We congratulate Colucci et al. for their work entitled “Development and utilization of a Web-based application as a Robust Radiology Teaching Tool (RadStax) for medical student anatomy teaching” published in the last issue of Academic Radiology . We found the article to be interesting, well written, and highly relevant. The authors raised a research-worthy question, whether their novel software could be useful for the medical students to study human anatomy. The idea of adding basic radiology into anatomy classes was described for the first time in 1986, although it is still controversial . Including this kind of courses in the medical curriculum is thus problematic. The inclusion of an additional time instruction into already crowded curricula would need to be balanced by the removal of something else. Further in 1993, Scott tried to create his authorial plan to integrate radiology into anatomy classes for the medical students. Regardless of the promising results, the problem of the overfull students’ curriculum still exists. Therefore, the application presented by Colucci et al. could be successful (practical exercises using the RadStax at home).
We feel doubtful about the conclusions of Colucci et al. that are concerning the effectiveness of their course. Although the initial results sound impressive, it is not surprising that students’ attitude improved after the course with RadStax program. The lack of a control group weakens the argument by Colucci et al. considerably. It would be also important to know how well students retain the information from presented software versus other available applications, by doing follow-up several months later, rather than just having the survey for quantitative feedback regarding their experience after the course.
In conclusion, regardless of our concerns, we believe that the authors are going to improve the RadStax project and will prove its utility in more studies. We hope that the authors would consider conducting research studies in this area in the future and believe that this article will definitely be among the important reports on this subject.
References
1. Colucci P.G., Kostandy P., Shrauner W.R., et. al.: Development and utilization of a Web-based application as a Robust Radiology Teaching Tool (RadStax) for medical student anatomy teaching. Acad Radiol 2015; 22: pp. 247-255.
2. Pabst R., Westermann J., Lippert H.: Integration of clinical problems in teaching gross anatomy: living anatomy, X-ray anatomy, patient presentations, and films depicting clinical problems. Anat Rec 1986; 215: pp. 92-94.
3. Scott T.M.: How we teach anatomy efficiently and effectively. Med Teach 1993; 15: pp. 67-75.