Radiology education in 2005: world wide web practice patterns, perceptions, and preferences of radiologists.

Internet use has increased greatly in the past decade across all demographic sectors in the United States, and the World Wide Web currently serves as a valuable informational resource for physicians. A study was conducted in 2005 to evaluate the role of the Web in radiology education. A 28-question multiple-choice survey was administered during two institutionally run continuing medical education (CME) conferences. Questions addressed perceptions and use of the Web, as well as preferred resources for radiologic information and radiology education. Surveys were submitted by 92 radiologists, 97% of whom use the Web for radiology education. The reliability of information on the Web was deemed equal to that of information from traditional sources by 69% of respondents. Forty-five percent use the Web for CME; however, an institutionally run course was selected most frequently as the preferred method of CME, as well as the most effective and efficient. The search engine used by the largest number of participants to identify radiologic information is Google. For reading journal articles, 67% of respondents prefer hard copy. Monthly review of publications made available online before the print version is performed by only 26%. The results of the survey indicate that, despite an increase in Internet use and the perception that Web-based information is reliable, most practicing radiologists still prefer traditional educational resources for radiologic information and radiology education.