Preclinical Medical Student Training in Radiology: The Effect of Early Exposure

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether an integrated radiology curriculum in the first year of medical school changes medical students' attitudes toward radiology or affects their knowledge of radiologic principles. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The first-year medical curriculum of a medical school was revised between the 2003 and 2004 academic years to introduce more didactic radiology teaching. Dedicated radiology lectures were introduced, and radiology consult sessions became integral to problem-based learning sessions. A survey was administered between the first and second years of training to assess first-year medical students' attitudes toward radiology and their knowledge of basic radiologic principles. Students who had undertaken the revised curriculum (class of 2008) were compared with students who had undertaken the traditional curriculum (class of 2007). Survey responses were compared with Mann-Whitney rank sum tests. RESULTS: Students exposed to the new curriculum stated that they were more familiar with radiology as a specialty and believed that radiology had greater importance to the overall practice of medicine. They stated that they were more likely to select radiology as a clinical elective, and more of them were considering radiology as a career option. The students who had been exposed to radiology performed better on the test of basic radiologic knowledge. All results were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Exposing students to radiology in the first year of medical school improves their impression of radiology as a specialty and increases their interest in radiology as a career. Follow-up surveys will determine whether this effect persists through the clinical years of training and improves the overall impression of radiology within the medical community.