Investigating the supply and use of medical photographs in medical education

Abstract

A survey-based exploration into the production and use of medical photographs in medical education. Qualitative data were collected on the use of medical photographs in medical education, ease of access to images and the qualities expected of a medical photograph used for teaching purposes. Our sample included participants from three stakeholder groups: medical students (n = 45), medical educators (n = 6) and medical photographers (n = 11). Our data demonstrate that while use of medical images in clinical education is highly valued, user awareness of the role and value of medical illustration departments (MIDs) remains a barrier to use. Seventy-one percent of students had little or no awareness of the role of MIDs. Ninety-three percent of students and 66% of medical educators had never used a MID, opting instead to use open-access search engines and online specialist archives. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that stakeholders’ priorities with regard to medical images centre on image quality, clarity and contextual information. This presents a key opportunity for MIDs to realign their services to meet user needs in this area. Further investigation is required to determine how to raise awareness of MIDs amongst users to deliver on this opportunity.