Although the pivot from in-person to virtual education during the height of COVID was a necessary mitigation strategy at the time, new survey responses indicate that many chief radiology residents are ready for virtual learning to see its way out.
According to the results of the 2021-2022 Survey of the American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology, the majority (53%-74%) of chief residents find virtual learning to be less effective than in-person settings, a portion of them claiming that the change led them to feeling uneasy about performing basic procedures.
This is not the first time that concerns with procedural competency among residents have arisen, Kaitlin M. Marquis, MD, with the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, and colleagues explained in a new paper published in Academic Radiology.
“Regarding procedural competency, the American College of Radiology (ACR) Task Force on General Radiology and Multi-subspecialization recently noted an alarming phenomenon in which fellowship-trained radiology graduates were increasingly “unable, uncomfortable, or unwilling” to perform basic IR and fluoroscopic studies,” the group wrote.
Of the 110 responses garnered from 61 radiology residency programs, one-third of the residents revealed reduced exposure to procedures such as basic fluoroscopy examinations, basic aspirations/drainages and superficial biopsies. Some respondents indicated having little-to-no procedural training at all in certain subspecialties, resulting in 7%-9% feeling uncomfortable with completing such procedures.
“Although remote access to radiology workstations and virtual read out can closely simulate diagnostic radiology educational training when used appropriately, there are fewer viable options to simulate procedural training,” the authors explained.
However, despite some residents reporting their discomfort, the majority of respondents noted that they felt prepared to complete basic procedures following their training.
The authors suggested that some form of virtual learning is likely to continue due to its flexibility, but more work is needed to understand how this change in educational setting will impact the radiology workforce long-term.
The study abstract is available here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.