[Intl_DxMedPhys] Diagnostic Resident Physics Curriculum Ideas

[Ryan Fisher]

We’re pretty slim on our physics teachings compared to what’s been sent out so far. We do 1 -2 monthly 1 hr lectures covering the whole AAPM core curriculum in ~ 16 lectures over the year. The physics lectures are their own thing and not tied to any of the clinical lectures faculty are giving. They’re also just regular power-point lectures. At a prior gig we tried assigning reading ahead of time with the intent to do more active learning/flipped classroom style teaching and it basically ended up with no one doing the reading which limited that approach. Physics lectures are given to all residents and get repeated every year. So in theory by the time they get to 3rd year and the core exam they’ve seen everything at least twice, if not 3x, and all my bad/dated jokes have become very stale. (had a Ferris Bueller image in one and a resident asked if that was the guy from Inspector Gadget…) Despite that, attendance is usually pretty good throughout. Lectures are on Webex for off-site residents and slides are available if they want them, but we don’t record anything so if someone misses a lecture, they just miss it.

I do hands on labs just for the 3rd years, covering rad/fluoro/CT to help drive home concepts. I also do core prep with the 3rd years starting around March though the exam. That’s usually 2hrs twice a week and is just working through various question banks (AAPM core curriculum & the Radiology core physics premium iOs app), with stops along the way to review lecture slides/youtube videos/etc. to clarify anything that needs further explanation.

Fwiw I think we’ve only had one resident condition the core since I’ve been here, and it wasn’t because of physics scores. Overall we’re more “teach the exam” than I would prefer, but I try to drive home the distinction between stuff they really only need to know for the core, vs stuff they would benefit from understanding more for their careers.

From: Intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list <intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list-bounces+rfisher1=metrohealth.org at lists.osu.edu> On Behalf Of Steven Shea via Intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2025 2:52 PM
To: intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list at lists.osu.edu
Subject: [Intl_DxMedPhys] Diagnostic Resident Physics Curriculum Ideas

STOP!
THIS IS AN EXTERNAL EMAIL
This email was originated outside of the MetroHealth System
Take a 3-second pause and ask yourself the following questions:
1. Who is sending me this email? Do I know who this is?
2. Am I expecting this email? Is this out of the ordinary?
3. Why is there a link in the email? Do I trust this link?
THINK
Before You
Click the Link
Dear list, I am reaching out to ask for examples/suggestions for how you/your program is teaching diagnostic physics to Radiology residents. We are about to undergo a major change at our institution for physics teaching. Previously,  we have
Dear list,

I am reaching out to ask for examples/suggestions for how you/your program is teaching diagnostic physics to Radiology residents. We are about to undergo a major change at our institution for physics teaching. Previously,  we have had 1.5 hour physics lectures roughly once per week and we covered the entire AAPM curriculum<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.aapm.org/education/ERG/DIARAD/__;!!KGKeukY!z8uXyekquwm4BAonS3FkIjfzHGiWDON3FSsrNiy9Ymd8Db_fZL5FDilUrF-q6DcoE4WyAFGY7j_rThzp1-I1pd4WbhyBQGUS_7DinpmnewCHbP0t$> each year. The idea was to expose the residents multiple times to physics conferences (as concepts were abstract and not as emphasized in their clinical work) and also to ensure all residents saw the lectures at least twice before their third year board exams. (Residents would sometimes miss lectures due to call schedule or rotations away from campus.) The new proposal from our program director would significantly reduce the physics lectures (maybe once per month in the normal conference schedule) and we are looking into other options/alternatives. Part of the justification was that several other local programs were not devoting this amount of time to physics lectures. While we are still in discussions on what we will do, I am sure we will need to cut down our total amount of lectures per year. So, I was hoping some of you would share your current practices/curriculum for Diagnostic Radiology residents. I have some specific questions that would be helpful for our team:
- Do you run the curriculum over multiple years? If so, how do you deal with residents missing class periods due to call?
- Do you teach all topics to all residents? Or do you split to specific groups? Eg: x-ray & fluoro to first years, CT to second years, MRI & NucMed to third years ...
- Do you bunch or compress the lectures (i.e. a week-long boot camp or similar) or do you spread the lectures throughout the year?
- Are the physics lectures/curriculum separate from the traditional clinical lectures across body, MSK, neuro, etc...? Or do you weave within?
- Do you do traditional lectures or have you moved to different modes of interaction? (We have done hands-on labs but typically can only run these once or twice per year for a particular modality, often have to limit the number of students, and have to do some on the weekends.)

I would appreciate any other thoughts you might have. We are trying to avoid only doing board prep as we all think (a) physics is an important but often overlooked part of learning for the Radiology residents and (b) many residents only receive dedicated physics education during their residency.

Best, Steve

Steven Shea, PhD
Associate Professor, MR Scientist
Department of Radiology & Medical Imaging. Loyola Medicine

MetroHealth’s Mission: Leading the way to a healthier you and a healthier community through service, teaching, discovery, and teamwork. This email and all attachments that may have been included are intended only for the use of the party to whom/which the email is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the addressee or the employee or agent of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from printing, storing, disseminating, distributing, or copying this communication.Contact us<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fs26.formsite.com/8dBVlg/sjvmjw2v0c/index.html__;!!KGKeukY!0CsgQRkmce5RHmXhTVXiRSXyeikExi3TAcEP9pBoXKwDNrE4YU2586t01PREzVQ1XGhr20utT8iFwvdKjhFMnf3FO4k3OjPsj0tAX0xHq6Bq$ >
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/private/intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list/attachments/20250423/1d6cf697/attachment.html>