A new training programme, launched by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, has been found to be effective in strengthening collaboration between radiology and non-radiology residents. Besides helping promote appropriate imaging use, the initiative provides more opportunities for radiology trainees to interact with their peers in the medical profession.
In this training model, radiology residents serve as imaging consultants helping internal medicine residents improve their understanding of imaging concepts and learn more about the work performed by radiologic professionals.
This peer-to-peer imaging teaching consultation service (TCS) is embedded into the "Internal Medicine Morning Report" (IMMR), a resident-run educational programme widely used by internal medicine residencies. Medical imaging is regularly discussed in IMMR, but radiology residents are not typically involved in case preparation.
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Harvard and Brigham and Women’s research team piloted TCS for seven months with the participation of six IM residents. Bonds and collaboration between the two sides have become stronger, according to researchers in their report published by the journal Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.
Noting that TCS provides an "excellent platform for teaching [internal medicine] trainees appropriate use and promoting stewardship of imaging resources," Michael Travis Caton Jr, MD, and co-researchers believe the effort can be easily replicated at other institutions.
During the TCS pilot, each referred case was handled by a senior radiology resident, who created a set of “dynamic” teaching presentation slides for use during IMMR discussions. These slides included patient images with extensive annotations and animations to highlight key teaching points. Also, extra attention was given so that radiologic terms (jargon) and concepts are well understood. These teaching slides were shared with internal medicine presenters, who could use them for case preparation and include the animations, if needed, during discussion with IM trainees.
In all, radiology residents performed 10 teaching consultations during the seven-month pilot. TCS effectiveness was then evaluated with a survey distributed to participating IM residents. Dr Caton's team found that TCS significantly improved IM residents’ perceived ability to engage their audience, confidence in teaching radiology material, ability to understand radiological reports, and appreciation for what radiologists do.
The research team is looking to further test the training model in other departments such as neurology and surgery.
“Our pilot resident-driven, peer-to-peer teaching consultation service is a feasible educational programme that is well-received by our IM colleagues,” the researchers wrote. “TCS may serve as a platform for promoting appropriate use of imaging, clarifying radiology reports, and increasing the visibility of radiologists to our peers, all of which are priorities of the [American College of Radiology’s] Imaging 3.0 paradigm.”
Source: Elsevier; Radiology Business
reference
Caton MT et al. (2019) The Radiology Resident as Teaching Consultant: An Innovative Peer-to-Peer Teaching Consultation Service to Strengthen Relationships with Referring Colleagues in the Era of Imaging 3.0. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. Article in Press; Available online 31 October 2019. https://doi.org/10.1067/j.cpradiol.2019.10.007
