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Training improves medical student performance in image interpretation

¹ School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's NHS Trust, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, ² The Centre for Applied Medical Statistics, University Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 2SR and ³ Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Box 219, Addenbrooke's NHS Trust, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

Correspondence: Dr T J W Dawes, The Old Farm, Long Sutton, Hook, Hampshire RG29 1SX, UK

The aim of this study was to objectively quantify the effects of radiological teaching on student performance in interpreting radiological images, and to establish whether training location affects performance. 114 clinical students were asked to anonymously interpret radiological cases before and after 26 weeks clinical training. Improvements were assessed by comparing performance on the median question in each assessment using the Kruskal-Wallis analysis. Variations according to different placements were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U-test. There was a highly significant (p<0.001) improvement in the performance of the group with training. The proportion of correct answers to the median question improved from 8% to 43%. Differences between training placements were non-significant. Our study suggests that radiology teaching significantly improves student performance. Future work should look to define the contribution of "clinical exposure" towards this improvement, as well as the various teaching methods employed.

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