of hospitals within the Department of Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto. Both the residency and fellowship programs are fully accredited and migrating to competency-based training. Many graduates from the fellowship program have gone on to leadership roles in their country of origin.
Within SickKids, there are daily teaching and clinical rounds led by the Pediatric Imaging Faculty, many of whom are regularly invited speakers at national and international meetings and recipients of local, national, and international teaching awards. These rounds include active participation by trainees, and also provide an opportunity for strong engagement with clinical colleagues across disciplines within SickKids.
Each year a number of topic-specific courses are conducted at SickKids by the Pediatric Imaging Faculty. These are offered as annual or biannual courses and in areas as diverse as research in medical imaging and imaging of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Pediatric Imaging Faculty also regularly participate in the highly-regarded Organ Imaging courses organized by the University of Toronto Department of Medical Imaging, as well as many educational courses offered by international societies.
There is a robust research program within the General Division led by the Director of Research. Fellows and residents work closely with the Pediatric Imaging Faculty, as well as medical imaging technologists, medical physicists and nursing staff on a range of academic endeavours, including single and multicenter studies. Many trainees go on to present scientific abstracts at international radiology conferences such as the RSNA, Society for Pediatric Radiology and European Society for Pediatric Radiology Annual Scientific Meetings. The quality of their work is reflected in the number of awards received, and affiliated publications in journals such as Pediatric Radiology and RadioGraphics, among others.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion:
A number of our Pediatric Imaging Faculty regularly participate in the University of Toronto Diversity Mentorship Program for medical students, and EDI initiatives within the University of Toronto Department of Medical Imaging and in the SickKids Department of Diagnostic Imaging