Establishing a Multidisciplinary Medical Imaging Clinical Educator Team Across a Large Tertiary Health Network: A...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging Education
• Allied Health Professions Workforce Development
• Clinical Education Models

Background:

• Clinical educators are vital for allied health workforce capability, training consistency, and patient safety.
• Large, multi-site medical imaging services struggle with consistent education and credentialing across varied professional groups.
• A multidisciplinary medical imaging clinical educator (CE) team was established in a tertiary health network to address these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the short-term outcomes of a newly implemented multidisciplinary medical imaging clinical educator (CE) workforce education model.
• Assess the impact of the CE model on education reach, engagement, and credentialing.
• Determine the model's effectiveness in improving workforce capability and consistency.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a multidisciplinary CE model across radiography, sonography, nuclear medicine, nursing, and administrative roles.
• Organized education initiatives around training/credentialing, cross-disciplinary collaboration, learning culture, and innovation.
• Evaluated outcomes using participation metrics, credentialing data, and pre/post-education confidence surveys (Kirkpatrick's Levels 1 & 2).

Main Results:

• Increased education reach and engagement through network-wide communication, digital infrastructure, structured CPD, and simulation.
• Simulation programs led to improved self-reported confidence, e.g., first-trimester communication confidence rose from 2.7 to 3.5 (4-point scale).
• Demonstrated early engagement and learning gains, with emerging indicators of behavioral change.

Conclusions:

• An operationally embedded, multidisciplinary medical imaging CE model enhances education visibility, workforce engagement, and credentialing outcomes in large, multi-site services.
• This model offers a scalable and structured approach for workforce education in complex medical imaging environments.
• Further evaluation is needed for longer-term organizational (Level 4) outcomes, but initial results are promising.