Medical student and intern radiology teaching

Medical imaging education opportunities for junior doctors and non‐radiologist clinicians: A review

“…Issues flagged included perceived insufficient teaching time available to accommodate a formalised radiology curriculum and resistance from non-radiology clinicians who considered themselves the preferred teachers of medical imaging within their own area of expertise. 7 The University of New South Wales has designed and introduced a medical imaging learning pathway for senior students consisting of a minimum of 8 h (nonsequential) of structured radiology and nuclear medicine lectures, with additional adaptive learning tutorials focusing on the clinical use and interpretation of chest Xrays and CT scans of the head, chest and abdomen. Radiologists and non-radiologist medical educators collaborated in development, aiming to build the key radiological knowledge required in practice from internship.…”

“…Multiple surveys of training and pre-vocational non-medical imaging clinicians have indicated that a majority of doctors are making clinical decisions based on their own interpretation of basic imaging investigations, which has in turn raised concern from radiologists that there is potential danger to patients in allowing junior medical staff to interpret and act on medical imaging findings without guidance. 3,4,7,11 In the disciplines of surgery and emergency medicine especially, there is undoubtedly a need for image interpretation development so that non-radiologist clinicians possess the necessary skill to identify common and lifethreatening pathologies at times when a radiologist may not be available for consultation in a timely fashion or at all. 3,4,12 Scenarios could include rural and remote practices, outside of business hours, immediately postprocedural (e.g.…”

“…Images can be requested and reviewed remotely, with reports accessible at the click of a button. 7 While perceived as a positive by medical students, surgeons and radiologists alike, 13 there are concerns that by moving more towards teleradiology radiologists will abdicate some traditional responsibilities (including post-imaging consultation with clinicians) and risk being increasingly viewed as a faceless commodity in the clinical landscape. 14 In addition to this increasing distance and increasing workload, many radiology departments are becoming increasingly protocol driven, a trend which is eroding the long-held tradition of non-radiologist clinicians and junior doctors discussing scans with the radiologist.…”

“…4 Stemming from this, it is hypothesised that some difficulties in collaborating for the purposes of education may arise from the presence of mismatched perceptions between educators and students (as well as between educators), where radiologists may be viewed as predominantly service providers, with little input into patient decision-making and management. 7…”

“…38,39 While the educational resources provided by Radiopaedia.org have been formally evaluated in the medical student setting, it has not been formally evaluated in the context of junior doctor education, although praised anecdotally as an excellent resource in this setting. 7 When evaluating Radiopaedia.org's 'Playlist Feature' (providing interactive cases, with scrollable crosssectional imaging and cross-linked with written information and multiple-choice questions) against traditional static reading materials for teaching medical students paediatric radiology, it was found that those who used the playlists demonstrated improved understanding and application of the ACR (American College of Radiology) appropriateness criteria and identification of the 'silhouette sign' on chest x-rays. 40 The value of the 'Playlist Feature' has also been praised as a valuable tool for educating radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians.…”