ORIGINAL ARTICLE Undergraduate radiology teaching from the student’s perspective

Objectives To obtain medical students ’ evaluation of the quality of undergraduate radiology teaching received, pre-ferred teaching methods and resources. This is a follow-up project to an earlier study of junior doctors who felt that radiology teaching left them ill prepared for medical practice. Methods A questionnaire to third and fifth year medical students undertaking clinical rotations at Newcastle University, UK. Results The questionnaire was completed by 57/60 (95 %) of third and 37/40 (93 %) of final year medical students. Students received minimal radiology teaching in pre-clinical years, feeling this was insufficient. The majority of students rated interactive case-based teaching as effective. Self-directed learning resources such as textbooks, journals and even online learning modules were perceived as less effective. Other types of web resources rated higher. Moti-vation for most students when studying radiology was to achieve learning objectives needed to pass their next exams and/or to improve as a doctor. Conclusions Medical students criticise the lack of radiology teaching in pre-clinical undergraduate years. Radiology teaching should be represented in all undergraduate years, preferably delivered via interactive teaching sessions. Currently available e-learning modules do not meet the students ’ learning needs and there is a call for reliable, up-to-date open access electronic resources. Main Messages • Radiology teaching should be represented in all pre-clinical and clinical undergraduate years. • Medical students rate interactive case-based teaching sessions as very effective. • There is a call for reliable, up-to-date open access elec-tronic resources for medical students