Resident-Led Medical Student Radiology Research Interest Group: An Engine for Recruitment, Research, and Mentoring—Radiology In Training
2021; Radiological Society of North America; Volume: 300; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1148/radiol.2021204518
ISSN1527-1315
AutoresAvik Som, Min Lang, John Di Capua, Daniel B. Chonde, Rory L. Cochran,
Tópico(s)Advances in Oncology and Radiotherapy
ResumoHomeRadiologyVol. 300, No. 1 PreviousNext Reviews and CommentaryFree AccessPerspectivesResident-Led Medical Student Radiology Research Interest Group: An Engine for Recruitment, Research, and Mentoring—Radiology In TrainingAvik Som , Min Lang, John Di Capua, Daniel B. Chonde, Rory L. CochranAvik Som , Min Lang, John Di Capua, Daniel B. Chonde, Rory L. CochranAuthor AffiliationsFrom the Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114.Address correspondence to A.S. (e-mail: [email protected]).Avik Som Min LangJohn Di CapuaDaniel B. ChondeRory L. CochranPublished Online:May 4 2021https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2021204518MoreSectionsPDF ToolsImage ViewerAdd to favoritesCiteTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked In Dr Avik Som is in his 3rd year at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the integrated interventional and diagnostic radiology residency program. His research is focused on applications of controlled drug release in interventional radiology in a collaboration between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MGH. He completed his MD/PhD degrees at Washington University (St Louis, Mo) with a PhD degree in biomedical engineering.Download as PowerPointOpen in Image Viewer SummaryA radiology research interest group of medical students, with the necessary infrastructure and resident leadership, may create a productive environment for research and career development for all participants.IntroductionRadiology, including the combined interventional and diagnostic radiology program, is a desirable and competitive specialty among medical students (1,2). However, many medical students are not required to rotate in radiology as part of their medical school curriculum. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become even more challenging because many rotations have transitioned to remote learning. To address barriers in medical students' exposure to and interest in radiology as a specialty, radiology residents created an organized radiology research interest group for undergraduate and medical students to foster career development, build practical skills, and create opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborative research and mentorship.Unmet NeedsSimilar to many other competitive specialties, radiology applicants face the following challenges:"How am I to gain exposure to the specialty and determine if it is a good fit?""How can I find a mentor?""How can I learn to conduct academic research within the constraints of my already demanding medical training?""How can I become a competitive applicant?"One solution is to dedicate time to clinical research in the prospective specialty, which has been emphasized as an important-ranking criterion in the National Resident Matching Program Director Survey (3). Because medical students have varied exposure to research in college, identifying an appropriate project is paramount and success may be related as much to luck as to determination and hard work. Furthermore, medical students who are interested in competitive specialties may feel pressured to take time off from medical school to complete substantive specialty-specific research, a time-intensive and potential financial burden. For those who have been traditionally underrepresented in medicine (including but not limited to women; students of color; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community; and first-generation college applicants), numerous systemic barriers make access to research even more difficult. These barriers include internalizations of societal perceptions of "who can be a scientist," documented disparities in underrepresented minorities in academic and scientific leadership, lack of invested mentors and mentorship, lack of aspirational role models with similar backgrounds, absence of a social peer network, and a competitive and hierarchical atmosphere that includes stereotyping and social stigma (4).Given these difficulties, enabling students to engage in meaningful research in diagnostic or interventional radiology offers an opportunity to increase and potentially diversify the radiology pipeline while providing pragmatic knowledge and skills to students.Developing the Infrastructure: A Match Made in Medical SchoolOn an ad hoc basis, residents have informally connected with members of local radiology interest groups. Compared with spurious emails or happenstance connections, an organized weekly forum enables scaled recruitment to meet regulatory and training needs where medical students interested in radiology can connect with radiology faculty with available research opportunities.To this aim, we developed an infrastructure to help medical students and trainees rapidly and successfully identify, design, execute, and publish research projects (5,6). This longitudinal interest group enables medical students to engage and succeed in radiology research without taking time off from the rigors of a medical school curriculum. In building this infrastructure, residents were supported by radiology department leadership and faculty, who provided supervision and refinement of research hypotheses.Medical students are recruited from those interested in interventional and/or diagnostic radiology via e-mail at the beginning of the academic year. Whereas all medical students could shadow faculty or attend interest group talks, those who were interested in research filled out a short application detailing their interests and background. First, we onboard these medical students into our hospital system for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, human subjects research training, and training in the electronic medical records and picture archiving and communication system informatics, which usually takes longer than 3 weeks but is more efficient than training each student individually over the year. During this process, weekly evening video conferences connect students, residents, and faculty, creating an open environment to brainstorm new projects and to discuss ongoing research projects. The first 15 minutes of the meeting are dedicated to brainstorming new ideas. The remaining meeting time is dedicated to discussion of ongoing projects. Further refinement of new research ideas and discussion of methods is conducted in breakout sessions following the main group meeting, which includes at least one lead attending as the principal investigator. This format has greatly improved efficiency of the meetings. Furthermore, these meetings are subdivided by specialty and project focus, including research in clinical efficacy, disparities and interventions, health economics, and translational device development. Aside from the administrative support necessary for onboarding, the remainder of the interest group activities are self-sustaining and require a single radiology resident as a lead organizer for the discussions.When a medical student chooses a project, they are paired with a resident with shared professional interests. This resident-mentor relationship provides both direct mentorship and research oversight that many faculty members find challenging to participate in because of competing clinical and academic demands. With less of a power differential than a faculty-student relationship, this near-peer relationship also facilitates communication and collaborative exploration. For instance, residents work with students on the logistics of data collection (eg, specifics regarding patient chart review), analysis (eg, debugging a statistical program), and manuscript preparation (eg, point-by-point response to reviewer comments).Residents are recruited by open invitation to the entire residency program. For the residents, this provides an opportunity to teach and mentor after work hours, and to implement research ideas that they might otherwise not have time to complete.Week-to-week goals for projects are established to meet SMART benchmarks (ie, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound), and most projects, particularly devices, follow the lean start-up method (7). Preliminary research to define the scope of a problem is encouraged to determine the resources needed to be ultimately successful (7). Larger research questions are broken down into a series of smaller questions so that projects can be approached in a more manageable stepwise fashion. Discrete investigations that can be completed in weeks become much more feasible and fit into medical student and resident rotation schedules. Over the duration of the project, faculty, residents, and medical students provide different degrees of time and input, allowing sufficient scheduling flexibility to fulfill other professional commitments. Within the infrastructure and the social framework of the interest group, these collaborations are sustained throughout the duration of a research project that can last months to years (Figure).The research workflow. Tasks and time spent by different groups on any given phase enabling rapid completion of projects with minimal resources.Download as PowerPointOpen in Image Viewer Because almost all of the work is performed by remote access, a robust hospital informatics infrastructure is required, including the following elements:Remote video conferencing: Software such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex can be used for virtual weekly laboratory meetings.Communication platform: Group chat platforms such as Slack (Slack Technologies; allows for multi-institutional discussion) or Microsoft Teams (HIPAA-compliant) between weekly meetings.HIPAA-compliant cloud storage: Cloud servers such as Dropbox Business (Dropbox), Box (Box), or RedCap (RedCap Consortium) must be provided by the health care system behind an electronic firewall.Laboratory resources (for device projects): Use of existing resources (eg, animal facilities, three-dimensional printing, or laboratory space) can enable rapid prototyping at minimal expense for interventional projects.Benefits for Medical Students, Residents, and FacultyThe interest group approach can be extremely effective over a short period. For example, our Interventional Radiology and Diagnostic Radiology Research Group currently has 38 active research members including 14 medical students, three undergraduate students, five residents, and 16 faculty. Within 6 months, medical students authored more than seven manuscripts published in high-impact medical journals both within and outside radiology, without requiring any substantive external funding. Students lead the projects from start to finish and are first authors. The interest group has become a recruitment pipeline of talented and motivated candidates for both our interventional and diagnostic radiology residency tracks. The majority of the medical students are applying or intend to apply into radiology and are familiar with and invested in the offerings of our research program and its faculty. The remaining medical students are pursuing other specialties including surgery, anesthesia, and medicine, underscoring the broad appeal of participation.Medical students learn practical skills, most notably to identify clinical problems, review the literature, craft a testable experimental question, learn new methods, and write and publish a manuscript. Thanks to the distributed weekly mentoring sessions with residents, medical students iteratively improve on their techniques. Therefore, they quickly gain a knowledge base and skill set that can otherwise take years if left unstructured.For residents, the interest group enables them to engage in clinical research that is directly relevant to patient care while still allowing time to explore other interests, such as basic science, implementation science, outcomes measurement, and scientific underpinnings of health disparities. The clinical research questions posed within this group have led to spin-off projects in biochemistry and engineering. In mentoring medical students in clinical and translational research as well as career development, residents are laying groundwork for their future careers in academic radiology. For many residents, the direct mentorship of medical students is extremely rewarding and often fosters significant interest in continuing an academic career. Further, the resident-medical student relationships have fostered a growing tight-knit networking community that has led to collaboration beyond radiology-related research and will lay the foundation for future collaborative efforts.For faculty, benefits include connecting with interested students, synergizing with and learning from highly driven residents, and participating in a vibrant forum for exchange of ideas. Participation in the multidisciplinary forum also jumpstarts collaboration with faculty who have complementary skills, augmenting faculty research by crossing the silos of different divisions within the department. Research productivity increases as students and residents work in parallel on finishing projects.Resident-led radiology research interest groups for medical students have the potential to introduce medical students to radiology in a way that is scientifically productive, professionally rewarding, and meet the needs of multiple stakeholders. Not only does the initiative accelerate research, but it also builds community and has increased exposure and connection with radiology for many, while enhancing mentoring and outreach opportunities. Notably, this model can be easily replicated at other academic institutions as long as the hospital informatics network enables HIPAA-compliant cloud-based research. Clinical research projects should be designed with focused questions in mind that can be addressed within defined timelines with concrete deliverables. Finally, residents are critical mentors for medical students to accomplish these goals. The ultimate goal of this research and mentorship initiative is to invest in our future, increase exposure and access for medical students to radiology, and advance research to better care for our patients.Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest: A.S. Activities related to the present article: disclosed no relevant relationships. Activities not related to the present article: disclosed board membership with CareSignal. Other relationships: disclosed no relevant relationships. M.L. disclosed no relevant relationships. J.D.C. disclosed no relevant relationships. D.B.C. disclosed no relevant relationships. R.L.C. disclosed no relevant relationships.AcknowledgmentsWe acknowledge the entirety of the Massachusetts General Hospital Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology Research Group (https://irlab.mgh.harvard.edu ). In particular, we acknowledge the faculty who lent support, ideas, and supervision for every project, including Raul Uppot, MD; Brent Little, MD; Dexter Mendoza, MD; Efren Flores, MD; Matt Li, MD; Junjian Huang, MD; Dania Daye, MD; Marc Succi, MD; Susanna Lee, MD; Anand Narayan, MD; Ronald Arellano, MD; Gloria Salazar, MD; Sanjeeva Kalva, MD; Gregory T. Walker, MD; and Peter Mueller, MD. A special thanks is dedicated to Dr Lee for her mentorship, editing, and encouragement for this article. A full list of students and faculty involved may be found at https://irlab.mgh.harvard.edu.References1. Lee H, Kim DH, Hong PP. Radiology Clerkship Requirements in Canada and the United States: Current State and Impact on Residency Application. J Am Coll Radiol 2020;17(4):515-522. 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Google ScholarArticle HistoryReceived: Dec 6 2020Revision requested: Dec 22 2020Revision received: Jan 10 2021Accepted: Jan 29 2021Published online: May 04 2021Published in print: July 2021 FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited ByWorkforce Pathway Development: Evaluation of an Educational Seminar to Increase Student Interest in Nuclear MedicineSamuel C.Allen, JenniferSchroeder, BhavanaBudigi, PaigeBennett2023 | Academic Radiology, Vol. 30, No. 2Key Factors to Attract More U.S. Diagnostic Radiology Residents into the Field of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging: A National SurveyBasharKako, Jian W.Dong, Brian P.An, Theresa C.McLoud, Sara M.Durfee, Heather A.Jacene, David Z.Chow, YingbingWang, HyewonHyun, Thomas S.C.Ng2023 | Academic Radiology, Vol. 30, No. 4Virtual Mentoring: A Guide to Navigating a New Age in MentorshipJacqueline C.Junn, Gary J.Whitman, Ashish P.Wasnik, Mindy X.Wang, MarkGuelfguat, Eric D.Goodman, Erik H.Middlebrooks2023 | Academic Radiology, Vol. 30, No. 4Developing a Comprehensive Resident-driven Research Training Pathway: A Chief Resident's PerspectiveDhairya ALakhani, Florence XDoo, CharlotteChung2023 | Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, Vol. 52, No. 2Mentoring Medical Education Research: Guidelines from a Narrative ReviewGary L.Beck Dallaghan, Catherine L.Coe, Sarah TownerWright, Sheryl G.Jordan2022 | Medical Science Educator, Vol. 32, No. 3"Resident Managed Peer-Mentoring Program": A Novel Way to Engage Medical Students and Radiology Residents in Collaborative ResearchDhairya A.Lakhani, Katie J.Swaney, Jeffery P.Hogg2022 | Academic Radiology, Vol. 29, No. 9Research interest groups: Creating the foundation for professional nursing education, mentorship, and collaborationFrank C.Druse, Megan A.Foradori, Jennifer J.Hatzfeld2022 | Nursing Outlook, Vol. 70, No. 6Recommended Articles 2017: A Look BackRadiology2017Volume: 285Issue: 3pp. 702-7042018 in Review and Plans for 2019RadioGraphics2019Volume: 39Issue: 1pp. 1-6The Impact of a Pandemic on Professional MeetingsRadiology: Imaging Cancer2020Volume: 2Issue: 3Matthew A. 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