Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on radiology education, training, and practice: A narrative review

Abstract

Radiology education and training is of paramount clinical importance given the prominence of medical imaging utilization in effective clinical practice. The incorporation of basic radiology in the medical curriculum has continued to evolve, focusing on teaching image interpretation skills, the appropriate ordering of radiological investigations, judicious use of ionizing radiation, and providing exposure to interventional radiology. Advancements in radiology have been driven by the digital revolution, which has, in turn, had a positive impact on radiology education and training. Upon the advent of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many training institutions and hospitals adhered to directives which advised rescheduling of non-urgent outpatient appointments. This inevitably impacted the workflow of the radiology department, which resulted in the reduction of clinical in-person case reviews and consultations, as well as in-person teaching sessions. Several medical schools and research centers completely suspended face-to-face academic activity. This led to challenges for medical teachers to complete the radiology syllabus while ensuring that teaching activities continued safely and effectively. As a result, online teaching platforms have virtually replaced didactic face-to-face lectures. Radiology educators also sought other strategies to incorporate interactive teaching sessions while adopting the e-learning approach, as they were cognizant of the limitations that this may have on students’ clinical expertise. Migration to online methods to review live cases, journal clubs, simulation-based training, clinical interaction, and radiology examination protocolling are a few examples of successfully addressing the limitations in reduced clinical exposure. In this review paper, we discuss (1) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on radiology education, training, and practice; (2) Challenges and strategies involved in delivering online radiology education for undergraduates and postgraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic; and (3) Difference between the implementation of radiology education during the COVID-19 pandemic and pre-COVID-19 era.

E-learning and its impact on health sciences education as a consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Literature review

“…Similarly, in different specialty areas of medicine, such as radiology, the implementation of a virtual learning system represented a great challenge not only for students but also for teachers, who had to be trained and able to adapt to the use of new technologies. as well as employing and developing various teaching strategies that could be significant in student learning, mainly in professional practice (Majumder et al, 2021).…”

Formación online en Radiología en tiempos de COVID

“…La pandemia por COVID-19 ha alterado de forma significativa la metodología que tradicionalmente se ha empleado para la enseñanza de la Radiología en pregrado, posgrado y formación continuada 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . La suspensión de las clases presenciales y de las prácticas clínicas ha repercutido negativamente en la formación teórica y práctica de los estudiantes de Medicina 2 .…”

“…La pandemia por COVID-19 ha alterado de forma significativa la metodología que tradicionalmente se ha empleado para la enseñanza de la Radiología en pregrado, posgrado y formación continuada 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . La suspensión de las clases presenciales y de las prácticas clínicas ha repercutido negativamente en la formación teórica y práctica de los estudiantes de Medicina 2 . En los servicios de Radiología la recolocación de los médicos internos residentes y de los médicos radiólogos especialistas en otros servicios realizando funciones de otras especialidades y el distanciamiento físico entre los residentes y los radiólogos especialistas que los supervisan han contribuido sin duda a limitar la formación de posgrado 3 .…”

“…La suspensión de las sesiones clínicas, de las reuniones de los comités multidisciplinares y de las jornadas, cursos y congresos, ha supuesto un freno a la formación médica continuada de los radiólogos especialistas. Estos obstáculos han llevado a la búsqueda de alternativas que paliasen las consecuencias negativas de la pandemia en la formación en Radiología y han conducido al uso extensivo de otros métodos de enseñanza 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 .…”

“…La necesidad de continuar con la formación en Radiología en una situación de distanciamiento físico ha provocado el uso masivo de metodología online y aquí es donde Internet se ha constituido en una solución para mitigar el problema 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 . Se ha popularizado el uso masivo de plataformas de comunicación para la transmisión en directo de seminarios web y congresos, de las cuales probablemente Zoom haya sido la más utilizada 9 .…”