Jump to topic
Search
Program Details
The Division of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (CVIR) in Penn State College of Medicine’s Department of Radiology offers a one-year fellowship with the primary purpose of preparing its graduates for careers in the multi-faceted subspecialty of CVIR. Fellows receive training in all aspects of the modern CVIR practice.
Vascular and non-vascular interventions will include, but are not limited to:
- Diagnostic and interventional arteriography and venography
- Oncologic and transplant interventions
- Embolotherapy
- Vascular access and dialysis access management
- IVC filter placement and complex IVC filter retrieval
- Percutaneous biliary interventions
- Genitourinary interventions
- Gastrointestinal interventions
- Vascular malformation interventions
- Venous insufficiency interventions
- Transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt creation and management
- Complex drainage procedures
- Non-invasive vascular imaging (vascular ultrasound, CT angiography, MR angiography)
- Percutaneous biopsies and drainages (optional)
- Neurointerventions (pain management, vascular interventions; optional)
In addition to inpatient evaluations, fellows have dedicated time in CVIR clinics where patients are seen for pre-procedure evaluation and post-procedure follow-up. The general CVIR clinic exposes fellows to patients with diagnoses that include, but are not limited to, hepatocellular carcinoma, venous insufficiency, prior IVC filter placement and peripheral vascular disease.
Subspecialty clinic involves the treatment of vascular anomalies and venous disease. Participation in multi-specialty treatment planning conferences and clinics contribute to the development of a fellow’s clinical skills as well as the understanding of CVIR’s role in the patient’s global clinical care.
Dedicated time for research is an integral part of the fellowship, providing the opportunity to take an in-depth look at specific aspects of CVIR practices and procedures. Fellows are expected to submit educational projects for publication or presentation at meetings.
Participation in the Quality Assurance (QA) process, including a QA project, is an important and mandatory component of fellowship training, intended to maintain and improve overall patient care.
Graduates from the program have successfully entered private, military and academic practices.
Learn More about the Fellowship
The Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Fellowship is no longer interviewing. The fellowship program will be phased out in June 2020, along with all programs nationally. The program plans to interview for the independent track to match for July 2020 and will accept both ESIR and non-ESIR applicants.
Contact the program with any questions.
Virtual Tour
Penn State Health
Penn State Health is a multi-hospital health system serving patients and communities across 29 counties of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to improve health through patient care, research, education and community outreach.
In December 2017, the system partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region. The shared goal of Highmark and Penn State Health is to ensure patients in the community are within:
- 10 minutes of a Penn State Health primary care provider
- 20 minutes of Penn State Health specialty care
- 30 minutes of a Penn State Health acute care facility
Learn more about Penn State Health

Penn State Children’s Hospital (left), Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (center) and Penn State Cancer Institute (right)
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
500 University Dr., Hershey, Pa., 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)
- The health system’s 548-bed flagship teaching and research hospital
- The only medical facility in Pennsylvania accredited as both an adult and a pediatric Level I (highest-level) trauma center
- Dedicated surgical, neuroscience, cardiovascular, trauma and medical intensive care units
- Accredited Life Lion critical-care transport providing more than 1,100 helicopter and approximately 750 ground ambulance transports per year
- More than 1,300 faculty members and more than 650 residents and fellows
- Approximately 28,500 admissions, 75,000 emergency department visits, 1.1 million outpatient visits and 32,000 surgical procedures annually
- Designated as a Magnet hospital three times
Learn more about Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Penn State Children’s Hospital
600 University Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)
- A five-story, 263,000-square-foot-facility built in 2013
- Three-floor expansion opened in November 2020
- Level IV (highest-level) neonatal intensive care unit
- Level I (highest-level) pediatric trauma center designation
- Dedicated pediatric operating rooms
- More than 150,000 pediatric outpatient visits and approximately 5,000 pediatric patient discharges annually
Welcome to Hershey
More About Hershey
Interested in learning more about living and working in Hershey, Pa.? See details here:
Wellness, including emotional, spiritual, social and physical health, is a crucial component to training and to becoming a professional, compassionate and resilient physician. Self-care is a skill which must be continually practiced and reinforced. Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health are committed to addressing wellness among residents and fellows, with multiple resources readily available.
Institutional resources
Graduate medical education resources
Institutional Resources
Penn State Health celebrates, embraces and supports the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.
Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
In keeping with this, the institution has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:
- Regular talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion
- Periodic town halls on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
- An allyship support group
- Many affinity resource network groups, including:
- Disability Affinity Resource Network Group
- Group on Women in Medicine and Science
- Interfaith Affinity Resource Network Group
- LGBTQ and Allies Affinity Resource Network Group
- Military/Veterans Affinity Resource Network Group
- Multicultural Affinity Resource Network Group
- NextGen
- A new organization specifically for trainees, the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows
Learn more about the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education
The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.
Learn more about the Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education
Office for a Respectful Learning Environment
In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.
Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment
Mailing Address
Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute
Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Fellowship Program
PO Box 850, MC H066
Hershey, PA 17033-0850
General Contact Information
Phone: 717-531-5418
Fax: 717-531-4445
Conferences and Journal Clubs
Several conferences and journal clubs are part of the learning environment in the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Fellowship.
Each morning at 7:30 a.m., morning rounds are held in the Interventional Radiology reading room. Rounds are attended by the attendings on service, the fellows, the residents on CVIR, as well as any medical student or other learner on the service.
Rounds are run by one of the attendings assigned to do procedures that day. The fellows are responsible for organizing the day’s cases and ensuring that all patients are prepared to be presented.
During rounds, each patient is discussed, to include a plan for their care while in the IR suite. Recent imaging studies, labs and other results are discussed in the context of the planned procedure.
Rounds represent a valuable time for patient-specific education, as well as discussion regarding the anatomy and techniques relevant to the actual procedure being performed.
Held 8 to 9 a.m. Tuesdays in the Radiology Conference Room, this conference is mandatory for the fellows and residents who are on service.
Lectures that are prepared by the fellows include Interesting Case Conference, Morbidity and Mortality Conference and Journal Club. The Interesting Case Conference and Morbidity and Mortality each occur once a month. Journal Club alternates with a Technology and Nursing Education lecture, which is prepared by the technologists and nurses who work in CVIR. Attending physicians present interventional radiology-focused didactic lectures on a monthly basis.
Formal Journal Club is held quarterly, in addition to the informal Journal Club previously noted.
The choice of articles is made at the discretion of the fellows, with attending input. The choice of articles may be driven by questions regarding new techniques or current literature. An interesting clinical question that arises during a case may also be the motivation for selecting a specific topic for discussion.
The Heart and Vascular Institute Conference Series consists of lectures that may be attended by all house-staff in the institute.
Of particular interest to the CVIR fellow may be Heart and Vascular Grand Rounds, which are lectures given by subject-matter experts within the institute as well as outside speakers.
This lecture series is held quarterly on a Thursday morning.
Attendance is mandatory for the house-staff, but attendance by attending physicians is also encouraged.
The ACGME Core Competency Lectures provide education regarding the core competencies of patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism and systems-based practice. Learn more about this lecture series here.
This quarterly meeting encourages the exchange of ideas between Penn State Health’s CVIR group and interventional radiologists who practice in the community. This is a meeting that all attendees look forward to, where interesting cases are presented and spirited discussions about management ensue.
It gives all participants the opportunity to share new ideas, different techniques and good food.
Latest News from Radiology

Latest News from the Heart and Vascular Institute
