Fill the VOID - An Introductory Guide for Learning Medical Imaging

Authors

• Reid Faith, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University
• Peter Gahan, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Adam Trusty, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Aleksandr Zyskin, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University
• Chukwuka Ukekwe, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Denise Nchinda, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University
• Amanda K. Burbage, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Alberto E. Musto, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow

ORCID

0000-0003-1208-8698 (Burbage), 0000-0002-0877-8883 (Musto)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1186/s12909-026-09187-7

Publication Title

BMC Medical Education

Pages

1-38

Abstract

No standardized, comprehensive approach for radiological image interpretation exists among medical schools in the United States of America. In order to rectify this, we outline a model aimed to help improve how medical imaging can be taught in medical schools. The VOID (Visualization, Orientation/Observation, Identification, Description) guide is a proposed universal, stepwise approach to medical image identification, interpretation, and communication. This structured guideline is aimed at building a foundation for students in early medical education. The VOID was applied to CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and x-ray modalities as integrated sessions for medical students during human anatomy laboratory. The framework developed can be easily taught, follows an easily remembered acronym, and has potential to be universally applied throughout medical education to give students an early foundation in understanding medical imaging. Student’s feedback showed positive perception using VOID during learning medical imaging. Additionally, student responses to imaging questions following a lecture regarding VOID were detailed and descriptive.

Rights

© The Author(s) 2026.

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this license to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

Data Availability

Article states: "Extended data serving as a basis for this study is posted in Figshare repository (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25913641).

Original Publication Citation

Faith, R., Gahan, P., Trusty, A., Zyskin, A., Ukekwe, C., Nchinda, D., Burbage, A. K., & Musto, A. E. (2026). Fill the VOID- an introductory guide for learning medical imaging. BMC Medical Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09187-7

Repository Citation

Faith, R., Gahan, P., Trusty, A., Zyskin, A., Ukekwe, C., Nchinda, D., Burbage, A. K., & Musto, A. E. (2026). Fill the VOID- an introductory guide for learning medical imaging. BMC Medical Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09187-7