Medical Students’ Perspectives on IR: A European Survey from the European Trainee Forum (ETF)

Abstract

Dear Editor, This letter reports the results of an online survey conducted by the European Trainee Forum (ETF) on medical students with the intent of better understanding their degree of interventional radiology (IR) knowledge, their level of interest in pursuing an IR career, and their preferences regarding learning platforms and formats which would work best for acquiring IR knowledge. ETF was founded in 2015 as a CIRSE sub-committee, with the aim of cultivating an interest in IR among medical students and young doctors and to encourage talented and enthusiastic trainees to peruse a career in our speciality. The survey was composed of 14 multiple choice questions available online from May to August 2020. Participants were recruited using social media, direct contact with medical universities, and available e-mail addresses. Statistical differences between subgroups were tested using the chi-square test; P value\\ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. A total of 3,872 participants took part in the survey: 71% of participants completed the entire survey and 60% of respondents were female. Distribution per year in medical school was relatively even. Eleven countries (France, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Slovenia) represented 90% of participants. Most students (54%) first heard of IR during radiology teaching/attachment. About 10% of participants reported never having heard about IR at all prior to completing this survey. When asked to define what a specialist in IR is, 62% correctly chose ‘‘special radiologist who performs image-guided surgery (Fig. 1)’’. Almost two thirds (65%) of all respondents had received no formal exposure to IR lectures or workshops. CIRSE ‘‘beinspIRed’’ Student Programme had been attended by only 0.5% of participants. A majority of respondents (82%) were motivated to learn more about IR, with internships (47%), university lecturers (43%), and case-based workshops (44.6%) being the most favoured methods. 95% of responding students felt that there will be a bright future for radiology and 22% of respondents (Fig. 2) (24% of male, 16% of female; P\\ 0.0001) stated that they were likely or very likely to pursue a career in IR. Worryingly, in an already maleCormac O. Brien and Olof Jonmarker have equally contributed to the this report.