Radiology for medical students (1925–2018): an overview

OBJECTIVE: Radiology has been espoused as an excellent tool for educating medical students since 1925. Advances in technology and PACS mean it has never been easier to demonstrate living anatomy and clinical pathology in exquisite detail to students. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of radiologic publications related to teaching medical students and its evolution through time. METHODS: A literature search was performed from inception to November 2018. The search strategies used both text words and relevant indexing related to “radiology”, “medical students” and “curriculum”. RESULTS: 3589 records were identified of which 377 were included. There was a 100 fold increase in rate of publication over time—most were expository or surveys (60%), with few truly experimental articles. Radiology was used in clinical teaching (67%) and anatomy (33%). Almost half of radiologic anatomy teaching was conducted without the input of a Radiologist. Compulsory clinical clerkships/blocks in radiology was offered infrequently (35%). Female first authorship had increased in the last decade (47%). CONCLUSION: There is a significant increase in articles published on the role of radiology in medical student teaching in the last decade. Research in this area is required in order to investigate the role of radiology in improving the modern medical students’ education.