4:21 PM Abstract No. 217 What medical students think about interventional radiology: motivations and deterrents

Abstract

Characterize the motivations for and deterrents from pursuing interventional radiology (IR) for medical students The study was reviewed by the IRB and deemed exempt. A 19-item survey link was sent to all matriculates of five medical schools which varied by region, public/private, class size, and NIH research ranking. Participants were incentivized with an opportunity to receive one of ten $50 Amazon gift cards. Data were collected using REDCap from October 2018 to January 2019. All analyses were conducted using generalized linear mixed modeling nesting by medical school assuming a binomial distribution with SAS GLIMMIX. 25.5% (604/2370) of medical students (MS) completed the survey. MS considering IR (IR-Y) compared to MS not seriously considering IR (IR-N) had higher motivation for the job market (mean [m] = 3.3 vs. 3.0, P = 0.0196) and procedural practice (m = 3.2 vs. 2.8, P = 0.0229) and had lower motivation for direct patient care (DPC) (m = 2.8 vs. 3.4, P <0.0001) and longitudinal patient care (LPC) (m = 2.7 vs. 2.9, P <0.0001). Outpatient practice, salary, and work-life balance were not significantly different motivations. Significant deterrents for IR-N compared to IR-Y were 3-4 years of training in diagnostic radiology (m = 1.6 vs. 1.0, P = 0.001), LPC (m = 2.0 vs. 1.1, P <0.0001), lack of outpatient practice (m = 1.5 vs. 0.9, P <0.0001), wearing lead (m = 1.1 vs. 0.8, P = 0.0007), surgical preliminary year (m = 1.6 vs. 0.9, P = 0.0005), and 6-7-year training length (m = 2.1 vs. 1.5, P = 0.0001). Emergent off-hours call and research were not significantly different deterrents. MS considering IR are more motivated by job market and procedural practice than their colleagues. MS are deterred by inherent factors of IR but also by misconceptions that it lacks clinical practice. IR educators should focus medical student outreach for those interested in procedural practice and emphasize the importance of longitudinal patient care and outpatient practice in a comprehensive clinical IR practice.