Medical student perceptions of radiology use in anatomy teaching

Abstract

The use of radiology in the teaching of anatomy to medical students is gaining in popularity; however, there is wide variation in how and when radiology is introduced into the curriculum. The authors sought to investigate students' perceptions regarding methods used to depict and teach anatomy and effects of integrated radiology instruction on students' abilities to correctly identify imaging modalities and anatomical structures on radiological images. First-year medical students completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of the first academic year that incorporated ten hours of radiologic anatomy teaching in the anatomy curriculum. Questions used a combination of Likert scales, rankings, and binary options. Students were tested on their ability to identify radiology modalities and anatomical structures on radiology images. Preresponse and postresponse rates were 93% (157/168) and 85% (136/160), respectively. Postmodule, 96.3% of students wanted the same or more radiology integration. Furthermore, 92.4% premodule and 96.2% postmodule agreed that "Radiology is important in medical undergraduate teaching." Modality and structure identification scores significantly increased from 59.8% to 64.3% (P < 0.001) and from 47.4% to 71.2% (P < 0.001), respectively. The top three preferred teaching formats premodule and postmodule were (1) anatomy laboratory instruction, (2) interactive sessions combining radiology with anatomy, and (3) anatomy lectures. Postmodule, 38.3% of students were comfortable reviewing radiology images. Students were positive about integrating radiology into anatomy teaching and most students wanted at least the same level of assimilation but that it is used as an adjunct rather than primary method of teaching anatomy.

Student and recent graduate perspectives on radiological imaging instruction during basic anatomy courses

“…Prior research has evaluated stakeholders' opinions of medical imaging topics for students during anatomy instruction, and there now exists ample literature that describes what information students, anatomists, clinicians, and radiologists believe should be taught in medical and radiological anatomy (Rudland and Rennie, ; Lazarus et al, ; Orsbon et al, ; Murphy et al, ; Fillmore et al, ). The delivery of this information has continued to be an area of active research.…”

Pathological analysis of cadavers for educational dissection by using postmortem imaging

“…The imaging results of the cadaver are naturally included in the anatomy education for medical students. For example, in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the PMI of the cadaver is regarded as a powerful teaching tool and is standard in most anatomy courses, across various countries, including Ireland and Poland . In Japan, many universities also perform PMI before anatomical dissection starts and combine imaging education with anatomy education .…”

“…For example, in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the PMI of the cadaver is regarded as a powerful teaching tool and is standard in most anatomy courses, 8 across various countries, including Ireland and Poland. [9][10][11][12][13][14] In Japan, many universities also perform PMI before anatomical dissection starts and combine imaging education with anatomy education. 15 However, it is rare that any further medical examinations of the cadaver, other than imaging, are carried out.…”

Musculoskeletal Radiology Teaching at a UK Medical School: Do We Need to Improve?

“…Using imaging to enhance anatomy teaching is now well established in medical education (Mitchell and Williams, 2002;Heptonstall et al, 2016;Davy et al, 2017) and students have given positive feedback about integrating the two disciplines (Murphy et al, 2015;Morgan et al, 2017;Phillips et al, 2018). Currently, radiology is most commonly taught within other specialty placements and with limited documented objectives (Kalami et al, 2016).…”