Objectives. (1) Experimentally illustrate the value of basic sciences in diagnostic radiology. (2) Test whether basic science knowledge provides conceptual coherence or a simple means for organizing feature-based knowledge. (3) Compare the educational efficacy of different teaching methods in diagnostic radiology: learning through basic disease mechanisms and learning feature lists organized in a structural algorithm. Methods. Undergraduate students (N=96) were taught 4 confusable intrabony entities. Students were taught using basic science description, structured algorithm description, or a list of features. Participants were tested with diagnostic cases and memory tests immediately after learning and 1 week later. Results. Scores on immediate and delayed tests were submitted to a 3X2 repeated measures ANOVA. The diagnostic test, participants in the basic science group outperformed those assigned to the feature list and structured algorithm groups. A main effect of learning condition was found to be significant, F (2, 87) = 3.79, P0.05. On the memory test, performance was the similar across all three groups and no significant effects were found. Discussion. The results of this study support the critical role of biomedical knowledge in diagnostic radiology. This study also supports the conceptual coherence theory proposed as a possible explanation for the process by which basic science aids in diagnosis and refutes the organized learning theory.
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