Background: Significant efforts have been made to improve medical students' exposure
to interventional radiology (IR). Foundation doctors in the UK, however, are a neglected
group, with little being done engage these doctors who are at a crucial juncture in
their training. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess Foundation Year
1 (FY1) doctors' understanding of and exposure to IR. Methods: FY1s from two teaching
hospitals in the UK at the end of their first year of Foundation training were invited
to take part in an 18-question survey, including 14 single-best-answer (SBA) questions.
The questions examined knowledge of IR and other specialties. The SBAs were scored
out 14 and the Student's t-test was used to compare IR and non-IR scores. Results:
Questionnaires were given to 72 FY1 doctors and 52 (72.2%) were completed. The median
score was 9/14 (64.3%) [4.5/14–12/14]. Questions relating to coronary intervention
and neurosurgery scored best (96.2% and 94.3%, respectively). The mean score for IR-related
questions was significantly lower than that for non-IR questions (51.5% vs. 81.1%,
respectively, P < 0.0001). Participants who referred patients to IR at least once
per month scored higher than those who rarely referred (60.5% vs. 47.2%, respectively,
P < 0.0084). Nearly 83.0% of participants expressed a desire to gain more exposure
to IR. Conclusion: Although Foundation doctors have some understanding of IR, reflecting
some exposure to the specialty, this remains deficient when compared with their knowledge
of other specialties. This may be improved by the introduction of IR specific teaching
during the Foundation program.
Foundation program - interventional radiology - medical education - radiology - training
