In response to the COVID-19 pandemic reducing medical student presence on clinical services and in classrooms, academic institutions are utilizing a virtual format to continue medical student education. We describe a successful initial experience implementing a virtual elective in interventional radiology (IR) and provide the course framework, student feedback, and potential improvements. Materials and methods: A 2-week virtual IR elective curriculum was created utilizing a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning and the "flipped" classroom educational model. Students virtually participated in daily IR resident education conferences, resident-led case review sessions, and dedicated lectures. Asynchronous prelearning material consisted of text and video correlating to lecture topics. Anonymous precourse and postcourse surveys were sent to all participating students (n = 10). Results: Ten students (100%) completed precourse and seven (70%) completed postcourse surveys. Enrolled students were considering residencies in surgery (50%), internal medicine (40%), interventional radiology (30%), and/or diagnostic radiology (30%). Students' understanding of what IRs do and the procedures they perform (p < 0.001), when to consult IR for assistance in patient management (p = 0.005), and the number of IR procedures students could recall (p = 0.015) improved after the course. Case-review sessions and virtual lectures ranked as having the highest education value. Students recommended additional small-group case workshops. Conclusion: This successful virtual IR elective provides a framework for others to continue IR medical student education during the pandemic and grow the specialty's presence within an increasingly virtual medical school curriculum. The described model may be modified to improve IR education beyond the COVID-19 era.

Highlights Abstract Purpose: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) are serious complications of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs). Because of these risks, midline catheters (MCs) and ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous catheters (USGPIVs) were added to the capabilities of the host institution’s nursing-based venous access team (VAT), which operates under the direction of Interventional Radiology (IR). This report evaluates this effort to reduce PICCs and MCs through appropriate patient-centered device choice. Materials: A retrospective analysis of PICCs, MCs, and USGPIVs placed in inpatients in a large tertiary care academic hospital was conducted, using the VAT’s record supplemented with data from the IR quality assurance database. Analysis of hospital records of upper extremity DVT and CLABSI was also performed. Results: The VAT documented 33,113 PICC, 12,135 MC, and 14,300 USGPIV placements from September 2001 to March 2018. From the peak of PICC placements in 2006 to the peak of MCs in 2010, PICCs decreased 23% (P &lt; 0.01), while MCs increased 93% (P &lt; 0.001). Following full implementation of USGPIV in January 2016, MCs decreased 34% from 2015 to 2016 (P &lt; 0.01) with no concurrent decrease in PICCs (P = 0.72). CLABSI rates per 1000 central venous catheter days decreased from 1.5 to 0.44 (P &lt; 0.01), coinciding with an unrelated CLABSI reduction initiative. No interpretable trends in DVT counts were discovered. Conclusions: Appropriate use of MCs and USGPIVs by an IR-supported VAT significantly decreased PICCs and MCs, respectively.

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