Using PACS for teaching radiology to undergraduate medical students

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Currently, radiology teaching for medical students is based on textbooks, PowerPoint files and the use of hard copy radiographic images, which lacks full student interaction. PACS (radiology image archiving and sending system) is the most important tool for seeing and reporting radiology images by radiologist, but for training, especially for medical students, is less used. Unlike the previous conventional methods, we created a new method under the concept of learning from experience, which enables students to interpret and diagnose radiology in a simulated environment using it as a radiologist. Method 53 students were included in the study, 25 were in the control group and 28 were in the intervention group, and routine radiology training was done separately for them for a one-month internship. In the intervention group, instead of using a slide to show the cases, PACS software was used to show all the images of the patient instead of showing only the pathologic section. At the beginning and end of the course, test questions and slides were held, and satisfaction survey forms were completed by two groups and self-evaluation by the intervention group. Results The control group included 25 students and the intervention group included 28 students. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of gender. The students were similar in terms of age and GPA. In the final test, there was no significant difference between the two groups for multiple-choice questions (10.89 ± 2.9 in the intervention group and 10.76 ± 3.5 in the control group, p = 0.883). The result of the independent t-test showed shows that the changes in the scores of the short answer test for the interpretation of radiological images in the intervention group were higher than the control group, 5.35 ± 2.39 for the control group and 8.8 ± 52.28 for the intervention group (P = 0.001). The level of satisfaction with the learning method was not different between the control and intervention groups, 39.44 ± 7.76 for the control group and 36.54 ± 5.87 for the intervention group (P = 0.129). Also, in the intervention group, based on the self-evaluation form, they stated that They are familiar with the capabilities of PACS (75%), the principles of CT (71.4%) and its interpretation (64.3%), choosing the appropriate window (75%), the location of different organs in the image (82.9%) and their relations (85.7%).). Conclusion The use of PACS in radiology training is useful for medical students and improves the students' analysis and diagnosis skills.