An Interdisciplinary Approach Toward Developing an Engaging and Clinically Relevant Medical Imaging Curriculum

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiology
• Anatomy

Background:

• Physician competency in medical imaging is crucial for disease diagnosis and management.
• Previous efforts integrated radiology education into anatomy labs.
• This study aimed to enhance engagement and clinical relevance by moving radiology education to the classroom.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel, interdisciplinary radiology curriculum for pre-clinical medical students.
• To increase student engagement and the clinical relevance of imaging education.
• To assess student satisfaction and learning preferences within the new curriculum.

Main Methods:

• Developed pre-work e-modules (interactive with quizzes/videos) and active learning workshops for five body regions.
• Utilized Pacsbin, a web-based Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine viewer, for image manipulation basics.
• Administered a questionnaire to gather student feedback on the curriculum's effectiveness and components.

Main Results:

• Students reported high satisfaction, finding the curriculum supportive of their anatomical knowledge.
• Interactive e-modules were preferred over PowerPoint presentations for learning imaging anatomy.
• Student confidence in using Pacsbin was mixed, with most usage concentrated in workshops.

Conclusions:

• The interdisciplinary approach successfully integrated imaging into the pre-clinical medical curriculum.
• The curriculum design fostered an engaging and clinically relevant learning experience.
• Findings support the incorporation of similar imaging education strategies in medical training.