Pediatric Imaging led by Dr. Linda Vachon

The pediatric radiology section, which is centered at the USC+LAC Medical Center, strives to serve the imaging needs of our youngest patients as well as provide an excellent educational experience for our residents and medical students. All of our goals in the pediatric section reflect our mission of service and education.

1. The safe use of state of the art imaging in children.

   All imaging modalities are available for our patients including radiography, fluoroscopic studies, ultrasound, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine and PET-CT. Percutaneous biopsy and drainage under ultrasound or CT guidance is also offered. To insure accuracy, interpretation of these studies is either done by a CAQ certified pediatric radiologist or by other radiologists who are experts in their fields. For all studies using ionizing radiation there is strict adherence to ALARA principles with frequent monitoring of radiation dose so that adult protocols are never used on pediatric patients.

2. Integration of radiology into the pediatric health care team.

   We maintain an excellent relationship with the pediatric department and consult with them on a daily basis to determine the best imaging plans for our patients. We have daily radiology rounds with the neonatology division and participate in weekly pediatric problem rounds in cases that involve imaging. The Violence Intervention Program and Forensic Clinic, one of the largest child abuse prevention programs in the state, uses our department for imaging and consultation.

3. Provide an excellent educational experience for our residents and medical students.

   Not only do we provide a rich educational program for our radiology residents, the rotation is also a popular elective for medical students and pediatric residents. We have weekly lectures for all the radiology residents in the program as well as daily interesting case conferences for the residents assigned to pediatric radiology. We also provide a weekly radiology conference for pediatric residents. Journal articles are assigned for discussion based on current cases of interest. Completion of internet teaching modules from the Cleveland Clinic is required for all residents and medical students who rotate through the department. Radiology residents are also encouraged to participate in research projects.

4. Maintenance and expansion of our teaching files.

   We have thousands of teaching file cases from the past fifty years, which are available to our residents as well as to our radiology and pediatric staff. We have digitized the majority of these images and the maintenance and expansion of this collection is an ongoing process.