Clinical Facilities

"Before residency, I didn't appreciate how closely I'd be working with co-residents, fellows and faculty, and this has been the best part of UCSF. The colleagues are extremely bright and capable, of course, but also patient, sympathetic, genuine and refreshingly unassuming. "
-- Michael Hope, MD
Residency Class of 2009

UCSF diagnostic radiology residents rotate through four training sites: UCSF Medical Center / Children's Hospital at the main campus, San Francisco General Hospital (the level 1 trauma center and community hospital for the City and County of San Francisco), the San Francisco Veterans' Affairs Medical Center , and the UCSF Medical Center at Mt. Zion. Rotating among these various hospitals provides an unmatched breadth of clinical experiences, ranging from basic community radiology to trauma to highly specialized referral cases. Residents spend the majority of their time at UCSF Medical Center and San Francisco General Hospital. All of the clinical facilities are located within a 3-mile radius of the main university campus and are easily accessible by car, public transportation, and the campus shuttle system.

The UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children's Hospital are based at Moffitt-Long Hospital, which surveys the city from its hilltop location at the main university campus in Parnassus Heights. Moffitt-Long has approximately 600 beds, and performs more than 250,000 radiologic examinations / procedures per year. US News and World Report has consistently ranked the UCSF Medical Center among the nation's 10 best hospitals.

The radiology equipment at Moffitt-Long is state-of-the-art: one clinical GE 3 T MRI unit, three clinical GE 1.5 T magnets, a Philips 1.5 T magnet (described below), four GE helical CT scanners (including 64-detector VCT systems). The facility also houses six state-of-the-art angiography suites (for interventional and neurointerventional radiology), and nine Acuson Sequoia ultrasound scanners.

A Phillips “interventional” MR unit is located at Moffitt-Long. This unique suite combines the capability of a state-of-the-art 1.5 T magnet with conventional X-ray angiography. This system is the focus of many pioneering research efforts in cardiovascular, interventional, and neuroradiology. Half of the time on this unit is dedicated to research. Another dedicated research scanner (GE 1.5 T) is located at the MR Science Center across the street from the hospital.

A GE 3 T magnet dedicated to research, two clinical GE 1.5 T magnets, two Philips 16-detector CT scanners (one dedicated to research), two PET-CT scanner (including one with a 64-detector scanner), a cyclotron, a large research laboratory, and other equipment are in place in the new China Basin Landing facility across from AT&T Park (the Giants' baseball stadium) and the new UCSF Mission Bay research campus. Mission Bay has a 7 T large-bore research magnet.

A Siemens PET system is located at Moffitt-Long Hospital, and another PET scanner is located at the Berkeley campus. A combination CT / SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) is in operation in nuclear medicine. Two PET-CT scanners are at China Basin.

Multiple workstations, including GE Advantage Windows and TeraRecon (with navigator and volume rendering software), are present throughout the radiology department, available for clinical and research use by residents, fellows, and faculty. UCSF Medical Center has a 3D lab with several different types of workstations.

UCSF Medical Center is filmless. Imaging studies at Moffitt-Long are viewed on an AGFA picture archiving communication system (PACS). The PACS systems (and digital teaching file) may be accessed remotely with a password and internet connection.

San Francisco General Hospital, which basks in sunshine at the foot of Portrero Hill, serves as the public hospital and level 1 trauma center serving the City and County of San Francisco. It is a 724-bed facility which serves a diverse population. The emergency room is an active practice and provides the foundation for emergency radiology training for UCSF residents. The department of radiology at SFGH performs over 140,000 radiologic examinations and procedures every year.

There are two GE helical CT systems and a 1.5 T GE magnet in the department. The is also currently operating a second 1.5 T GE magnet. San Francisco General Hospital also houses a Philips portable CT system, 4 Acuson ultrasound machines (2 of them Sequoia machines), and a GE digital angiography suite. An AGFA PACS system is in place. In addition to the units at the Avon women's imaging center, a mobile digital mammography unit provides mammography services to SFGH patients.

The VA Medical Center consists of a 344-bed inpatient facility, a 120-bed nursing home, and a large clinic sited on a seaside bluff with an expansive view of the Pacific and the Golden Gate. The VA performs more than 60,000 radiologic examinations and procedures every year. Several modern research buildings are located at the VA campus, which oversees more than $64 million in grants, representing the largest funded research program of any VA medical center in the country.

The VA houses state-of-the-art equipment, including two multidetector CT scanners (one with 64 detectors), a 1.5 T Siemens Symphony magnet, a Siemens Avanto magnet, and a 1.5 T Siemens magnet for spectroscopy research. The VA also has digital radiography and state of the art ultrasound (3 Acuson Sequoia machines) and digital angiography (Philips) equipment. The VA is completely filmless, and its Stentor PACS system can be linked with Moffitt-Long Hospital.

The VA is also home to a 3D imaging laboratory, dedicated primarily to virtual colonoscopy, but with capabilities for virtual bronchcoscopy, angioscopy, and cardiovascular imaging.

The UCSF Medical Center at Mt. Zion is a recently-renovated facility in the bustling Western Addition neighborhood. Mt. Zion houses much of the UCSF oncology practice and associated services, as well as the majority of the UCSF mammography service. Mt. Zion accommodates two GE multidetector helical CT scanners (including a 64-detector unit), a 1.5 T GE magnet, several Acuson ultrasound machines, and an interventional suite. Mt. Zion shares the AGFA PACS system with Moffitt-Long Hospital, and all cases at both hospitals are available for viewing at either site.

The UCSF Center for Women’s Imaging at Mt. Zion consolidates mammography and pelvic ultrasound and MRI services with the associated clinical services. The women’s imaging initiative is also linked with the new Avon women’s imaging center at San Francisco General Hospital.