The mission of the Duke Department of Radiology is to:

• Deliver high-quality medical care to our patients
• Educate health-care professionals
• Increase our understanding of health and disease

We hold these goals in concert with all other clinical departments at Duke University Health System. In addition our mission is distinctive in that we are responsible for the introduction of new technology related to imaging. This requires innovative development honest evaluation and ongoing teaching of the medical applications of these technological developments.

Patients are the reason for our department’s existence and must be accorded the central role in our professional activities. We are first and foremost responsible to our patients and consulting physicians. Our paramount mission is to provide competent courteous and compassionate clinical services which are uniformly of the highest quality. We must respond to requests for services from patients and referring physicians promptly and intelligently. Clinical responsibilities to individual patients take precedence over all other demands.

As part of a university medical school we must educate a diverse group of health care workers including but not limited to medical students residents practicing physicians physician assistants technologists and related scientists. In medicine education involves teaching by example didactic instruction supervised practical experience and self-teaching activities. Our mission is to provide educational opportunities that are comprehensive challenging and that reflect the current state of knowledge.

Research

Research is essential to improve and strengthen both our educational efforts and clinical activities. The search for new information about health disease diagnosis and treatment is a major priority. Accordingly the department assigns a substantial portion of its resources to support research. Our mission is to nurture scientifically sound investigation of basic mechanisms clinical issues and the societal impact of radiology.

In all facets of our departmental mission we have a responsibility to all members of the department to behave in a responsible honest and fair manner and to facilitate our colleagues’ work and career development.

Our work must always be shaped by the highest ethical principles. In clinical work we must be guided by what is best for the patient; in education by what is best for the student; and in research by what best serves truth and objectivity.