Radiology Masterclass
Online Certificated Course Assessments

Notes for Users

Course completion assessments

On completing one of the Radiology Masterclass online course completion assessments you will be issued a personalised certificate of course completion which states your mark as a percentage and the number of CPD/CME (Continuing Professional Development / Continuing Medical Education) points awarded by the Royal College of Radiologists - London - UK.

You can take each course completion assessment up to a total of five times and your best percentage mark is automatically stated on the certificate. The tests can be completed in your own time and you can start and stop whenever you like. You can also refer to the course material at any stage if necessary.

Getting started

Before taking one of the course completion assessments you are advised to read all course material carefully at least once. The relevant Tutorials give a good idea of the overall subject to be tested and the Galleries will give you a chance to gain the experience needed before taking the relevant assessment.

Registration/login

Before you can sign up to take a course completion assessment you will need to register here. If you are not yet registered with Radiology Masterclass please use the Registration Page to fill in your details. You will be emailed a confirmation of your registered email address and your password. If you do not receive your login details within a few minutes, please check your email client's spam/junk folder.

Once registered simply login to get started. Login here.

Password retrieval

Forgotten your password? Please use the password retrieval system. If you do not receive your new password within a few minutes, please check your email client's spam/junk folder.

User accounts

On logging-in you will be taken to the 'My account' page. Here you can purchase access to the course completion assessments. Most standard credit and debit cards are accepted or you can pay with PayPal.

Once you have purchased access to a course completion assessment, the 'My account' page will provide a link to the available assessments and give you information on previous attempts, showing your previous best mark. Once you have completed a test for the first time you will be given access to your certificate of course completion.

Only ONE account and email address can be registered per user.

Assessment format

Each test comprises a set of questions which are selected at random from a large bank of questions. If you need to stop, you can log out at any point and then restart where you left off by clicking the appropriate link on the 'My account' page.

You are allowed five attempts at each assessment. The questions will be different each time you take the test, but you may come across a few questions which you saw in a previous test. No questions are repeated in the same test.

Question styles

Some course completion assessments use a binary true/false format. Others use a best answer format with multiple choices.

Most questions contain thumbnail images which can be enlarged. Brief radiological information tells you the type of image(s) shown.

Carefully select the answer you think is correct and then click the 'Submit' button. As you submit each answer this is permanently stored in your database, you cannot go back to change your answer.

Notes for Trauma Interpretation Courses

The assessment questions require a true/false (injury/no injury) response. Your task is to determine if the images associated with each question show an injury.

Within the trauma question bank there is a matched normal case for every abnormal case. This means that for every case with a genuine injury in the image bank there is a normal X-ray with matched (false) clinical details. The same views are provided in each matched case. You are not necessarily shown both matched cases, so you should not base your response on answers given for previous similar cases.

The clinical information is meant to be helpful and is not misleading. For some questions the clinical information is not anatomically specific, so your X-ray interpretation skills are put to the test. Other questions provide more specific information.

As well as bone injuries (fractures), you are asked to identify dislocations (joint injuries), or foreign bodies. If you are not sure if there is an injury, and you have studied the relevant course material, then mark the case as 'No Injury'. If you can't see a similar example in the relevant tutorials or galleries, then there is probably no injury.

Exclusions

Subtle fractures and undisplaced fractures which are of little clinical relevance are not included.

Skull fractures are not included because CT is usually used to image head injury.

Some injuries discussed in the course material are not included because they are uncommon and often require specialist radiological input for diagnosis - for example metatarsal stress fractures, osteochondral defects, and toddler fractures.

Those course completion tests which cover selected body parts are specific to those body parts. For example, there are no injuries of the pelvis within the 'Appendicular Skeleton' assessment database, and there are no injuries of the hip/proximal femora in the 'Axial Skeleton' assessment database.

Images

Clicking the thumbnail images will show the full-sized images which are high resolution and will expand to the full size of your browser window. Although some injuries are visible on the thumbnail images you are advised to view all images in their expanded form. You are advised to use a standard-sized computer screen or a large laptop/notebook. A screen size of at least 15 inches (diagonal) is recommended. Small laptops/notebooks and large tablet computers will also display most images satisfactorily, but their use is not advised. Users should not use small hand-held devices or mobile phones to complete the assessments.

It is advised that you perform the course completion assessments in a darkened room. All images are of satisfactory quality and all injuries are visible without difficulty if viewing the full-resolution images on a standard quality monitor. Further magnification is not required to diagnose any of the abnormalities in the image library. You should view all images available; an abnormality in question may be visible on all images, or only one image. If you have completed the course material and you doubt there is a visible injury on any of the images provided, then there is probably no injury.

Passing and failing

Radiology Masterclass sets arbitrary pass marks for each course completion assessment. It is expected that anyone who has carefully studied the relevant course material will reach this pass mark at their first or second attempt. Five attempts are permitted for each course assessment.

After your first attempt, you will be given access to your certificate of course completion. If your mark is less than the mark required for a 'Pass', the certificate states your mark as a percentage and states you have achieved 'Course Completion'. If your mark is sufficient for course completion with a 'Pass', 'Merit' or 'Distinction', these are also stated with your percentage. If you have further attempts to use, you can take the test again to improve your score. Your best result will automatically be displayed on the certificate. If you score highly in one attempt, but lower in a further attempt, your highest score will be shown on the certificate.

Feedback

No direct feedback is provided following completion of the course completion assessments. The system is designed as a summative assessment rather than a formative educational process. Five attempts are permitted for each assessment purchased and users who score disappointing scores are advised to re-read the course material and re-take the assessment ensuring they use a good quality screen in a darkened room. The mark gained – expressed as a percentage – can be taken as a form of indirect feedback and provides the user with a useful guide to the level of confidence they should have in their knowledge. It would be undesirable to provide formative feedback following completion of an assessment where the user is then permitted to re-take the assessment; this would diminish the confidence that health care and educational institutions may have in the ability of the person completing the assessment, and would undermine the value of the summative score expressed on the certificate of course completion.

Competency

Please note that taking a course completion assessment does not imply competency in the material tested. Rather it is intended as a means of providing accreditation in recognition of course completion. Employers and academic institutions may choose to use the course completion assessment system to determine a measure of 'competency', however this is at their discretion and candidates should discuss this with their institution to see if a certain grade (course completion, pass, merit, distinction, or specific percentage mark) is required.

The 'My Account' page tells you your best score and gives you access to retake an assessment if you want to. Before retaking a test, you are advised to study all the course material again thoroughly at least once.

Course completion certificates

Once you have taken a course completion assessment you will gain access to your certificate of course completion. This is an electronically generated, non-editable, image-based certificate which contains your details (name and current institution), the title of the course you have completed, the number of CPD/CME points awarded by the Royal College of Radiologists - London - UK, your mark expressed as a percentage, a statement of achievement (course completion, pass, merit, distinction) and a unique verification code. This code can be used, with your permission, by your current or future employer, or academic institution, to check that the details on the certificate are correct. To do this please follow the instructions at the bottom of the certificate.

You are permitted to change your institution details if required, but you should inform relevant institutions if you do so. The system does not allow you to change your name on the certificate. Each course certificate is valid for a period of three years.

Accreditation

All course completion tests currently offered by Radiology Masterclass are accredited by the Royal College of Radiologists - London - UK. The number of CPD/CME points awarded is stated in the full course information relevant to each course, and is also stated on your online and printable certificate, which is available following the first attempt of taking a course completion test.

Printing your certificate of course completion

You are advised to print out your certificate immediately and keep it in a safe place. To print your certificate, you can print directly from the browser, but for a better appearance it is best to copy the image (right click and select 'Copy Image') and paste it into a word processor application of your choice. This will allow you to resize the image more appropriately.

Terms and conditions

For more details please see the full terms and conditions for use of the Radiology Masterclass website. Best wishes.