Competency-Based Teaching in Radiology – Implementation and Evaluation of Interactive Workstation-Based Learning to Apply NKLM-Based Content

Abstract

Purpose New teaching formats are required to implement competency-based teaching in radiology teaching. Therefore, we have established and evaluated two practical competency-based radiological courses. Materials and Methods The courses were held in a multimedia room with 25 computers and a professional DICOM viewer. Students were taught basic image analysis and presented clinical cases with a DICOM viewer under supervision of an instructor using desktop monitoring software. Two courses (elective course and obligatory course) were evaluated by the students (n = 160 and n = 100) and instructors (n = 9) using an anonymized online survey. Results Courses were evaluated positively by the students and instructors. From the perspective of the students, the courses increased understanding of cross-sectional anatomy (elective/obligatory course: 97 %/95 %) and radiologic findings (97 %/99 %). Furthermore, the course increased the students’ interest in radiology (61 %/65 %). The students considered this way of teaching to be relevant to their future occupation (92 % of students in the obligatory course). The higher incidence of teacher-student interaction and the possibility of independent image analysis were rated positively. The majority of instructors did not observe increased distractibility due to the computers (67 %) or notice worse preparation for MC tests (56 %). However, 56 % of instructors reported greater preparation effort. Conclusion Practical competency-based radiological teaching using a DICOM viewer is a feasible innovative approach with high acceptance among students and instructors. It fosters competency-based learning as proposed by the model curriculum of the German Radiological Society (DRG) and the National Competency-based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM). Key Points  Citation Format