Radiology trainee and attending satisfaction with virtual readouts during the COVID-19 pandemic

Strategies for successful integration of work from home faculty in an academic radiology department

Academic radiology departments have added increasing numbers of entirely remote "work-from-home" or hybrid faculty. This change has presented both an opportunity to recruit and retain faculty as well as a set of challenges to maintaining the full academic mission and educational environment. In this article we describe our experience with creating a remote faculty position and the key elements that we believe made it successful. Guiding principles for the department and faculty member accepting such a position are proposed and discussed.

Embracing Remote Academic Radiologists

Over the past two years at our large academic center, we successfully developed a formal remote academic radiologist division - composed of permanent fully remote radiologists across multiple subspecialties, living geographically distant from our institution. In this article, we share our experience implementing a remote radiologist division, review the benefits and challenges of this approach, discuss expectations of academic remote radiologists as clinicians, educators, and scholars, and provide tips for success.

Evidence for an adverse impact of remote readouts on radiology resident productivity: Implications for training and clinical practice

After their rapid adoption at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, remote case reviews (remote readouts) between diagnostic radiology residents and their attendings have persisted in an increasingly remote workforce, despite relaxing social distancing guidelines. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of the transition to remote readouts on resident case volumes after the recovery of institutional volumes. We tabulated radiology reports co-authored by first-to-third-year radiology residents (R1-R3) between July 1 and December 31 of the first pandemic year, 2020, and compared to the prior two pre-pandemic years. Half-years were analyzed because institutional volumes recovered by July 2020. Resident volumes were normalized to rotations, which were in divisions categorized by the location of the supervising faculty during the pandemic period; in 'remote' divisions, all faculty worked off-site, whereas 'hybrid' divisions had a mix of attendings working on-site and remotely. All residents worked on-site. Data analysis was performed with Student's t test and multivariate linear regression. The largest drops in total case volume occurred in the two remote divisions (38% [6,086 to 3,788], and 26% [11,046 to 8,149]). None of the hybrid divisions with both in-person and remote supervision decreased by more than 5%. With multivariate regression, a resident assigned to a standardized remote rotation in 2020 would complete 32% (253 to 172) fewer studies than in identical pre-pandemic rotations (coefficent of -81.6, p = .005) but would be similar for hybrid rotations. R1 residents would be expected to interpret 40% fewer (180 to 108) cases on remote rotations during the pandemic (coefficient of -72.3, p = .007). No significant effect was seen for R2 or R3 residents (p = .099 and p = .29, respectively). Radiology residents interpreted fewer studies during remote rotations than on hybrid rotations that included in-person readouts. As resident case volume is correlated with clinical performance and board pass rate, monitoring the readout model for downstream educational effects is essential. Until evidence shows that educational outcomes remain unchanged, radiology residencies may wish to preserve in-person resident readouts, particularly for junior residents.

Radiology Training Program Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had major effects on radiology training programs throughout the country. Many of the challenges were shared, with some variation depending on the size and geographic location of each program. While some initial modifications, such as platoon-type scheduling and redeployment, have been abandoned, other changes such as home workstations and the option of remote conferences have become more permanently incorporated. Remote learning tools and virtual teaching are much more frequently used, although there is emphasis by many programs on preserving in-person training. Programs stressed the importance of communication and adaptability, and getting resident and faculty input is key in optimizing the educational experience.

Work From Home in Academic Radiology Departments: Advantages, Disadvantages and Strategies for the Future

To achieve necessary social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, working from home was introduced at most if not all academic radiology departments. Although initially thought to be a temporary adaptation, the popularity of working from home among faculty has made it likely that it will remain a component of radiology departments for the long term. This paper will review the potential advantages and disadvantages of working from home for an academic radiology department and suggest strategies to try to preserve the advantages and minimize the disadvantages.