Interventional Radiology Awareness among the Final‑Year Medical Students in Riyadh

Abstract

Objective: Interventional radiology (IR) is experiencing massive growth in the medical scene as new interventions are being introduced continuously to contribute to patient care. However, IR does not go without its fair share of challenges. Personnel shortages, turf wars, and a vague understanding of the role of IR in the hospital setting by medical students are a few. The latter could negatively impact the recruitment of young prospects and contribute to further personnel shortage. To combat this, we aimed to assess the final-year medical students' awareness of IR. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire study. Our target population was all final-year medical students at university-based medical schools. Surveys were sent to 822 students, and a total of 719 final-year medical students responded (87.5%). The survey was distributed anonymously during November and December 2018. The survey consists of 21-closed and open-ended questions. Results: The vast majority of the respondents felt that their knowledge of IR was poor (83%), while a few reported that they had a good grasp of IR (16%). Half of the respondents believe that an Interventional Radiologist (IRs) must complete training in radiology. However, 42% thought that radiology and surgery was the correct route of training for IRs. Seventy-one percent and 73% of the final-year medical students correctly identified that IRs perform uterine artery embolization and lower limb angioplasty, respectively. A majority (68%) of the respondents believe that IRs perform cardiac angioplasty and stenting, whereas 57% believe that they perform femoral-popliteal bypass. Conclusion: Our data suggest that knowledge, awareness, and exposure of the final-year medical students to IR are overwhelmingly poor in the region. This can be ameliorated through a number of means, such as directly involving IRs in the medical student curriculum, IR awareness campaigns, and IR symposiums.