Picture This: Integrating Radiology Case Based Learning in Gastrointestinal Physician Assistant Education

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Abstract

Introduction: Physician assistants (PA) are expected to order and interpret diagnostic images in nearly every medical specialty. Yet there is significant variation across PA programs in how radiology is incorporated into the curriculum. This study aims to explore the use of case-based learning (CBL) as a strategy for teaching gastrointestinal radiology to first year PA students, using Vygotsky’s theory of zone of proximal development to adequately challenge students.

Methods: A two-hour gastrointestinal CBL session integrating radiology, anatomy, and clinical medicine content was presented to first year PA students (n=42). Students completed a pre-test (n=38) and a post-test (n=33) assessing five learning objectives for the biliary, enteric, and hepatic systems. Following the posttest, students also completed confidence ratings and provided feedback (n=33). Pretest and posttest scores were analyzed for overall performance, organ system performance, and learning objective performance using paired t tests. Confidence ratings were analyzed using pooled Z tests, and feedback responses were assessed with basic content analysis.

Results: Students demonstrated significant improvement from pretest to posttest on overall scores (71% vs. 88%, p < 0.001 ). Significant improvement was also noted on each organ system and across nearly every learning objective. Students also reported significantly increased confidence with their anatomy and radiology skills after attending the CBL session. Student feedback on the session was overall positive, with 100% of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that the session better prepared them to interpret images in clinical year.

Discussion: Significant improvement was noted from pretest to posttest overall and across learning objectives for each organ system, suggesting that CBL may be an effective way to teach radiology skills to first year PA students while simultaneously integrating the content with their anatomy and medicine curriculum. 

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