Purpose or Case Report: International clinical observerships in pediatric radiology offer benefits such as academic collaboration and brand recognition. However, they also introduce additional administrative burden, scheduling difficulties, increased faculty workload for the host institution, and regulatory and financial challenges for observers. In January 2021, the observer program at a US-based teaching hospital's radiology department was relaunched following a COVID-19 pandemic hiatus, providing a limited number of scholarships to medical students, residents, fellows, and other colleagues worldwide for 1-6 weeks. During their stay, observers rotated through different divisions, accessed our learning management system (LMS), and were encouraged to attend conferences and to give a lecture or case-based presentation to the department. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and the impact on the observer’s career.
Methods & Materials: Our evaluation focused on the program's effectiveness and impact, considering the preboarding process, the observers' experiences, and the professional impact on participants. All observers between January 2021 and October 2023 were invited to complete an evaluation form of 40 questions which included Likert scale and open-ended questions.
Results: Thirty international observers from 20 different countries participated in the program; 22 observers completed the evaluation form.
Nine (42.9%) observers learned about the program through word of mouth. Most observers rated the following as “good” or “very good”: i) access to program information (86.4%), ii) the application (100%), and iii) the selection process (86.4%). Administrative support was rated “very good” by 86.4%. Some noted that the occupational health requirement/vaccination process delayed their onboarding.
Almost all (95.5%) observers attended teaching conferences, with 22.7% presenting at least once. The majority (72.7%) “strongly agreed” that faculty encouraged active learning and provided meaningful feedback; 72.7% accessed the departments’ LMS. The program led to academic collaboration or research for 68.2%. All agreed that the program was well-organized, beneficial to their professional development, and deserving of recommendation to peers.
Conclusions: The pediatric radiology international observership program was well received by participants and has a high impact on their future careers. The program is well-organized and highly recommended by participants. Observer feedback will allow us to improve future iteration.