Abstract
ObjectivesTo examine the impact that anatomy-focused radiology teaching has on non-examined knowledge regarding radiation safety and radiology as a specialty.MethodsFirst-year undergraduate medical students completed surveys prior to and after undertaking the first-year anatomy programme that incorporates radiological anatomy. Students were asked opinions on preferred learning methodology and tested on understanding of radiology as a specialty and radiation safety.ResultsPre-module and post-module response rates were 93 % (157/168) and 85 % (136/160), respectively. Pre-module and post-module, self-directed learning (SDL) ranked eighth (of 11) for preferred gross-anatomy teaching formats. Correct responses regarding radiologist/radiographer roles varied from 28-94 % on 16 questions with 4/16 significantly improving post-module. Identification of modalities that utilise radiation significantly improved for five of eight modalities post-module but knowledge regarding relative amount of modality-specific radiation use was variable pre-module and post-module.ConclusionsSDL is not favoured as an anatomy teaching method. Exposure of students to a radiological anatomy module delivered by senior clinical radiologists improved basic knowledge regarding ionising radiation use, but there was no improvement in knowledge regarding radiation exposure relative per modality. A possible explanation is that students recall knowledge imparted in didactic lectures but do little reading around the subject when the content is not examined.Teaching Points• Self-directed learning is not favoured as a gross anatomy teaching format amongst medical students.• An imaging anatomy-focused module improved basic knowledge regarding ionising radiation use.• Detailed knowledge of modality-specific radiation exposure remained suboptimal post-module.• Knowledge of roles within a clinical radiology department showed little change post-module.
Highlights
Vertical integration and system-based learning are central components of the curricula delivered to medical students [1–10]
Almost half (48.4 %) of participants were citizens of the country in which medical the school was located, with 44.6 % from an Asian country and the remainder (7 %) from one of five other countries. Four students in this direct entry programme had previous degrees; these students were omitted from analysis in order to ensure that experience with self-directed learning (SDL) that may have been learned from a previous degree programme did not influence results
One could argue that the results are not unexpected given that radiological anatomy was the main focus of this teaching module and that clinical radiology was not the focus of the module
Summary
Vertical integration and system-based learning are central components of the curricula delivered to medical students [1–10]. Reported benefits of these methods include improved student learning, increased student satisfaction and interaction, enhanced applied knowledge and greater preparedness for post-graduate employment. At many medical schools there are moves to develop modules in imaging anatomy and for clinical radiologists to deliver modules in small and large group sessions. These developments are seen in postgraduate/graduate entry medical programmes [15–20]
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