E-learning for medical imaging specialists: introducing blended learning in a nuclear medicine specialist course.

BACKGROUND: While e-learning has become an important tool in teaching medical students, the training of specialists in medical imaging is still dominated by lecture-based courses.

PURPOSE: To assess the potential of e-learning in specialist education in medical imaging.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: An existing lecture-based five-day course in Clinical Nuclear Medicine (NM) was enhanced by e-learning resources and activities, including practical exercises. An anonymized survey was conducted after participants had completed and passed the multiple choice electronic course examination.

RESULTS: Twelve out of 15 course participants (80%) responded. Overall satisfaction with the new course format was high, but 25% of the respondents wanted more interactive elements such as discussions and practical exercises. The importance of lecture handouts and supplementary online material such as selected original articles and professional guidelines was affirmed by all the respondents (92% fully, 8% partially), while 75% fully and 25% partially agreed that the lectures had been interesting and relevant.

CONCLUSION: E-learning represents a hitherto unrealized potential in the education of medical specialists. It may expedite training of medical specialists while at the same time containing costs.