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Radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians are looking forward to a cross-curricular training

  • Radiological Education
  • Published:
European Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

To obtain an overview of the attitudes toward interdisciplinary further education of residents and consultants in radiology and nuclear medicine and preferences regarding a future joint training curriculum in Switzerland.

Methods

A 34-item questionnaire was sent electronically (SurveyMonkey online survey tool) to 1244 radiologists and nuclear physicians (residents and consultants) in Switzerland. The items asked about the motivation for further education in each other’s specialty and preferences regarding a joint further education curriculum in radiology and nuclear medicine.

Results

Overall, 370 questionnaires were analyzed (370/1244, 30%). There were 280 (76%) board-certified physicians in either radiology (238/370, 64%) or nuclear medicine (42/370, 12%) and 65 (18%) residents (radiology 54/370, 15%; nuclear medicine 11/370, 3%). More than half of all residents (34/65, 52%) stated their conviction that a wide range of expertise in both disciplines could be fully guaranteed through adequate cross-curricular training. For responders already at a consultant level in radiology or nuclear medicine, the willingness to undergo further training in each other’s specialty significantly increased with a shorter training period. The preferred option for a possible future joint training curriculum was a combination of a 5-year radiology training program with 2 years of further training in nuclear medicine.

Conclusions

Both residents and board-certified physicians in Switzerland are highly interested in a cross-curricular training curriculum in radiology and nuclear medicine.

Key Points

• A systematic survey was conducted to obtain information on interest in cross-curricular training in radiology and nuclear medicine and preferences regarding a future joint training curriculum.

• More than half of radiology and nuclear medicine residents would be interested in further training in the other specialty.

• There is a strong desire for a shorter training program when combining training in both radiology and nuclear medicine.

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Abbreviations

CT:

Computed tomography

ESR:

European Society of Radiology

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

PET:

Positron emission tomography

PET/CT:

Positron emission tomography and computed tomography

PET/MRI:

Positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

SPECT:

Single photon emission computed tomography

SPECT/CT:

Single photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography

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Funding

The authors state that this work has not received any funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse 10, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    Soung Yung Kim, Theodoros Xydias, Alan A. Peters, Michael P. Brönnimann, Marcel Wüthrich, Johannes T. Heverhagen & Martin H. Maurer

Authors
  1. Soung Yung Kim
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  2. Theodoros Xydias
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  3. Alan A. Peters
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  4. Michael P. Brönnimann
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  5. Marcel Wüthrich
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  6. Johannes T. Heverhagen
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  7. Martin H. Maurer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin H. Maurer.

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Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Martin Maurer, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, University of Bern, Switzerland.

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

Statistics and biometry

Mrs. Anja Mühlemann, Department of Statistics, University of Bern, kindly provided statistical advice for this manuscript.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was not required for this study because no patient-related data was necessary for this study.

Ethical approval

Institutional Review Board approval was not required because it is only an anonymized statistical data and no patient data was used for this study.

Methodology

• prospective

• observational

• performed at one institution

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Kim, S.Y., Xydias, T., Peters, A.A. et al. Radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians are looking forward to a cross-curricular training. Eur Radiol 29, 4803–4811 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5989-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5989-7

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