Elevating Radiology Education Research Through a Dedicated Research Fellowship: Adding Professional Identity as Essential for Success.

Rationale And Objectives: Education research has been undervalued in radiology, with few radiology journals having dedicated space for such research and barriers to production including dedicated time, resources, grant funding, and mentorship. As radiologists, we have an opportunity to study education in our unique learning environments and create more effective ways to teach that are grounded in established education theory, solid assessment methodologies, and a focus on merit as well as worth.

Materials And Methods: The growth of education research in our field requires a two-pronged approach; We must cultivate leaders in education research from within our specialty, and continue to submit high quality work to radiology journals to increase exposure of the reviewers and readership to education methodologies.

Results: We have created the first radiology education research fellowship to this end. This manuscript details the fellowship creation process, the first education research fellow experience, and in-depth analysis of the inaugural year via a qualitative program review.

Conclusion: We were successful in supporting an inaugural fellow in attaining the knowledge and skills to become a productive education researcher. Beyond this, the fellowship experience was a catalyst in developing her unique professional identity as an education master which will further raise the status of education research in pediatric radiology.