Radiology curriculum for medical students: clinicians' perspectives

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiology
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• Radiology is a crucial component of medical education.
• Defining essential radiology curriculum topics for medical students is important for effective training.
• Clinician input is vital for curriculum relevance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine clinicians' perspectives on essential radiology curriculum topics for medical students.
• To identify the most highly valued radiology learning outcomes by practicing clinicians.
• To explore differences in learning outcome importance across medical specialties.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire survey was distributed to clinicians across various specialties.
• Ninety clinicians were invited, with a 51.1% response rate (46 participants).
• Participants rated the importance of radiology curriculum topics on a Likert scale.

Main Results:

• All curriculum topics received an average score above 4 (agree).
• Top-ranked topics included viewing chest, abdominal, and bone/joint radiographs, and identifying abnormalities.
• Surgical and medical specialties differed significantly in valuing knowledge of contrast media and selecting cost-effective investigations.

Conclusions:

• Core radiology skills, especially image interpretation, are considered highly important by clinicians.
• Specific learning outcomes related to contrast media and investigation selection show inter-specialty differences.
• The findings can inform the development of a standardized, effective radiology curriculum for medical students.