Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
Center for Quality Assurance and Development, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Eur Radiol. 2020 Aug;30(8):4656-4663. doi: 10.1007/s00330-019-06646-2. Epub 2020 Mar 27.
Interventional radiology (IR) is a growing field but is underrepresented in most medical school curricula. We tested whether endovascular simulator training improves medical students' attitudes towards IR.
We conducted this prospective study at two university medical centers; overall, 305 fourth-year medical students completed a 90-min IR course. The class consisted of theoretical and practical parts involving endovascular simulators. Students completed questionnaires before the course, after the theoretical and after the practical part. On a 7-point Likert scale, they rated their interest in IR, knowledge of IR, attractiveness of IR, and the likelihood to choose IR as subspecialty. We used a crossover design to prevent position-effect bias.
The seminar/simulator parts led to the improvement for all items compared with baseline: interest in IR (pre-course 5.2 vs. post-seminar/post-simulator 5.5/5.7), knowledge of IR (pre-course 2.7 vs. post-seminar/post-simulator 5.1/5.4), attractiveness of IR (pre-course 4.6 vs. post-seminar/post-simulator 4.8/5.0), and the likelihood of choosing IR as a subspecialty (pre-course 3.3 vs. post-seminar/post-simulator 3.8/4.1). Effect was significantly stronger for simulator training compared with that for seminar for all items (p < 0.05). For simulator training, subgroup analysis of students with pre-existing positive attitude showed considerable improvement regarding "interest in IR" (× 1.4), "knowledge of IR" (× 23), "attractiveness of IR" (× 2), and "likelihood to choose IR" (× 3.2) compared with pretest.
Endovascular simulator training significantly improves students' attitude towards IR regarding all items. Implementing such courses at a very early stage in the curriculum should be the first step to expose medical students to IR and push for IR.
• Dedicated IR-courses have a significant positive effect on students' attitudes towards IR. • Simulator training is superior to a theoretical seminar in positively influencing students' attitudes towards IR. • Implementing dedicated IR courses in medical school might ease recruitment problems in the field.
介入放射学（IR）是一个不断发展的领域，但在大多数医学院校的课程中代表性不足。我们测试了血管内模拟器培训是否能改善医学生对 IR 的态度。
我们在两所大学医学中心进行了这项前瞻性研究；共有 305 名四年级医学生完成了 90 分钟的 IR 课程。该课程包括理论和实践部分，涉及血管内模拟器。学生在课程前、理论课后和实践课后完成了问卷。他们在 7 分制的李克特量表上对他们对 IR 的兴趣、对 IR 的了解、IR 的吸引力以及选择 IR 作为亚专业的可能性进行了评分。我们使用交叉设计来防止位置效应偏差。
与基线相比，研讨会/模拟器部分使所有项目都得到了改善：对 IR 的兴趣（课程前 5.2 分，研讨会/模拟器后 5.5/5.7 分）、对 IR 的了解（课程前 2.7 分，研讨会/模拟器后 5.1/5.4 分）、IR 的吸引力（课程前 4.6 分，研讨会/模拟器后 4.8/5.0 分），以及选择 IR 作为亚专业的可能性（课程前 3.3 分，研讨会/模拟器后 3.8/4.1 分）。与研讨会相比，模拟器培训对所有项目的效果都明显更强（p<0.05）。对于模拟器培训，对有预先积极态度的学生进行的亚组分析显示，在“对 IR 的兴趣”（×1.4）、“对 IR 的了解”（×23）、“IR 的吸引力”（×2）和“选择 IR 的可能性”（×3.2）方面有相当大的改善与前测相比。
血管内模拟器培训显著改善了学生对 IR 的态度，在所有项目上均有改善。在课程的早期阶段实施此类课程应该是让医学生接触 IR 并推动 IR 的第一步。
专门的 IR 课程对学生对 IR 的态度有显著的积极影响。
模拟器培训在积极影响学生对 IR 的态度方面优于理论研讨会。
在医学院校实施专门的 IR 课程可能有助于缓解该领域的招聘问题。
