Multidisciplinary collaboration may be key to successfully integrating radiology education into clinical clerkships, according to research published October 29 in Clinical Imaging.
A team led by Lily Belfi, MD, from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, found in a pilot study that its radiologist-led standardized interactive teaching sessions improved students’ knowledge of radiology concepts and understanding of radiology’s role in clinical care.
“The goal of consistent radiologist-led clinically relevant high-quality teaching throughout the clerkship years will tremendously benefit learners, giving them the skills and confidence to appropriately utilize medical imaging in the care of their future patients,” the Belfi team wrote.
Radiologist educators advocate for early and consistent exposure of medical students to radiology throughout their undergraduate curricula. One method of successfully doing so is vertical integration, where imaging is incorporated into each course of study rather than all courses being completed in one year.
Belfi and colleagues described their efforts in collaborating with internal medicine and surgery departments for radiologist-led standardized interactive teaching sessions into established clerkship curricula.
The internal medicine and surgery clerkship rotations consist of eight-week courses. The team planned two one-hour radiology sessions for each clerkship block, the first during the first four weeks, and the second during the second four weeks of the course. Four subspecialty radiology faculty members taught the sessions and were given case lists, question prompts with answers, and teaching points for standardization across sessions.
The faculty members held sessions over Zoom and in person. The session format consisted of an interactive case review of imaging studies incorporated into clinical vignettes specific to each clerkship. The pilot period included three consecutive iterations of the two clerkships over a six-month period.
110 students completed the sessions, 55 of which were in the internal medicine clerkship and 55 in the surgery clerkship. The students completed pre- and postcourse quizzes and independent learning modules. They were also asked to complete surveys to measure their perception of the teaching sessions.
Out of the total, 52 surgery clerkship students completed the precourse quiz and 37 students completed the postcourse quiz. Forty-nine internal medicine clerkship students completed the precourse quiz and 38 students completed the postcourse quiz.
The team found the following:
- The average quiz scores significantly increased in both clerkships. Precourse scores for internal medicine and surgery were 5.97 and 7.28, respectively, compared to postcourse scores of 8.93 and 8.93.
- Of the 52 students who completed the survey, 96.5% and 98.3% said they agreed or strongly agreed that the radiology sessions were informative and interactive, respectively.
- 96.5% and 93.1% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the radiology sessions were enjoyable and effective in the delivery of the material. Also, 96.5% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the radiology sessions fostered critical thinking.
- 94.8% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the information provided was relevant to their clinical experience during the clerkship and that they had a better understanding of the role of imaging in clinical care after participating in the sessions.
The study authors highlighted that this approach is unique in that it brought together academic faculty from multiple departments, with support from medical college leadership, to achieve successful curricular integration across multiple rotation blocks and sites.
“Future directions include using the same collaborative approach to design and implement radiology teaching sessions in the obstetrics/gynecology, neurology, and pediatric clerkships,” they wrote.
The full results can be found here.
