Awareness of interventional radiology among medical students at KFU in Al-Hasa province

Background : Interventional radiology (IR) is a branch of diagnostic radiology that performs minimally invasive procedure using image guided radiological techniques. Methods : To measure the awareness of IR between clinical-year medical students and medical interns at King Faisal University (KFU) in Al-Hasa province and the likelihood of medical students to enter IR in the future, a cross-sectional study was performed between year 4 and 5 medical students  (clinical year students) and medical interns at KFU, Al-Hasa with the use of validated electronic questionnaire. Results : A total of 246 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this study. The students were in clinical years: 54.9% were in their fourth year, 34.6% were in their fifth year, and 10.6% were interns. Approximately half of the responders (46.9%) think their knowledge regarding IR is poor. Lectures were the most frequently identified information source (33.3%). Around 48% of the participants had a satisfactory level of knowledge on interventional radiology. Conclusion : This study showed relatively poor awareness and knowledge toward IR among medical interns and clinical years medical students. To solve this issue, a number of strategies can be implemented, such as early inclusion of an interventional radiology course in the curriculum, IR symposiums, and IR awareness campaigns.