The hidden curriculum in radiology residency programs: a path to isolation or integration?

Abstract

Purpose: In this qualitative case study involving five academic Radiology centres across Canada, the authors seek to identify the hidden curriculum.

Methods: A qualitative case study methodology was used for its potential to explore and provide rich descriptions and allow for the in-depth analysis of multiple data sources that include official institutional documents, surveys, observations and interviews (including undergraduate students, postgraduate, radiologists, imaging scientists, residents, faculty and administrators). This study relied on 48 interviews and involved primary data analysis by the core research team, and a secondary analysis by external examiners.

Results: The results revealed that in four of the five major centres studied, a hidden curriculum of isolation prevailed, reinforcing an image of the radiologist as an independent operator within an organization dependent upon collaboration for optimal performance. The fifth site exhibited a hidden curriculum of collaboration and support, although the messages received were conflicting when addressing issues around teaching.

Conclusions: The authors conclude by noting two possibilities for medical imaging departments to consider that of isolation or that of integration. They examine the implications of each and propose a way forward that situates Radiology as the crossroads of medicine. As such, the need for a new, generative metaphor reasserts the importance of recognizing the role and function of scholarship in teaching and learning contexts across Canada.