Rethinking Radiology: An Active Learning Curriculum for Head Computed Tomography Interpretation.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiology
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Head computed tomography (CT) interpretation is crucial for emergency physicians.
• Existing literature highlights poor concordance between emergency physicians and radiologists in head CT interpretation.
• Previous studies utilized passive learning, showing limited effectiveness in addressing this knowledge gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an active learning curriculum for teaching head CT interpretation to emergency medicine residents.
• To compare the effectiveness of this active learning strategy against a traditional passive learning approach.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, randomized controlled study involving emergency medicine residents.
• Three educational sessions delivered via video conference over three months.
• Active learning cohort (ALC) used an interactive web-based system (Pascbin) for head CT cases; passive learning cohort (PLC) watched instructional videos of the same cases.
• Pre- and post-intervention tests were administered and analyzed using t-tests.

Main Results:

• The active learning cohort showed a significant improvement in mean test scores from 43.8% to 59.0% (P <0.001).
• The passive learning cohort demonstrated minimal improvement, with mean scores changing from 41.7% to 45.3% (P = 0.29).
• Post-test scores between the ALC and PLC showed a statistically significant difference (P = 0.009) with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.34).

Conclusions:

• The active learning head CT curriculum using Pascbin yielded superior learning outcomes compared to passive learning.
• This active learning intervention is effective, learner-centric, and requires no additional time or resources.
• It presents a more effective method for integrating radiology curricula into emergency medicine residency programs.