Rationale and Objectives
The Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR) conducts an annual survey to monitor and evaluate issues pertaining to radiology residents’ educational experiences, work responsibilities, and benefits. Data are used to identify emerging trends and patterns of change to plan and provide resources that support radiology residency programs and their directors.
Materials and Methods
The APDR Annual Survey Committee selected 59 items for an observational, cross-sectional study using a Web-based survey. Topics of interest included program director satisfaction, resident recruitment, social media, program requirements, curriculum, the new American Board of Radiology exam process, call, and residents-as-teachers programs. All active APDR members ( n = 296) were invited to participate in survey between February 20 and March 11, 2011.
Results
The response rate was 47% (140 of 296). Descriptive results were tallied using SurveyMonkey software, and qualitative responses were tabulated or summarized as comments. Findings were reported during the 59th annual meeting of the Association of University Radiologists.
Conclusions
Data generated by the annual survey enable the APDR to accrue data pertaining to residents’ real-time educational experiences. In 2011, program directors were satisfied with their jobs but not convinced that competency-based program requirements had positive effect on residency training. Programs plan to use the Radiological Society of North America and American Association of Physicists in Medicine Web-based physics training modules. Most radiology programs do not have residents-as-teachers programs, nor do they plan to initiate them. During recruitment, programs use an applicant’s location as a proxy for true interest in the program, and interest in the program is important for granting interviews and final ranking. Qualified international medical graduate applicants have access to radiology training in the United States and Canada. Almost half of radiology programs have in-house reading by attending radiologists with residents on call. Residency programs have been slow to embrace social media.
The Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR) has conducted an annual survey to monitor and evaluate issues pertaining to radiology residents’ educational experiences, work responsibilities, and benefits in accredited diagnostic radiology residency programs in the United States and Canada since 2000. Data generated by the annual surveys enable the APDR to monitor real-time information pertaining to residents’ educational experiences and detect patterns of change at the national level to plan and provide resources for program directors (PDs), foster program improvement through exchange of ideas and experience, and inform continued discourse with the accrediting and certifying bodies (the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education [ACGME], the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Review Committee, and the American Board of Radiology [ABR]). The annual survey data allow radiology PDs to compare their programs with others around the country, serving as a credible benchmark for resource allocation negotiations. The survey also sends a strong message of support to PDs that they are a part of the large APDR community undergoing similar stresses related to the education of their future colleagues in a rapidly changing and frequently challenging economic and regulatory environment. In this paper, we analyze results of the 2011 annual survey in the context of evolving economic and social milieus in order to share our findings with a wide readership of graduate medical educators who might use this information for program improvement.
Materials and methods
This was an observational, cross-sectional study using a Web-based survey. Members of the 2010–2011 Annual Survey Committee selected survey items from those written and proposed by committee members and APDR leadership. The resulting instrument had 59 items, including demographic data. Topics queried included PD satisfaction, resident recruitment, use of social media, program requirements, curricula and the new ABR exam process, call structure, and residents-as-teachers programs. The survey was designed for online administration using a commercially available survey sponsor and proprietary Web site that enables subscribers to develop and analyze online surveys ( http://www.surveymonkey.com ).
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Results
Demographics
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PD Satisfaction
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Resident Recruitment
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Social Media
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Program Requirements
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Physics Curriculum and the New ABR Exam
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Call
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Residents-as-Teachers Programs
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Discussion
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Conclusions
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Supplementary data
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Appendix
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