Medical students wishing to specialize in radiology still must take the standard medical curriculum. Though each medical school is different in the order they teach the courses, the foundations of medical education consist of the following:
• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Histology
• Biochemistry
• Embryology
• Neuroanatomy
• Pathology
• Pharmacology
• Microbiology
• Immunology
Beyond the standard medical curriculum, radiology students will take specialized courses in their chosen field. These courses are generally taken in the third and fourth years of medical school, alongside hospital or clinic rotation.
At Loyola University in Chicago, the basic requirements of a radiology education include general principles, radiographics, CT scan use, MRI science, principles and use of ultrasound, echocardiogram use, mammography, nuclear medicine and angiography.
Every medical student will be required to do hours of clinical rotation in a hospital or clinic facility associated with the university. For example, Stanford University Medical School requires 15.5 months of clinical clerkships, some of which is to be completed at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital. Students at McGill University would be affiliated with Montreal General Hospital.