Research is essential to radiology residencies—but do trainees have the time for it?
Research is a fundamental component of any radiology residency, but residents are struggling to find adequate time, interest or faculty mentorship to complete the requirement, a group of physicians reported this month in the Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal.
Radiology has in recent years lagged behind other specialities in research participation and publication, first author Kate Hanes, PhD, MD, and colleagues wrote. That’s probably due to a combination of lack of departmental support and respect, the perception of radiology as “a mere service provider” and an ever-mounting workload, the authors said—but residents face a unique challenge when it comes to clinical research.
“The future of the discipline will ultimately depend on the critical thinking skills and scientific inquiry of today’s residents, who will ultimately become tomorrow’s leaders,” Hanes, of the department of radiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, et al. said. “A thorough understanding of the fundamentals of scientific investigation and critical analysis is fundamental to the education of all radiologists.”
Research training promotes future inquiry, lays a foundation for learning and helps cultivate intellectual rigor, the authors wrote. But it’s just that—training—and without the time, personal interest, program support and mentorship a good education demands, residents can’t be expected to forge ahead. Even faculty members are suffering, Hanes and co-authors said, from a lack of time to serve as mentors, limited funding and incohesive curricula.
“To combat these barriers, it is increasingly important to foster a strong research environment at the resident level with emphasis on innovation, critical analysis and interdisciplinary collaboration,” they wrote.
Hanes and her team distributed an online survey to 400 Canadian diagnostic radiology students from all sixteen programs across the country. Of the 88 respondents, 86 percent reported previous research experience and all said research was a requirement for the completion of their residency.
Time constraints were the most commonly reported limitations for resident research, the authors wrote, with 67 percent prevalence in the study population and contributing factors of studying demands, on-call demands and clinical duties. Personal disinterest and inadequate mentorship tied for second place at 32 percent each.
Forty-four percent of survey respondents said they had dedicated residency program research training, Hanes et al. said, while another 40 percent said they had none. Across Canada, radiology programs allot anywhere from one half-day a month to three consecutive months for dedicated research time.
“Our findings comport with those described by a variety of other residency programs across various medical specialities in Canada and the United States, suggesting that our findings reflect common struggles throughout North American residency programs, including diagnostic radiology,” the authors wrote.
Hanes and the team said that, ideally, residency programs will start focusing more intently on building quality faculty mentorship programs and allow residents at least a month of dedicated research time. With a more engaging curriculum, they wrote, residents will likely be more enthusiastic and productive in their work.
“A strong foundation in research design and analysis is crucial to the implementation and execution of successful research projects,” the authors said. “Without adequate research training, residents find it difficult to conceive of relevant research questions, identify appropriate metrics for data collection, complete successful Institutional Research Ethics Board applications, provide accurate statistical analysis and publish their completed projects.”
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.