088 - Assessing Undergraduate Interest in Vascular and Interventional Radiology via Multiple Educational Webinars
Sankrit Kapoor, n/a – Undergraduate Student, University of Rochester; Vraj Patel, B.S. – MS2, Albany Medical College; Michael Raver, B.S. – MS3, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Geogy Vatakencherry, M.D., F.S.I.R. – Program Director, Interventional Radiology, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles
Purpose: This study aims to assess undergraduate student interest in vascular and interventional radiology (VIR) and determine the most effective way to increase interest and exposure using an online webinar series.
Material and Methods: An education series consisting of three webinars discussing the unique aspects of VIR was held, focusing on undergraduate students. A pre-webinar and post-webinar survey was distributed to attendees from each webinar. Surveys focused on students’ prior exposure to VIR and radiology and their perception of VIR physicians in a clinical setting. Post webinar survey data was collected directly from attendees, and survey data were compared between webinars.
Results: 103 undergraduate students attended three webinars. The response rate to the post-webinar survey was 39.8% (n=41) for all three webinars combined. Altogether, 89.3% of the attendees had little to no exposure to interventional radiology through their undergraduate coursework. In addition, 59.2% of respondents considered interventional radiologists to be clinicians before their specific webinar, which increased to 97.6% considered clinicians following the webinar. After the webinars, the respondents increased their understanding of what VIR does, including performing abscess drainages (41.7% to 90.2%), arterial and venous access (63.1% to 92.7%), and tumor treatment (55.3% to 82.9%). Based on the comments following the webinars, 95.1% of all the post-webinar survey respondents stated they want to learn more about IR via future webinars. In addition, 60.1% of post-webinar survey respondents said they would prefer some form of hands-on or visual demonstration to increase their exposure to Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
Conclusions: Based on the webinar's attendance, undergraduates express significant interest in VIR and want to learn more about the field. Therefore, early exposure to VIR for students through easily accessible opportunities for shadowing, hands-on clinical experience, and integration with local VIR interest groups may be an effective way to increase interest and awareness of the specialty and ultimately recruit students at a very early stage.