Training the New Radiologists: Approaches for Education

The field of Radiology is continually changing, requiring corresponding evolution in both medical student and resident training to adequately prepare the next generation of radiologists. With advancements in adult education theory and a deeper understanding of perception in imaging interpretation, expert educators are reshaping the training landscape by introducing innovative teaching methods to align with increased workload demands and emerging technologies. These include the use of peer and interdisciplinary teaching, gamification, case repositories, flipped-classroom models, social media, and drawing and comics. This publication aims to investigate these novel approaches and offer persuasive evidence supporting their incorporation into the updated Radiology curriculum.

Teaching radiology in Egyptian medical schools: Where do we stand and how can we start?

Background

Radiology serves in the diagnosis and management of many diseases. Despite its rising importance and use, radiology is not a core component of a lot of medical school curricula. This survey aims to clarify current gaps in the radiological education in Egyptian medical schools. In February–May 2021, 5318 students enrolled in Egyptian medical schools were recruited and given a 20-multiple-choice-question survey assessing their radiology knowledge, radiograph interpretation, and encountered imaging experiences. We measured the objective parameters as a percentage. We conducted descriptive analysis and used Likert scales where values were represented as numerical values. Percentages were graphed afterwards.

Results

A total of 5318 medical students in Egypt answered our survey. Gender distribution was 45% males and 54% females. The results represented all 7 class years of medical school (six academic years and a final training year). In assessing students’ knowledge of radiology, most students (75%) reported that they received ‘too little’ education, while 20% stated the amount was ‘just right’ and only 4% reported it was ‘too much.’ Sixty-two percent of students stated they were taught radiology through medical imaging lectures. Participants’ future career plans were almost equally distributed. Near half of participants (43%) have not heard about the American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria (ACR-AR), while 39% have heard about it but are not familiar with.

Conclusions

Radiology is a novel underestimated field. Therefore, medical students need more imaging exposure. To accomplish this, attention and efforts should be directed toward undergraduate radiology education to dissolve the gap between radiology and other specialties during clinical practice. A survey answered by medical students can bridge between presence of any current defect in undergraduate radiology teaching and future solutions for this topic.

The Short and the Long of It: Transitioning to a Blended Longitudinal Curriculum in Radiology

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to demonstrate that the transition from a stand-alone radiology clerkship block to a longitudinally integrated radiology curriculum leverages newer teaching tools favored by today's learners.

METHODS

In 2013 and 2014, medical students attended a dedicated 1-week radiology clerkship course. In 2015, the block clerkship model for radiology transitioned to a vertically integrated curriculum. By 2019, radiology content was integrated into many of the health illness and disease course blocks. Pre- and postcourse multiple-choice questions tests as well as anonymous surveys were administered for both clerkship and integrated curriculum blocks. The student survey questions assessed perceptions regarding interpretation skills, imaging modality knowledge, and radiologists' roles.

RESULTS

Among 197 total students in the clerkship block, surveys were completed by 170 respondents, yielding a response rate of 86.3%. Among 106 students in the longitudinal course, surveys were completed by 71 respondents, yielding a response rate of 67%. For both clerkship and longitudinally integrated courses, the average number of correct responses after completion of the courses was significantly greater than the average number of correct precourse responses. Compared with students in the clerkship block curriculum, students in the longitudinal curriculum demonstrated a significantly greater frequency of agreement in response to survey questions regarding significant exposure to radiology, feeling comfortable interpreting CT images, and being familiar with how to use the ACR Appropriateness Criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

Transitioning from a single clerkship block to a more integrated format allows a more effective patient-centered clinical approach to medical imaging.

Synchronous distance teaching of radiology clerkship promotes medical students' learning and engagement

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted education in myriad ways, primarily leading to an abrupt paradigm shift in teaching and learning practices towards distance learning. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of teaching radiology to undergraduate medical students using synchronous distance learning compared to traditional on-campus learning through exploring students’ perceived satisfaction and concerns. Students’ perceptions were correlated with their attendance, grades, and frequency of technical difficulties.

Methods

The study was designed as an observational study involving fourth-year medical students (2019/2020) from two institutions. The cohort students were exposed to traditional learning, distance learning, or both. Students completed an online self-administered questionnaire concerning their perceptions of distance learning. Students’ attendance, engagement, technical difficulties, and post-clerkship knowledge assessments were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results

A total of 145 participants completed the clerkship using the following strategies: traditional learning (n = 66), both traditional and distance learning (n = 67), and distance learning alone (n = 12). The most important result indicates that the abrupt transition to distance learning was well perceived. Most students preferred distance learning over traditional learning in the radiology clerkship (p = .05). During the synchronous sessions, student attendance was high, reaching to 100%. Technical difficulties were limited (1.9%), and they did not affect learning.

Conclusion

Synchronous distance teaching promotes learning, interaction, and enjoyment in undergraduate radiology education, and it can be as effective as traditional on-campus learning. The technical difficulties encountered, although they were limited, can be overcome by recording the synchronous sessions.

Medical Students' and Family Physicians' Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Radiology Learning in the Second Life Virtual World

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate 3rd-year medical students' attitudes and perceptions toward a radiographic interpretation course inside the virtual world Second Life during their formal training in radiology and to compare their attitudes and perceptions with those of family physicians exposed to the same course. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Forty-eight 3rd-year medical students voluntarily participated in a 3-week course held in Second Life during a 4-month course on general radiology. The course consisted of six 2-hour synchronous sessions and four asynchronous tasks. Fourteen family physicians voluntarily participated in a specific version of the same course. Participants completed an evaluation questionnaire about the project. RESULTS. All participants rated the experience positively and found the environment attractive and the initiative, the course, and the intervention of the professor interesting, adequate, and appropriate for their medical training (mean values ≥ 4.2/5). Participants reported little previous knowledge about Second Life but were willing to participate in future similar experiences. Family physicians self-rated their own participation as less active and rated lower interaction with their peers than did the medical students (p = 0.018 and p < 0.001). CONCLUSION. The combination of synchronous sessions and asynchronous tasks to learn radiographic interpretation in Second Life was well received by undergraduate and postgraduate attendees, who had positive opinions and attitudes; the virtual sessions and tasks minimized the costs of travel for learners and teachers, making their use financially effective. Participants perceived Second Life as an interesting and useful online tool for complementary undergraduate radiology learning and postgraduate continuing medical education.