Interventional Radiology and Spanish Medical Students: A Survey of Knowledge and Interests in Preclinical and Clinical Courses.

INTRODUCTION: Interventional Radiology (IR) is a medical activity that has experienced an extraordinary growth in the medical field in Spain in recent years. However, there is a lack of visibility in the Spanish Health Administration and the University community, especially among medical students. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine IR knowledge among medical students, preclinical and clinical, in a single University in Spain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An electronic survey was uploaded (November-December 2017) to an online learning platform (Moodle) and sent to 414 students from second (183 PCs) and fourth (231 Cs) year of medical school. A total of 313 students of 414 (75.6%) answered the survey 142/45.4% PCs and 171/54.6% Cs. RESULTS: Students quantified their knowledge between adequate (41% PCs/80.7% Cs) and poor levels (50.7% PCs/14% Cs). Most of the students suggested that interventional radiologists (IRs) should have a mixed training, surgical and radiological (95% PCs/88.8% Cs). Majority of students indicated that the professionals in charge of carrying out angioplasty were the IRs (95% PCs/83.6% Cs) and only 20.4% PCs/12.8% Cs (P = 0.165) of students chose cardiologists. Almost all of the medical students in both groups said they wanted to know more about IR (99.3% PCs/100.0% Cs), and the majority of students (100.0% PCs/98.8% Cs) said they agree or strongly agree that IR should be taught as an undergraduate medical subject. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that medical students in our University have poor knowledge of IR; however, they are overwhelmingly positive in their desire to have this subject taught as distinct curriculum in medical school.