A review of research into the development of radiologic expertise: implications for computer-based training

Studies of radiologic error reveal high levels of variation between radiologists. Although it is known that experts outperform novices, we have only limited knowledge about radiologic expertise and how it is acquired.

This review identifies three areas of research: studies of the impact of experience and related factors on the accuracy of decision-making; studies of the organization of expert knowledge; and studies of radiologists' perceptual processes.

Interpreting evidence from these three paradigms in the light of recent research into perceptual learning and studies of the visual pathway has a number of conclusions for the training of radiologists, particularly for the design of computer-based learning programs that are able to illustrate the similarities and differences between diagnoses, to give access to large numbers of cases and to help identify weaknesses in the way trainees build up a global representation from fixated regions.