Benefits of a resident-run orientation for new radiology trainees

Incoming radiology residents must rapidly assimilate large amounts of technical, medical, and operational information. This can be overwhelming and contribute to anxiety. Typical introductory curricula focused on radiologic content may not address the concerns of new residents. Two consecutive classes of incoming radiology residents participated in our study. For groups A (n=11) and B (n=11), the existing introductory lectures were given by faculty. For group B, residents hosted sessions for each rotation, including round-table discussions and work area tours, with emphasis on resident roles, personnel, and workflow. With institutional review board exemption, residents were anonymously surveyed before and after the sessions regarding: awareness of responsibilities, familiarity with anatomy, and anxiety regarding each rotation on a 1-4 scale. Free-text comments were collected. Comparison was performed using Wilcoxon rank sum test. Group A reported increased role awareness (P=0.04), greater content familiarity (P<0.05), and decreased anxiety (P=0.02) in one rotation each. There were 3 of 12 rotations in group B that showed significantly increased role awareness (P range <0.01 to 0.01) and decreased anxiety (P range <0.01 to <0.05). In addition, two rotations indicated improved role awareness only (P=0.02 and P=0.04), while there were four rotations reported decreased anxiety only (P range 0.01 to 0.03). Free-text commenters preferred the resident-run portions of the sessions. In conclusion, adding role-oriented introductory sessions to existing lectures for first-year residents decreased anxiety and increased role awareness for all rotations; therefore, it is suggested that anxiety may be better addressed by role-oriented content, and resident-to-resident teaching may have benefits.