Web sites provide boost for radiology training

Many outstanding radiology teaching resources are now available on the Internet. The huge number of such Web sites is increasing on an almost daily basis.

These sites are a valuable and inexpensive tool for radiology trainees. Also, they provide an opportunity for experienced radiologists to refresh knowledge of areas not frequently used in daily practice, or as a means of continuous medical education (CME). Some sites can even award CME points.

Books are no longer the exclusive source of information about interesting case studies or revision aids. As this selection of Web sites shows, it is perfectly possible to keep up to date in radiology by surfing the Internet.

GENERAL LEARNING

eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base (WebMD)www.emedicine.com
This site contains up-to-date and well-structured clinical background information for a wide variety of pathologies. It is ideal for a comprehensive overview of diseases, whether commonplace or rare, straightforward or complex. Cancer staging classifications are presented well. The site is not primarily written for radiologists, but does contain a radiology section. Not all pages contain representative example images. Registration (free) is required for full access to site content. CME courses are offered.

Medcyclopaedia (GE Healthcare)www.medcyclopaedia.com
This encyclopedia is for medical professionals only. Registration is required to access content, but this is free of charge and can be completed quickly. The site has an efficient search engine. When entering a specific keyword, a selection of medical articles will appear as well as representative images in multiple modalities and references to textbooks. It is an encyclopedia that can be accessed by, for example, trainees on-call.

Anatomy Atlases (Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D.)www.anatomyatlases.org
All the anatomy you will ever need is here. The content spans beautifully reproduced and translated drawings dating back to 1841 through to photographic illustrations of cross-sectional anatomical specimens and the most colorful histology slides.

CASE COLLECTIONS

EURORAD (European Association of Radiology)www.eurorad.org
The EAR's e-learning initiative contains a selection of high quality cases. Access to all content in the online teaching database is free. To access initial cases, registration is not needed, but it is required for submission of a new case. The site has an efficient search tool, and cases can be selected by entering a keyword or by subspecialty. All cases contain a clinical history, images, and discussion. They can be read in English, French, or Spanish.

MedPix medical image database (Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland)rad.usuhs.mil/medpix
The MedPix peer-reviewed teaching files and imaging atlas contain an extensive collection of images from a wide range of pathologies. You can search for a particular case or click on "hide diagnosis" to test yourself on a series of cases. Online category 1 CME and continuing nursing education (CNE) credits are available.

CT is us (Advanced Medical Imaging Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland)www.ctisus.com
The many examples in this CT teaching file cover a range of diverse pathologies. Images are separated by anatomical systems. Users first view the images without knowing the diagnosis, which is an excellent way to test diagnostic confidence. The pictures are small, but the collection is huge. You will be hard-pressed to find another site wholly dedicated to CT that matches this.

Ultrasoundcases.info (Aloka/Taco Geertsma, M.D.)www.ultrasoundcases.info
Are you looking for a large collection of ultrasound cases? If so, this site should be ideal. Still images are loaded as well as cine loops. Some cases include correlation with other imaging modalities. It is well worth a visit.

BIRADS tutorial (Georg Pfarl, M.D., Thomas Helbich, M.D.)www.birads.at
This Web site on the American College of Radiology's Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) has been designed for the Austrian Roentgen Society. It is an excellent site for residents getting started in mammography. More experienced radiologists can also use the site to test their knowledge or to search for good teaching examples.

Joint program in nuclear medicine teaching file (Harvard Medical School)www.jpnm.org/elr.html
Click on "electronic learning resources" to find basic facts about fluorine-18F FDG PET/CT imaging and a PET/CT image atlas. This includes an excellent collection of normal PET/CT scans, and cases with abnormal tracer uptake due to benign causes or previous treatment. It is an ideal teaching site to appreciate that PET/CT has its own share of diagnostic challenges.

PET and PET/CT (S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center)www.cedarsinai.net/6966.html
This is a smaller Web site than the previous one, but it still contains a good list of indications for PET/CT in oncology. It also provides examples of pathology seen on PET and PET/CT. It is a good place to begin appreciating the main use of PET/CT in cancer imaging.

The radiology assistant (Dutch Radiology Society)www.radiologyassistant.nl/en
This new and expanding teaching Web site is a good example of how complex pathologies can be presented to junior trainees. It contains a variety of imaging-led overviews focusing on abdominal pathology, anatomical and pathological descriptions of the temporal bone, breast imaging, and musculoskeletal cases. We hope to see more sites like this in future.

CONGRESS CONTENT

Society of Thoracic Imagingwww.thoracicrad.org/str99/education_main.htm
Sit back and listen to a wide variety of audio recordings or view slides from presentations given at the society's annual meetings. Sessions covering cardiac imaging as well as thoracic imaging are available free and without prior registration.

Radiological Society of North Americawww2.rsna.org/search/rsnacustomsearch.cfm
Here you can find refresher courses and plenary and focus sessions with online presentations, as well as published "cases of the day" from previous annual meetings of the RSNA. The entire site is free to RSNA members; limited access is available for nonmembers. Trainee radiologists can apply for free RSNA membership. CME credits are available for members only.

European Congress of Radiologywww.ecr.org
If you were unable to get to last year's ECR or you missed a good session, register with the congress Web site and choose "EDIPS downloads" (ECR e-Learning) to receive key presentations from previous meetings. Videos are available as well as slides. Posters from ECR and other selected radiology meetings can be reviewed at "EPOS." What a great opportunity- and it's free!

PORTALS AND COLLECTED LINKS

International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicinewww.ismrm.org/mr_sites.htm
#Education
This Web site lists links to tutorials on MR physics and patient safety as well as MRI teaching files.

Radport.com (David J. Peakman)www.radport.com
This "portal for radiology and imaging related sites" does not list as many sites as the ISMRM site, but it offers a brief review from the site's author and a star rating system.

RadiologyEducation.com (Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D.)www.radiologyeducation.com
This sizeable digital library of radiology education resources allows users to search for the best Web sites themselves. Links to radiology textbooks, radiological teaching files, anatomy atlases, and journals are also included. The site states as its goal to provide "a starting point for entry into radiology places of enlightenment, entertainment, and education on the Internet."

World Wide Web radiology sites (Med Nexus)www.mednexus.com/public/mnlinkrd.html
This site presents another long list of links to radiology teaching Web sites, but doesn't offer any description or evaluation of the sites' quality and/or usefulness.

DR. NYHSEN is a specialist radiology registrar at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K. DR. ADRIAENSEN is a radiology resident based in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.