US Trainee and Faculty Perspectives on Exposure to Nuclear Medicine/Molecular Imaging During Medical School

Abstract

Purpose: (1) To identify key factors, especially during medical school, driving trainees to pursue nuclear medicine/molecular imaging (NM/MI) as a career. (2) To understand the current state of medical student exposure to NM/MI. Methods: We disseminated 2 surveys by email. The first surveyed NM/MI trainees about motivations for choosing the specialty. The second survey was sent to US medical school faculty responsible for student education and NM/MI residency program directors to gauge the current state of NM/MI didactics at their institution. Results: Seventy-eight trainees and 44 faculty responded. Most trainees reported becoming first interested in NM/MI after medical school (80%, 56/70). Trainees reported little NM/MI exposure during medical school (65%, 49/75), despite faculty reporting that they provide NM/MI didactics (76%, 32/42, P = 0.005). Imaging clerkships, research, and mentorship experiences were important influences for trainee's specialty choice. Most respondents thought that NM/MI should be pursued in conjunction with Diagnostic Radiology training (trainees 67%, 45/69; faculty 80%, 32/40). Conclusion: Survey results highlight the need to improve medical student engagement in NM/MI. It also identified factors that motivate current NM/MI trainees to enter the field and highlight a potential opportunity to increase medical student exposure to NM/MI. Targets for curricular and extra-curricular development that may increase effective NM/MI exposure during medical school were identified to guide future outreach efforts.