Radiology Resident' Satisfaction With Their Training and Education in the United States: Effect of Program Directors, Teaching Faculty, and Other Factors on Program Success

Objective: Radiology residency education must evolve to meet the growing demands of radiology training. Resident opinions are a major resource to identify needs. However, few published data are available on a national level investigating the radiology resident perspective on factors that influence the resident experience. Our study investigates factors that affect residents' satisfaction with their residency experience and education.

Materials and methods: A 67-item survey was sent to all radiology residency program directors and coordinators in the United States to be distributed at their discretion. Questions were multiple choice, free-text answer, or 5-point Likert scale. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) was determined using chi-square test, t test, and logistic regression analysis, respectively.

Results: Two hundred seventeen radiology residents responded to the survey (range, 212-217 responses per question). Overall, 77.8% (168/216) of residents were satisfied with their residency programs. Subcategories that showed a statistically significant correlation with overall satisfaction, in decreasing strength according to the odds ratio (OR), include the program director or administrative office (OR, 72.2; 95% CI, 27.4-221.9), the daily workstation experience (OR, 30.5; 95% CI, 12.8-80.9), the faculty (OR, 19.5; 95% CI, 8.9-45.4), educational conferences (OR, 7.9; 95% CI, 3.9-16.4), work hours (OR, 6.4; 95% CI, 3.2-13.2), teaching opportunities (OR, 6.5; 95% CI, 3.1-13.8), research opportunities (OR, 5.1; 95% CI, 2.6-10.6), personal study (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1-4.1), and compensation (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.0-3.7).

Conclusion: Our study provides incremental data to the existing literature that offers insight into factors that contribute to a successful radiology residency program.