Integrating a radiology curriculum into clinical clerkships using case oriented radiology education

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: In an effort to expose all medical students to a standardized radiology curriculum, the authors developed and used an online case-based teaching tool called Case Oriented Radiology Education (CORE) to teach medical students radiology during clinical clerkships. This paper discusses the authors' experience with the development and use of CORE as an educational tool.

Methods: The Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology medical student curriculum was used as the foundation for CORE cases. CORE cases were published using the CASUS authoring system, incorporating text, interactive questions, hyperlinks, and multimedia in a Web-based format. CORE cases are presented as clinical scenarios introducing students to simulated patients who undergo various radiologic imaging procedures during the course of their diseases and complications.

Results: Since 2005, 14 cases have been published. CORE incorporates more than 75% of the Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology curriculum, with cases covering chest imaging, pediatric radiology, abdominal imaging, women's imaging, neuroradiology, and musculoskeletal imaging. CORE cases are taken during medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and neurology clerkships by third-year and fourth-year medical students. The majority of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that CORE cases made good use of their self-directed study time (84%), provided useful resources (73%), were appropriate for their level of training (86%), and expanded their knowledge and understanding of radiology (88%).

Conclusions: The integration of CORE cases into clinical clerkships provides medical students with the opportunity to learn a standardized radiology curriculum in an interactive, online, and case-based format tailored specifically for medical students. To date, 14 cases have been published and are used by students on clinical clerkships in their third and fourth years of medical school.