The State of Radiologic Teaching Practice in Preclinical Medical Education: Survey of American Medical, Osteopathic, and Podiatric Schools

Purpose: This study describes the state of preclinical radiology curricula in North American allopathic, osteopathic, and podiatric medical schools. Methods: An online survey of teaching methods, radiology topics, and future plans was developed. The Associations of American Medical Colleges, Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, and Colleges of Podiatric Medicine listing for all US, Canadian, and Puerto Rican schools was used for contact information for directors of anatomy and/or radiology courses. Letters were sent via e-mail to 198 schools, with a link to the anonymous survey. Results: Of 198 schools, 98 completed the survey (48%). Radiology curricula were integrated with other topics (91%), and taught by anatomists (42%) and radiologists (43%). The majority of time was spent on the topic of anatomy correlation (35%). Time spent teaching general radiology topics in the curriculum, such as physics (3%), modality differences (6%), radiation safety (2%), and contrast use (2%) was limited. Most schools had plans to implement an innovative teaching method in the near future (62%). The major challenges included limits on: time in the curriculum (73%); resources (32%); and radiology faculty participation (30%). A total of 82% reported that their curriculum did not model the suggestions made by the Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology. Conclusions: This survey describes the current state of preclinical radiology teaching: curricula were nonstandard, integrated into other courses, and predominantly used for anatomy correlation. Other important contextual principles of the practice of radiology were seldom taught.