Canadian radiology residents show interest in global health imaging, but face "systemic barriers," according to a study published August 11 in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.
Removing these barriers could precipitate better patient care in less-resourced countries, wrote a team led by Mehrshad Bakhshi, MD, of McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
"Radiology plays a critical role in healthcare but is marked by stark global inequities," Bakhshi and colleagues noted. "Low- and middle-income countries have far fewer imaging resources and trained personnel compared to high-income countries. As global health interest grows among trainees, understanding … radiology residents' perspectives on global health imaging (GHI) is essential."
In low- and middle-income countries, there is less than one CT scanner per million people, compared with almost 40 scanners in high-income countries, the investigators explained, noting that this "inequity is worsened by workforce shortages (1.9 radiologists per million people in low- and middle-income countries compared to 97.9 in high-income countries)." As well, access to imaging around the world is limited by "lack of capital for hardware acquisition, lack of education, and limited market dynamics for sustaining the availability of radiology professionals," they wrote.
Interest in global health is increasing among radiology residents, according to the team: 28% of Canadian radiology residents previously worked or volunteered in a developing country before residency, and the percentage is similar among U.S. radiology residents.
The investigators assessed Canadian radiology residents' prior experiences, perceived barriers, and recommendations for integrating global health imaging into residency training via a bilingual (French and English) anonymous survey that was developed and distributed across all 16 Canadian radiology residency programs between May 2024 and April 2025. The survey included questions regarding respondent demographics, any prior global health experiences, interest in global health imaging and perceived preparedness, any institutional opportunities, and any barriers to international engagement. It also asked participants to identify preferred approaches for integrating GHI into their training.
Fifty-one residents from 14 programs responded. The researchers reported the following:
- 64.7% reported prior work in developing countries, with 54.9% recognizing that there is an unmet need for medical imaging in those settings.
- 47.1% expressed interest in participating in global health imaging efforts.
- 49% indicated that onsite collaboration and education were the most preferred training methods for GHI.
- 78.4% felt unprepared for getting involved in GHI or unsure about how to do so.
- 45.1% reported no GHI opportunities in their current program.
Survey respondents listed the following barriers to GHI participation: call coverage (94.1%), lack of funding (90.2%), and limited infrastructure (90.2%). Their proposed solutions? International electives (86.3%), teleradiology (60.8%), %and case presentations focused on diseases highly prevalent in developing countries (51%).
A holistic effort is needed to boost radiology residents' participation in global health imaging, according to Bakhshi and colleagues.
"Curricular integration of electives, teleradiology, and global health education, along with improved access to funding, could bridge the gap between interest and participation," they concluded.
The complete study can be found here.
