Radiology CEUs...where?

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Jun 16, 2015

Not sure if a single class is enough or if it even exists. Imaging interpretation covers a wide scope of skill and knowledge and there are specific imaging films that unless you work in Radiology yourself, should be left to the experts to read for legal reasons.

I think at the very least, in-patient NP's must be proficient with chest x-rays. Your ability to read films will also depend on your specialty (Neurology = good at head and spine CT's and MRI's, Cardiac Surgery = good at Thoracic CT's).

Personally, I find my learning enhanced better by looking at films at my own pace rather than being in a classroom setting. There are many websites that teach Radiology but the best I've seen that incorporates all various imaging websites is this one: RadiologyEducation.com: A digital library of radiology education resources - Free Radiology Books | Learning Radiology | Radiologist. The site is actually referenced by AANP.

Bumashes, MSN, APRN, NP · Jun 17, 2015

Oh, thanks! Yeah, I know one class won't do it, but I would like a course that covers basics, like just terminology, positioning, determining if there's over or under-exposure, etc. And then maybe cover CXR, KUB, and a couple other very commonly ordered xrays and/or other imaging. Just the basics really. I don't need MRI/MRA training. Basic CT stuff would nice, too, though, for helping to recognize certain things lie an acute abdomen and whatnot. My RN background is ER, so a big issue is that while I recognize major conditions, it is the little things and normal variants that escape me. Huge pneumo? No prob. Weird looking xray just because then pt is hunched over and has some extra calcification in their pulmonary vessels....? Meh. After getting a better foundation/understanding of the basics, I think I'll be better prepared to study on my own with a text or an online course. I just really like having a live person initially to ask questions of. Right now, my NP experience has been outpt Internal Med and Pain Medicine. Then I started at an Urgent Care a few months back, and we do xrays there, which is when I realized how inept I am. And while a radiologist reads our xrays and sends us the report generally within 3-6 hrs after it's been done, I hate relying solely on him, you know. If I can't find a course, then I may ask one of the radiologists at my old hospital if I can shadow them for a while and just learn it like it's OJT. That could be fun anyway!

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Jun 17, 2015

Well, look at this one: CXR0413. It is in that link I provided in my previous post. It's fun and there are many others similar to it.

Bumashes, MSN, APRN, NP · Jun 17, 2015

Neat! Thanks a lot!

PG2018 · Jun 18, 2015

I'd like to have some head imaging training since I have none outside the book I bought on Amazon covering the topic. I'd also like to have some EEG training.

PG2018 · Jun 18, 2015

Juan, thanks for that link. Good stuff.

NEradtech · Jun 19, 2015

Here are some links I used when I was in rad tech school:

Lieberman's Interactive Tutorials in Radiology

Lieberman's eRadiology Learning Sites

https://www.dartmouth.edu/~anatomy/HAE/Radiology_Intro/rad_index.html

https://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/courses/rad/cxr/index.html

Search around these sites to find basic information on anatomy and pathology. I think the last link from uva is the most beneficial to you. It describes everything you need to know about chest x-Rays: from different positions, rotation, exposure, and etc. with lots of pictures.

These sites are every where. Hope they help!

automotiveRN67 · Jun 19, 2015

Try youtube.

I am not making this up. Youtube has some really concise lectures on just about any medical topic you can imagine.

Undergroundmed is one of my favorites. No CEU's or CME's though.