Opportunities and Resources for Medical Students Interested in Radiology

If I have any disappointments from my first year of medical school, it’s that I didn’t know about all the opportunities and resources available to me about radiology. My experience is probably not uncommon as radiology is still not a significant part of our medical education. I hope that my wish list below will come in handy for medical students interested in radiology — it’s a list I wish I had during my first year.

In a 2022 survey conducted by the Journal of Clinical Imaging Science, 72% of the 472 of the survey respondents reported receiving “too little radiology education”. I believe this is because there is often no dedicated course for learning radiology or at minimum, it is included as a small portion of an anatomy course. However, increasing efforts to improve this deficit in our medical education are underway. For example, the ACR® course, Radiology-TEACHES®, provides self-directed micro-modules for medical students to learn which imaging modality is best suited for a clinical scenario.

Of course, I also wish I’d known about the resources and events available through our ACR Medical Student Section — created for medical students by medical students!

Below is my wish list of opportunities and resources for medical students interested in radiology. I hope it equips other medical students with information about the field of radiology and prepares them for entering the specialty.

Annual ACR Medical Student Symposium

This year will be the 5th annual ACR Medical Student Symposium, a four-hour event that includes presentations from radiologists of different specialties, a program director panel and much more. This year, ACR President Pamela Woodard, MD, FACR, will present the keynote address, and there will also be a case competition on rare presentations of common pathologies or common presentations of rare pathologies. The top three winners will be highlighted at the symposium, published on the ACR website and awarded prizes. This virtual event will be held on Jan. 25, 2025.

ACR Annual Meeting

The ACR Annual Meeting is a great way to meet radiologists, radiology residents and fellow medical students interested in radiology. Medical students are invited to attend the Resident and Fellow Section meeting as well as special sessions from the Medical Student Section (MSS) with Match panels and fun events like Radiology Jeopardy. This in-person and virtual event will be held May 3–7, 2025.

ACR MSS Annual Virtual Research Fair

Research is a major interest for medical students but getting involved in research is often difficult if you’re not part of a large academic institution. The Medical Student Research Fair is a virtual event that provides students the opportunity to submit and present on their own research, listen to other students’ research projects, learn the importance of radiology research and ask questions about how to get involved. The 2025 date for this event is yet to be determined, but generally takes place in early June. Watch for an announcement about the 2025 research fair and view previous events on demand through the ACR Medical Student Hub.

ACR Medical Student Hub

The ACR MSS Medical Student Hub offers a variety of resources for medical students from on-demand webinars and events to journal clubs, internships, scholarships and supplemental education. These resources are a convenient way to get involved when it’s difficult to find time to attend all the meetings you wish you could attend!

PIER Internship

The Pipeline Initiative for the Enrichment of Radiology (PIER) is a virtual, six-week summer internship open to underrepresented minority medical students or women in their first year of medical school. This is a fantastic opportunity to get more involved in radiology under the guidance of a radiology mentor. All applications are due Jan. 5, 2025.

ACR Rad Reserves

Want to learn more about the field? Join the ACR Rad Reserves to receive a monthly email update from the MSS Communications Subcommittee that includes upcoming radiology events, programs and activities that may be of interest to you. It’s a once-a-year signup.