To investigate the knowledge and understanding of interventional radiology acquired by medical students in Baotou and to discuss the necessity of offering interventional radiology courses in medical colleges.

A questionnaire survey was conducted among 300 students in Baotou Medical College of Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology in July 2016. The purpose of the survey was to get pertinent information on how much these student know about interventional radiology, and how they acquired such knowledge. The survey also collected their opinions about the standing of interventional radiology in today’s medicine and as well as their future employment orientation, in particular, in interventional radiology.

This survey collected 236 valid questionnaires with returning rate of 78.66%. Among these returned questionnaires, 198 were aware of interventional radiology, accounting for 83.90%, among which, 127 (64.14%) knew interventional radiology can be divided into vascular and nonvascular, two large categories, however, only 86 (43.43%) knew about Seldinger puncture technique. The awareness rate of coronary angioplasty was 83.33% in the cases of common interventional operation. Only 28.28% of the 198 students answered that they would likely engage in interventional radiology after graduation. The majority expressed their concern about occupational hazards if they choose to engage in interventional radiology.

Interventional radiology should be added as a compulsory course in medical school curriculum, interventional radiologists should directly involve in the teaching to solve the current problems encountered in the field.