The German Roentgen Society (DRG) and LernRad have launched a new cardiac CT course for doctors and medical technologists for radiology (MTRs).
Prof. Dr. Bettina Baessler, managing partner and inventor of LernRad, said the new course is designed to build confidence in practice and close a critical gap after the qualification (Q) courses.
"Typically, most colleagues do not feel confident enough after the Q courses to really handle the diagnosis of cardiac CTs in their everyday life," Baessler said in a news release. "Our course is designed to close precisely this gap. We want to enable our learners to transfer the newly acquired knowledge directly into their everyday clinical life and lay a solid foundation for safe, structured diagnosis of coronary CT."
LernRad designed Cardiac CT Level I (Anatomy and Diagnosis) to be practice- and application-oriented and to provide in addition to the Q courses a solid foundation for the diagnosis of coronary CTs in everyday clinical practice. The 14-hour course omits everything about technology, image acquisition, and indication, as that will be covered separately on the platform, according to LernRad.
"We proceed a little differently than you might be used to from other courses," Baessler explained. "At the beginning of the course, we devote ourselves intensively and interactively to normal anatomy and its variants. The engram learned is then practiced on a series of cases. Knowledge of normal anatomy and its variants -- and there are actually many -- is, in our opinion, very important - especially for getting started with cardiac CT."
Coronary CT diagnosis focuses on chronic coronary syndrome. Participants learn a systematic approach to the images step by step and are introduced to the CAD-RADS 2.0 classification. Structured diagnosis of the coronary CT is then practiced using many cases in an integrated DICOM viewer. The course delves intensively into 21 cases in all.
Baessler emphasized that Cardiac CT Level I (Anatomy and Diagnosis) is not certified as a Q course and is not suitable as a replacement for the Q1 and Q2 courses of the DRG. The course is intended as a supplementary course that should lead to more confidence in diagnosis. Continuing medical education (CME) points earned through the course, however, be used for the additional points required for the Q2 certification.
The German Radiological Society cooperates with LernRad, so DRG members receive a discount of 50% of the regular purchase price for LernRad courses. The course is certified with 36 CME points by the Baden-Württemberg State Medical Association.
"The course is not only interesting for doctors but also for MTRs. Because a solid knowledge of anatomy is also important for MTRs and it is very helpful to know what is being looked for in the end when making a diagnosis. The course can therefore help to find a common language between the doctor and MTR when it comes to carrying out cardiac CT," Baessler said.
