An Assessment of Final-Year Medical Students and Interns Awareness of Radiation Exposure to Common Diagnostic Imaging Procedures

Abstract

Objectives. To evaluate the level of knowledge about the radiation exposure to diagnostic imaging procedures among the final-year medical students and interns and to suggest how education could be improved.Material and Methods. All 355 final-year medical students and interns from Tikur Anbessa Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa were included in the study. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of their actual knowledge on ionizing radiation and on their preferred method of learning. All questions were in multiple choice formats ranging from 4 to 7 choices. The obtained data were analyzed using statistical software.Results. A total of 343 completed questionnaires were received. Up to 78.9% of respondents underestimated or do not know the radiation dose from commonly requested radiological procedures. Surprisingly, 245 (71.4%) and 254 (79.3%) students incorrectly believed that ultrasound and MRI, respectively, emit ionizing radiation or they do not know if they emit radiation or not. Both interns and medical students did not have significant difference(P=0.56)in their knowledge of ionizing radiation. A combination of tutorials or workshops (29.7%) and learning modules (19.8%) combined were their first and last preferred methods of teaching for future radiation awareness, respectively. Conclusion. This study has clearly shown that awareness of ionizing radiation from diagnostic imaging is lacking among senior medical students and interns. The results highlight the need for improved education to minimize unnecessary exposure of patients.

Knowledge and Associated Factors of Medical Students Regarding Radiation Exposure from Common Diagnostic Imaging Procedures at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia

“…Ninety-two (19.5%) participants in this study incorrectly labelled MRI as source of ionizing radiation. A study conducted on the final year medical students (25) in Ethiopia found that 79.3% of them wrongly pick MRI as the source of ionizing radiation which is lower knowledge score compared to the current study. It was also a better score compared with 25% (33) and 25.5% (32).…”

“…Sample size determination and sampling technique: Single population proportion formula (26) was used to determine the sample size with proportion of study subjects with good knowledge regarding radiation = 50% as there areno other previous similar studies in Ethiopia Considering 5% non-response rate, the final allowable sample size became 404. Data collection tool and methods: Data collection tool was prepared from literature survey (19,24,25,27). The questionnaire consists of two parts.…”

Knowledge of radiation legislation and radiation exposure in common radiological investigations among final year medical students, foundation doctors, specialist radiology registrars and radiographers at a UK university teaching hospital

“… 24,25 Similarly, Dellie et al and Abuelhia et al both found their cohort stated workshop sessions as their preferred method of learning for ionising radiation. 17,18 Incorporating technology into teaching can also be valuable in delivering radiology-based education. Maleck et al assessed 225 third year medical students and concluded that computer-based teaching improves students problem-solving ability in radiology.…”

Assessing diagnostic radiology knowledge among Syrian medical undergraduates

“…In 2018, Sawaf et al [11] conducted a study on the specialty preferences of Syrian medical students, and they showed that less than 5% were interested in radiology in Syria. Medical students rarely consider radiology as a career path for reasons such as the scarcity of postgraduate (PG) courses [12][13][14][15], and the insufficiency of knowledge offered on ionizing radiation and radiation protection during the preclinical years and the clinical training period [16,17]. In 2004, the Pan Arab Association of Radiological Societies (PAARS) issued a report that revealed a shortage in the number of radiologists in Syria (400 Radiologists in Syria with a ratio of 24 Radiologists/10 6 Inhabitants) [18].…”