Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Image: A view from undergraduate medical education

Abstract

Objective: To know the perception and level of knowledge that undergraduate students of the Medical Surgeon career have about Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study that consisted of a knowledge test and a survey using a Likert scale on educational, health, social and personal interest perception.

Results: A total of 82 students. The level of knowledge was correlated with the academic average (Spearman's ρ 0.254, p = 0.0211), the median in the exam was 6 (interquartile range 4 – 7) /10. The median of the perception questionnaire was 24 (interquartile range 21.75 – 26) / 50. The factor analysis of our perception instrument obtained a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index of 0.640 and a statistically significant Bartlett's sphericity test (p < 0.0001). The Cronbach's α coefficient of the instrument was 0.743.

Conclusions: Undergraduate students do not have basic knowledge in Nuclear Medicine. The academic panorama of the specialty in our country regarding its promotion, inclusion and dissemination is quite discouraging and gloomy. The country's universities must include content of this specialty in their study plans in order to complement and improve the teaching of future primary care doctors and specialists.

Keywords: Nuclear Medicine; Molecular Imaging; Education Medical; Schools, Medical; Hospitals, Teaching.