Effectiveness of education on radiation exposure for medical students prior to clinical clerkship.

Abstract

Purpose: The widespread use of radiation in diagnostic imaging, interventional procedures, and radiotherapy requires robust radiation safety education. Despite its importance, medical students in Japan and other countries have limited awareness of radiation protection. In Japan, radiation safety education is essential due to recent legislative changes that position medical students as "student doctors" and expand their clinical responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, concerns, and anxieties of 5th-year medical students regarding radiation exposure before clinical training, and to evaluate the impact of a lecture-style intervention on these parameters.

Materials and methods: A 20-min lecture on radiation safety was given to 95 fifth-year students at Nara Medical University immediately before clinical training. The lecture covered the basic concepts of radiation biology, legal regulations, radiation risks, and protective measures. A 25-item questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale was administered before and after the lecture. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the data, and mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate changes in the main factors identified by exploratory factor analysis. Subgroup analysis was also conducted based on gender and the selected clinical department.

Results: Exploratory factor analysis identified four main factors: anxiety, interest, knowledge, and management of radiation exposure. After the lecture-based intervention, knowledge and management of radiation exposure scores increased significantly (p < .001), but interest did not change. There was no difference in score by gender.

Conclusion: Lecture-based interventions can significantly improve senior medical students' knowledge and management skills regarding radiation safety. However, it was difficult to improve the interest of students who chose departments that were considered to have a low risk of radiation exposure. Our findings indicate the need for further development of educational strategies to improve awareness and education of radiation protection in clinical situations.