Improving medical imaging interpretation through a clerkship anatomy selective

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiology
• Anatomy

Background:

• Medical students often struggle with anatomy knowledge retention.
• There is a growing demand among students for increased exposure to medical imaging techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a radiologic anatomy course on medical students' image interpretation abilities.
• To evaluate changes in anatomical structure identification skills after the course.

Main Methods:

• Fourth-year medical students participated in either a "Regional Anatomy through Diagnostic Imaging" or "Advanced Gross Anatomy" selective.
• Pre and post-tests using various imaging modalities (X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound) assessed anatomical identification.
• Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and independent t-tests.

Main Results:

• Students showed a 15.1% mean increase in performance after the integrated radiology anatomy course.
• Significant differences in post-test performance were observed between the two student groups (p < 0.05).
• Baseline performance was similar, with X-ray interpretation being notably higher than other modalities.

Conclusions:

• Integrating anatomy with medical imaging in electives enhances graduating medical students' image interpretation and anatomical identification skills.
• This educational model can be adopted by institutions to meet student needs for imaging exposure and reinforce anatomy.
• The course effectively improved diagnostic imaging interpretation skills, addressing a key gap in medical training.