Clinical Fellowship in Breast Imaging
The Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital offers a 12-month fellowship in breast imaging, which focuses on all aspects of breast imaging and interventional procedures at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and satellite outpatient imaging centers in the greater Boston area affiliated with Brigham and Women’s.
The Lee Bell Center for Breast Imaging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has a high volume clinical service, with state of the art equipment, including Hologic digital breast tomosynthesis, Philips US units, an Affirm upright stereotactic biopsy unit, Siemens and GE 3.0T and many other 1.5T magnets. The Lee Bell Center for Breast Imaging includes an on-site 3 Tesla magnet dedicated to breast imaging. It is supported by Computer Aided Detection and full biopsy capability.
Fellowship training encompasses screening and diagnostic studies in mammography, breast ultrasound and breast MRI. There is an active biopsy service with over 2000 needle biopsies/year, as well as a radioactive seed localization program. Breast fellows also spend time at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute working in a high-risk diagnostic imaging clinic and providing imaging consultation services to surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists in a multidisciplinary clinic setting for patients with a new diagnosis of breast cancer. Breast Imaging Fellows will also rotate to nearby local outpatient community breast imaging centers for a comprehensive breast imaging experience.
In addition to the rich clinical experience, fellows will participate in teaching and clinical research, needle biopsy training in our state-of-the-art STRATUS simulation center, journal club, weekly multidisciplinary conferences, and radiology-pathology correlation conference.
This fellowship program includes 44 weeks of dedicated breast imaging training and 8 weeks of elective time. In the past, fellows have used elective time for clinical training in other radiology divisions, extended research time, or for multidisciplinary exposure to other fields of breast care (i.e. breast pathology, surgery, oncology, etc.)
We have retired our prior combined fellowships in breast imaging, and we will no longer be offering a fellowship in Women’s Imaging or Women’s Cancer Imaging.
The Match
Our program will participate in the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI)/National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) match. The match is sponsored by the SBI and will be managed by the NRMP. In order to become a fellow at our institution, you must register with the NRMP Radiology Match in the spring. Programs participating in the match cannot extend any offers to candidates outside of the match. Applicants can withdraw from the match prior to the ranking deadline if they accept a position outside of the match.
Tentative timeline of the match for the academic year of 2026-2027 per the SBI:
- November 1, 2024: Programs may accept applications
- November 1, 2024: Open House webinars can begin
- January 13, 2025: Virtual Interview Period begins
- March 31, 2025: Last day of interviews
- (Date TBA by NRMP): Match Day
- July 1, 2026: Training begins
Applicants
We will start accepting applications for the 2026-2027 Breast Imaging Fellowship Program on November 1st, 2024. An online application form can be submitted using the link below ( will be available on 11/1/2024)
- Application Completion Deadline: November 22, 2024. All items (including letters of recommendation) are to be received by then.
- Interview invitations will be sent out by December 31, 2024.
- Virtual Interview Period: Jan-Mar 2025.
Interviews
In accordance with local and national recommendations in light of the pandemic, BWH will conduct all interviews virtually. You will still have the opportunity to learn about Boston, the Brigham, our fellowship program and meet and get to know our current fellows and interview with our fellowship leadership and other faculty.
We will be posting more information to our website about how to get to know us virtually. Please check back regularly for updates.
Letters should be sent from the letter writer or their admin/ Program coordinator to Cecilia Carabillo at ccarabillo@bwh.harvard.edu . We cannot accept letters from applicants.
Applications require the following to be uploaded as pdfs:
- CV
- Personal Statement
- Recent Photo
- Exam Transcripts
- If applicable, ECFMG Certificate
Leah Portnow, MD
Fellowship Program Director
Heather Griffin
Fellowship Programs Manager
Phone: 617-732-6306
Email: hgriffin2@bwh.harvard.edu
Cecilia Carabillo
Senior Administrator of Cardiothoracic and Breast Imaging
Phone: 617-732-6285
Email: ccarabillo@bwh.harvard.edu