Towards Truly Integrated Undergraduate Radiology Education: An Ultrasound-Based Bedside Radiology Teaching Quality...

Radiology is central to modern clinical practice, yet its integration into undergraduate medical curricula is often limited to lecture-based formats, leading to fragmented learning and low student engagement. To address this gap, we undertook a quality improvement project (QIP) introducing a novel ultrasound-based, small-group teaching intervention during final-year medical students' surgical rotations, aiming to enhance engagement, diagnostic reasoning, and confidence in radiology.

This QIP was conducted at a district general hospital in the United Kingdom. Final-year medical students (n = 44) participated in one-hour, small-group ultrasound sessions delivered by radiology registrars during their four-week general surgery rotation. Learning objectives included understanding the strengths and limitations of ultrasound, integrating real-time imaging into diagnostic reasoning, and improving confidence in communicating with radiologists. Evaluation comprised post-session surveys with Likert-scale and free-text responses, as well as blinded performance assessments during a simulated surgical clerking exercise.

Forty students (91%) completed surveys. All students rated the intervention as superior to previous lecture-based radiology teaching, with 36 (90%) describing it as much better. The majority strongly agreed that observing live ultrasound enhanced their understanding (86%) and increased confidence in discussing imaging with radiologists (90%). In the clerking exercise, students who attended the intervention scored significantly higher in the diagnostic imaging domain than those who did not (mean 8.5 vs. 6.9, P < 0.05). Qualitative feedback highlighted the value of real-time imaging, small-group interaction, and direct engagement with radiology registrars.

Integrating small-group, ultrasound-based radiology teaching into surgical rotations significantly improved student engagement, diagnostic reasoning, and confidence compared to traditional lecture-based formats. This experiential, context-rich approach offers a practical model for embedding radiology education into undergraduate curricula and may foster more meaningful collaboration between future clinicians and radiologists.