Sample Residency Letter – Final Regulations (MQSA)
In order to independently interpret mammograms under the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA), one must meet the MQSA personnel requirements for an interpreting physician (IP). For IPs who initially qualified under the MQSA Final Regulations, after April 28, 1999, the following information provides educational institutions with an outline of what elements should be included in the IP’s residency letter, if that letter is being utilized to document initial training and/or initial experience.
Sample Residency Letter – Final Regulations
[Official Letterhead of Residency Program]
[Insert Date of Letter]
To Whom It May Concern:
Dr. [Insert name of physician] successfully completed his/her residency in diagnostic radiology on [Insert date residency program completed]. During the period of his/her residency program [Insert inclusive dates of residency program], Dr. [Insert name of physician] received the following training and experience specific to mammography:
- At least three months [or may include exact amount training] of training in the interpretation of mammograms, including instruction in radiation physics, radiation effects, and radiation protection.
[NOTE to residency program director: You may delete this paragraph if the resident has passed the diagnostic radiology certifying examinations and became a diplomate of the American Board of Radiology (ABR), the American Osteopathic Board of Radiology (AOBR), or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) before the end of this residency.]
- At least 60 hours of documented continuing medical education in mammography.
[NOTE to residency program director: These 60 hours may be included in the three months of training described in #1. It does not have to be an additional 60 hours of training. This paragraph may be deleted if the three months of training is already documented in #1.]
- At least eight hours each of training in [Insert the specific mammographic modality/modalities the physician received training in; i.e. screen-film, full-field digital mammography, and/or a digital breast tomosynthesis system].
[NOTE to residency program director: These eight hours may be included in the three months of training described in #1 or the 60 hours described in #2; it does not have to be an additional 8 hours of training. For programs completed in June, 2016 or later, if item #3 is not included in the letter or no mammographic modality is specified, it will be assumed that the resident received eight hours of training in full field digital mammography only.]
- Read or interpreted, under the direct supervision of an interpreting physician, the mammograms from the examinations of at least 240 patients within the last 6-month period of the residency program [Insert dates of the six-month period];
or,
if the resident physician passed the certifying board examination in diagnostic radiology at the first allowable time, the 6-month period could have been any time within the last 2 years of the residency program [Insert dates of the six-month period];
or,
if the resident physician completed the residency training in June 2014 or later, the 6-month period could have been any time within the last 2 years of the residency program [Insert dates of the six-month period].
[NOTE: The “first allowable time” means the earliest time that a resident physician is eligible to take the certifying examination.]
[Insert signature of an official of the Residency Program]
[Insert signing official’s title: e.g. Chairman of Program, Director of Residency Education, Director of Mammography Section]