project was made available to undergraduate student radiographers and their lecturers in 2013. The HCPC’s Standards of Proficiency28 Continuing Professional Development30 College of Radiographers31
are mandatory for all radiographers, as are their Standards for . These, coupled with the requirement for evidence-based care by the
, stretch the limits of traditional methods of workplace learning. Additionally, ever
increasing departmental activity and current austerity constraints, limit the ability to release radiographers for short courses and conferences. The use of online learning overcomes many of these limitations and is becoming more frequent in the delivery of radiology training. The flexibility that e-learning can provide through easy access to training materials from any computer at any time, is a key asset and turns a free moment between patients into a meaningful learning opportunity. With each image interpretation session taking an average of 24 minutes to complete, this serves as a perfect example of opportunistic learning in manageable chunks. It also suits a sizeable number of radiographers according to a recent analysis, which found similar preferences in a cohort of qualified radiographers between staggered, incremental learning and short, intensive education when undertaking image interpretation16.
The need for continued learning to maintain performance and confidence in image interpretation and PCE has been identified15
six to ten weeks following an intensive training program32,33 declining radiographer performance six months after completion of image interpretation training34
. McConnell and colleagues found a reduction in abnormality detection accuracy of radiographers , mirroring the study by Mackay, who demonstrated . This is a
recognised phenomenon and is not limited to image interpretation by radiographers or other health professionals. For example, one of the reasons for strict ongoing training in the aviation industry is to minimise this phenomenon35
. The Image Interpretation project, with its flexible online delivery platform, provides an excellent
resource for radiographers and others to maintain their knowledge and skills. With additional development, the Image Interpretation project could act not only as a continuing education tool, but also as an assessment tool to help measure competency. This would require ongoing resources to develop and maintain appropriate test banks, but is something that could be achieved and should be considered. The Image Interpretation project was designed primarily to improve abnormality detection skills of
radiographers, and support and facilitate preliminary clinical evaluation by radiographers at the time of image acquisition. However, the program was not designed to train reporting radiographers in the provision of definitive clinical reports, and it is important to recognise this limitation. Reporting radiographers have completed accredited Masters level education, incorporating robust structured clinical examinations11
. Similarly, none of the sessions
is designed as a 'how to' or DIY training program. For example, one cannot learn technique from the ultrasound sessions, although they offer many useful tips on image acquisition and image optimisation. Again, staff using ultrasound must have completed formal accredited training. The end of current project development is due to be completed in the summer of 2015 and it will then cover the spectrum of diagnostic imaging investigations. Work will not stop at that point however, with an acknowledged need to review and update all learning sessions on a regular, planned schedule, and to add new sessions as new imaging investigations or developments to current investigations occur. Additionally, if the resource is to provide ongoing self-assessment and ongoing competence assessment, further self-test and new assessment testing learning units are needed. Finally, there is also the need to further promote use of the resource, both to radiographers and to all healthcare professionals who need to understand and/or evaluate the outcomes of imaging investigations. As with all
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Radiographer preliminary clinical evaluation and clinical reporting remove barriers to delayed diagnosis
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