Radiology education researchers have created an image-intensive online course for third- and fourth-year medical students wishing to learn radiology remotely.
The curriculum emphasizes patient safety with special focus on the how’s and why’s of appropriate use in imaging as put forth by the American College of Radiology.
Testing the virtual approach’s effectiveness on 97 students, the team found the cohort scored significantly higher than peers who were assessed against ACR appropriate-use criteria (AUC) but had not taken a targeted course.
Describing the genesis of the project, the researchers point to two motivators: Medical education’s embrace of virtual learning during the COVID pandemic and the decades-long rise in imaging utilization. The team notes the latter’s longtime association with “significant inefficiency of use.”
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“Radiology education varies amongst institutions without standardized learning objectives. Consequently, many physicians and student doctors are unprepared to make appropriate choices regarding imaging.”
The study was published online July 18 in Academic Radiology [1].
Rooted in ACR appropriate use criteria
Prior to launching the study, MD candidate Samuel Francis of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and colleagues developed their course as a two-week elective offering. For course materials they largely drew from readily accessible images and other materials available for free online.
Upon completing the training modules, students were asked to take several self-assessments and assemble a course-completion portfolio. The portfolio had to be suitable for proving competence should any auditing or licensing body request such proof.
Part of the assessment battery was a clinical radiology conference presentation the students had to prepare. This had to incorporate patient cases the students had seen in other clinical services, including any related imaging and AUC documentation.
Two separate final exams rounded out the assessment phase. One of these consisted of 20 multiple-choice questions involving clinical vignettes drawn from ACR AUC content.
The other was an MRI safety quiz written by the study’s senior author, pediatric radiologist Benjamin Taragin, MD, also of Ben-Gurion University.
A stay against AUC unawareness
In their discussion the authors, whose roster includes Michele Huneke, director of education innovation at the ACR, note their course’s success in introducing medical students to imaging appropriateness concepts.
The assessments and exams reflected “consistently high student concurrence with ACR appropriateness criteria on a clinical vignette-based exam,” they write.
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“We hope that this course can help overcome the lack of awareness and utilization of the ACR appropriateness criteria and other imaging appropriateness resources among student, resident and attending physicians.”
Francis and co-authors add that they’ve shared the course syllabus via many medical education organizations, stating that it’s already in use in various sites around the world.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.