Ability to Correctly Interpret the Chest X-ray by Emergency Medicine Residents at Three Public Hospitals of Tehran 2012

Background and

Chest X Ray (CXR) is one of the most common radiography uses in the emergency department. 24-hour access to trained radiologists is not possible for the emergency residents so this ability is the necessary skills for the students. The precent article evaluates this ability in thr emergency and internal medicine residents.

In the cross-sectional study 11 CXRs with specified interpretation were selected from radiologhic text books and given to emergency medicine residents of three educational hospitals for interpretation. The responses of these individuals to access the research questions were analyzed by statistical software SPSS 18.

In total، 114 residents were studied. Average score of emergency residents was 7. 2 ± 2. 5 (only 65. 4% true answer). The mean score of Emergency Medicine in Imam Khomeini Hospital، Rasool Akram and Imam Hossein was 6. 4 ± 1. 7، 8. 5 ± 3. 2 and 6. 8 ± 3. 2 respectively (P = 0. 001). There was not significant correlation between level of residency and mean score of students (P>0. 05).

It seems that development in the quality and quantity of radiologic courses is necessary to increase ability of emergency medicine students in CXR interpretation