Radiology Bootcamp Elective To Enhance Residency Preparedness: Curriculum Development And Assessment

Medical students often report low confidence in their preparedness for entering internships. Diagnostic imaging is a major component of medical decision making and most medical students have limited exposure to clinical radiology. We developed a 5-day radiology bootcamp elective to enhance M4 students' internship-readiness with essential radiology skills. The course focused on identification of acute disease processes, understanding appropriate use scenarios for common radiological modalities, evidence-based selection of imaging tests, and effective interactions with radiology.

The elective utilized a "flipped classroom" methodology, combining asynchronous morning assignments and afternoon synchronous elements. Students were given learning resources, case-based assignments, and series of unknown images. Pre- & postbootcamp multiple choice exams and confidence surveys were administered.

Total 15 students participated in the bootcamp. Objective test scores improved significantly after the bootcamp. Students' self-reported confidence also improved across the surveyed domains including general imaging, risks and safety, decision-making, imaging-guided procedures, and urgent/emergent imaging.

Short and intensive instruction in radiology produced meaningful improvements in MS4 students' competence and confidence concerning radiology-related tasks in internship.