Assessment of the Effect of Clinical Rotation in Radiology on Medical Students' Awareness Level of Ionising Radiation and Radiation

Abstract

Doctors' knowledge of ionising radiation and radiation protection is vital, especially when requesting radiological investigations that involve patients exposure. A cross-sectional study conducted during the academic year 2009-2010 at Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University. The objective was to evaluate the effect of clinical rotation in radiology on medical students' awareness of ionising radiation. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 326 of 6th year medical students post clinical rotation. Fourth year students were used as a control, representing students with no theoretical or clinical experience in radiology. One hundred sixtythree students (50%) scored around 60%, 13 (4%) scored zero and only 22 (7%) scored 85% or above. However, 6^th year students scored higher than the control group in most questions with an overall mean ±SD of 51.6 ±19.7. Nearly 38% thought that objects in the room still emit radiation after completion of exposure. More than 50% of them thought that magnetic resonance imaging involves ionizing radiation. The results highlighted; students who completed their clinical rotation in radiology performed better than those who did not; over-all knowledge of ionising radiation and radiation protection is still very poor. Modification to the existing curriculum should be considered.