Web-based Radiology Subspecialty Training Program: Pilot Feasibility and Effectiveness Analysis on Ethiopian Radiologists

Rationale and Objectives: To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a novel web-based radiology subspecialty training program. Materials and Methods: Ten Ethiopian general radiologists were enrolled; each participant selected two out of four available subspecialty training programs including abdominal imaging, neuroradiology, chest imaging, and musculoskeletal imaging. Participants were trained simultaneously in 4-stages over 20-months remotely. The program contains online lectures (previously recorded), online interactive case reviews, learning modules, and one-month observership at Johns Hopkins University. Each subspecialty training program consisted of nearly 50 recorded lectures, 26 case reviews, and 40 modules, all provided by subspecialty-trained radiology faculty. Trainees were evaluated using pre- and postcourse multiple choice questions, and the effectiveness of the program was assessed by comparing pre- and postcourse performances using paired t test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between the magnitude of score change and trainees’ age and years after graduation. Results: All programs including abdominal imaging (p < 0.001), neuroradiology (p < 0.001), chest imaging (p: 0.001), and musculoskeletal imagining (p = 0.001) led to significant improvements in participants’ knowledge (overall mean ± standard deviation of score change: +18.4% ± 11.4%). All stages of training including stage-1 (+29.3% ± 8.4%), stage-2 (+21.0% ± 8.0%), stage-3 (+15.0% ± 13.7%), and stage-4 (+17.0% ± 7.9%) significantly improved trainees’ scores; and the percent score change decreased with each stage. Regression analysis revealed that score improvement was not associated with age and years after residency training. Conclusion: Our newly developed web-based radiology subspecialty training program results in improved knowledge of radiologists. Implementation of web-based subspecialty training could be an effective and feasible method for institutions without subspecialty faculty and programs.