We believe that Radiology is at the center of medicine and is used by virtually all physicians over the course of their careers. This is why we work hard with the medical school to offer education in radiology starting with our involvement with the first year anatomy curriculum. We have faculty and residents who contribute their applied anatomy knowledge and how it relates to normal anatomy and basic pathology within the lectures and labs. Our department presents the radiology-anatomy correlation lecture, providing in-depth, highly visual information using multiple examples of anatomy and how they correlate to structures seen with plain films, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, PET scans and nuclear medicine. Included are descriptions of each radiological modality from the perspectives of history, physics and how each image is created.
By demonstrating the anatomy images in a living patients and directly relate that anatomy to physiological function and disease it shows students why they need to know their anatomy. This increases both motivation to learn and retention of what’s studied. The Michigan Radiology Interest Group (MRIG) also coordinates “case based” introduction to Radiology and “hands on” ultrasound lectures. Our department has also coordinated six electives for our second year medical students; Emergency Radiology, Interventional Radiology, Woman’s Imaging, Pediatric Radiology, Neuroradiology, and Ultrasound. By introducing the importance of radiology early in their medical student experience the student can appreciate the importance of the Radiologist and the large role we play in patient care.