Student and recent graduate perspectives on radiological imaging instruction during basic anatomy courses

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy
• Radiology

Background:

• Efforts to deepen radiological anatomy knowledge in medical education exist.
• Little is known about student and resident perceptions of deep anatomical understanding's clinical utility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To survey medical students and residents on their opinions regarding the clinical helpfulness of deep anatomical understanding.
• To compare preferred learning methods with actual usage in medical anatomy courses.

Main Methods:

• A survey was distributed to second- and fourth-year medical students and postgraduate residents (11 specialties) at a single institution.
• The survey included Likert scale, sample examination, and narrative response questions.
• 177 of 466 potential respondents (38.0% response rate) completed the survey; no nonresponse bias was detected.

Main Results:

• Respondents favored superficial 'identification' questions as more clinically relevant, positively associated with clinical experience (ρ=0.357, P<0.001).
• Self-directed learning was most common for medical imaging; small group education was least used but most recommended.
• Multiple learning methods were deemed important by a majority of students and residents.

Conclusions:

• Increased clinical experience correlated with a preference for superficial identification over deep radiological anatomy knowledge.
• Small group learning is preferred but underutilized, contrasting with current instructional practices.
• Findings highlight a discrepancy between trainee preferences and existing radiological anatomy education methods.