How do medical students, residents and graduated physicians really perceive radiologists? A cross-national study

Radiology has always been an attractive specialty for residents, but its attractiveness has recently decreased in France regarding the median choice rank after at the National Residency Board.

To study Radiologists' perceptions and social representations (SRs) among a group of medical students, residents and graduated physicians in France, to better understand the view of Radiologists to debunk stereotypes.

The nationwide web-based survey was based on valid hierarchical evocation methods. We determined the corpus's central core and SRs' principal themes with prototypical and correspondence factor analysis (CFA), respectively.

Overall, 419 answers were analyzed. Radiologists' SRs were divided into 3 classes: negative stereotypes of Radiologists, negative stereotypes of the Radiologists' daily practice and Radiologists' skills. After multivariate analysis, variables that seemed to have a positive influence on Radiologists' SRs were considering radiology as a potential choice of specialty (p < 0.001) and the existence of practical experience in Radiology (p = 0.008). Women seemed to have a more negative SR of Radiologists than men (p = 0.035).

This was the largest qualitative study on the subject and the only one among medical students, residents and graduated physicians, allowing a global picture. SRs of Radiologists seemed to be negative, potentially caused by poor knowledge of the Radiologists' profession.

SRs of Radiologists among medical students and graduated physicians appears to be negative. Promoting the specialty among medical students and encouraging their immersion in a Radiology department could help to debunk many stereotypes about the daily life and missions of Radiologists.