Comparisons of Medical Student Knowledge Regarding Life-Threatening CT Images Before and After Clinical Experience

Background Currently, no national standard exists for educating medical students regarding radiography or formal research indicating the level of improvement regarding computed tomography (CT) interpretation of medical students during clinical rotations. Methods Students were evaluated based on their response to twenty-two open-ended questions regarding diagnosis and treatment of eleven de-identified CT images of life-threatening injuries. The number of incorrect answers was compared with correct or partially correct answers between students starting third-year clinical rotations and those starting their fourth year. Results Survey results were collected from 65 of 65 (100%) beginning third-year students and 9 of 60 (15%) beginning fourth-year students. Students in their fourth-year had less incorrect answers compared to third-year students, with five questions reflecting a statistically significant reduction in incorrect responses. The image with the least incorrect for both groups was epidural hemorrhage, 33.9% and 18.5% incorrect for third-year students for diagnosis and treatment, respectively, and 11.1% and 0% incorrect for fourth-year students. Outside of this image, the range of incorrect answers for third-year students was 75.4% to 100% and 44.4% to 100% for fourth-year students. Conclusion Baseline CT knowledge of medical students, regardless of clinical experience, indicated a strong deficit, as more students were incorrect than correct for the majority of CT images.