Post-COVID Pandemic Radiology Resident Readout Best Practices: An Institutional Needs Assessment and Initial Guidelines

Rationale and objectives: Radiology resident readout practices were adapted during the COVID pandemic, with several institutions transitioning to virtual and asynchronous readouts. Some pandemic-era practices persist today, with unclear effects on resident education. We developed institutional Readout Best Practices and assessed implementation.

Materials and methods: A voluntary, anonymous needs assessment survey was emailed to radiology residents in June 2023 and an informal faculty needs assessment was performed. Results informed development of a Readout Best Practices guide, shared with trainees and faculty in July 2023. A voluntary, anonymous, faculty pre-implementation survey was sent in July 2023, followed by resident and faculty post-implementation surveys in November 2023.

Results: Our institutional needs assessment revealed that residents and faculty preferred a combination of live in-person readouts and asynchronous readouts based on resident year and specific rotation. Notably, residents desired more in-person readouts than they were receiving. Following implementation of Readout Best Practices, there was no change in readout methods reported by residents or faculty; however, 56% of faculty reported making changes to their educational practices and 50% of residents who had read the Best Practices guide adopted changes on service to improve their learning. Faculty reported implementation was limited by high volumes, staffing, and workflow.

Conclusion: Despite no significant changes in reported readout style, faculty and residents reported practice changes following implementation of Readout Best Practices, suggesting that effects on teaching and learning at the individual level were not captured by our survey. This study identified challenges in balancing volumes, education, and wellness, and the data support discussion of both educational and clinical workflow optimization. Future studies are warranted to determine the status of post-pandemic radiology readouts beyond our institution.