Strategic Management of CT Maintenance and Preventive Repair to Improve Radiology Resident Educational Satisfaction

Abstract

Background: Clinical training in radiology depends not only on curriculum design, faculty supervision, and case volume but also on the reliability and availability of imaging equipment. CT scanner downtime may disrupt clinical exposure, supervised practice, and residents’ perceptions of their learning environment. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between CT scanner maintenance management metrics and educational satisfaction among radiology residents in teaching hospitals. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at university-affiliated hospitals in seven provinces, in collaboration with the Deputy Offices for Treatment and Food and Drug Affairs. Thirty medical equipment experts were purposively selected, and data were collected using a validated 46-item questionnaire encompassing five domains of equipment management. Objective maintenance metrics, including mean time to repair (MTTR), repair cost (RC), and the preventive maintenance ratio (PM), were extracted from institutional records. To assess educational outcomes, a nationwide survey evaluated CT-related educational satisfaction among 48 radiology residents using a 10-point scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS and MATLAB. Results: The analysis demonstrated a strong, statistically significant negative correlation between CT scanner downtime (MTTR) and radiology residents’ educational satisfaction (r = -0.875; P = 0.012). Maintenance metrics varied widely across hospitals, indicating a predominantly reactive rather than proactive approach to equipment management. Institutions with lower MTTR and strategic preventive maintenance exhibited more favorable outcomes, whereas hospitals entrenched in a reactive “break-fix” cycle, characterized by high downtime and costs, were associated with lower resident satisfaction. Conclusions: In this cross-sectional analysis, CT equipment reliability was strongly associated with residents’ perceived quality of the clinical learning environment. Greater equipment downtime was associated with lower educational satisfaction scores. These findings suggest that optimizing maintenance protocols may support a more favorable training experience; however, longitudinal or interventional studies are needed to establish causality and assess effects on objective competency. Academic medical centers may benefit from aligning technical maintenance goals with educational priorities.