A Curriculum Preparing Tomorrow’s Radiology Educators: A Long-Term Evaluation of Effectiveness

Abstract

Emad Allam*, Jennifer Lim-Dunham, Alexander Kui and Laurie M Lomasney

Background: Medical education programs infrequently provide focused opportunities to develop skills to be an effective educator.

Objective: We provide a description and analysis of a successfully integrated program that builds a foundation for imaging residency trainees to become effective educators.

Methods: A training curriculum with three pillars was developed-electronic presentation development, public speaking best practices, and literature review. This parallel curriculum to Diagnostic Radiology (DR) and Nuclear Medicine (NM) residencies has designated mentors. Following IRB approval, an anonymous electronic survey in Likert scale format was sent in 2022 to 10 program participants and 27 peer-matched trainees to evaluate background training in education, perceived skills/confidence with public presentation, and current practice environment. Semi-quantitative analysis was performed.

Results: 9 (9/10,90%) participants and 15 (15/27,56%) matched trainees responded to the survey. 23 of 24 (96%) respondents had received no prior formal training for teaching prior to access to the program. When ranked on a Likert scale for severity of competition with residency, 9 participants responded no to mild interferences. Regarding self- evaluated personal confidence in presentation skills, program participants scored an average of 4.1, while non-participants scored 3.6, when ranked on a scale of 0 (none) to 5 (extreme). While 6/6 (100%) graduate program respondents indicated ongoing roles in education, only 3/11 (27%) non-program graduates contributed.

Conclusion: This longitudinal curriculum functions parallel to formal imaging residencies offering residents an opportunity to learn effective skills for teaching. This program may enhance both personal career satisfaction and expertise of our future educators.