Our survey was conducted in 6 French-speaking West African countries (Benin, Burkina-Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Senegal, and Togo). This was an opinion survey carried out from 1^st June to 31^st October 2020, over a period of 5 months.

The study took place in the medical imaging department of French-speaking West Africa.

We included in the study radiology and medical imaging technicians working in French-speaking West Africa. We designed the questionnaire in two formats, namely a physical copy and a digital copy via Google Forms, in order to collect the opinions of radiology technicians in French-speaking West Africa on the current state of affairs with regard to their continuing education. We first assessed the validity of the questionnaires before submission to the technicians.

The questionnaire requested for the following information: general characteristics (age, gender, country of practice, sector of activity, professional practice) and specific characteristics (technician training, advice on continuing training and its impact on care of the patient, participation in continuing training, accessibility to training, financing of training, job prospects).

We selected the participants by referring to the database of the association of radiology technicians of French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa. The sample size was defined as 50% of the participants, with a margin of error of 10%.

We considered that the level of medical training was high when the technician had participated in more than 5 training sessions, medium when the technician had participated in between 2 and 5 training sessions, low when the technician had participated in less than 2 training sessions.

The results were recorded and presented using Excel and Word software from the 2016 office pack and processed by Epi Info version 7.2 software. Bibliographic references were generated with Zotero software. The anonymity and confidentiality of information have been respected.

A total of 100 technicians were included in the study. The mean age was 40, with extremes ranging from age 23 to age 57. Males represented 69% (n = 69) with a male/female ratio of 2.22:1. Technicians with less than 11 years of professional experience constituted 78%.

Technicians working in Togo represented 36% (Figure 1).

Technicians in the public sector represented 64%, as compared to 29% for the private sector (Figure 2).

Technicians estimated that CME was necessary in 57% of cases (n = 57) and absolutely essential in 43% of cases (n = 43).

The types of CME that technicians knew about were congresses, seminars and modular training in 46% of cases (Figure 3).

Seminars were the most readily available CME according to 63% (n = 63) of technicians (Figure 4).

Among the technicians, 48% (n = 48) felt it was necessary to do CME after the initial training while 52% (n = 52) believed there was no need for it.

61% (n = 61) of technicians had received continuing education after graduation. Among the technicians, 9% had a high level of continuing education, 26% had a medium level and 65% had a low level.

The types of CME they received were dominated by congresses (26%) (Figure 5).

Their goal for participating in CME was to improve their skills for 55.22% (n = 34) of them (Figure 6).

Funding of continuing education was totally the responsibility of 24% (n = 24) of technicians, fully funded by the institution in 11% (n = 11) of cases and partially funded by the institution for 26% (n = 26) of technicians.

Access to continuing education was difficult for 84% (n = 84) of technicians.

Among technicians, 90% (n = 90) felt that CME was necessary to specialize. Among them, 33.33% would like to benefit from management training in radiology and medical imaging, and 25.81% would like training in radiation protection (Figure 7).

All the technicians in our study had recognized the importance of CME to better practice the profession of radiology and medical imaging technician. Thus for radiology technicians, CME is an essential factor of development and progress in order to maintain a standard of competency necessary to adapt to the demands of the profession. 61% of technicians had already participated in a CME, reflecting their desire for continuing education, which is noteworthy since radiology is a constantly evolving field. In the study by Yielder et al. [4], 27% of technicians had advanced knowledge in radiology, of which the majority (88%) had received CME in New Zealand and 12% in the United Kingdom, and 81% of them had a background in ultrasound.

Despite the willingness of most technicians to participate in a CME, it was observed that access to CME remains difficult according to 84% (n = 84) of them. This is was due to the lack of financial means and the non-availability of CME. In our study, continuing education was fully funded by 24% of technicians themselves, and partially funded by 26% of technicians. These results could be explained by the absence of a scheme set up by institutions to care for the CME of technicians. This forces technicians to go for training at their own expense. The study by Yielder et al. [4] also highlighted the lack of financial resources as an impediment on CME for technicians.

During our study, 90% of technicians expressed the need to undergo continuing training. Thus, it is obvious that continuing training is necessary to equip technicians with skills needed to cope with the constant evolution of technology, computer science, as well as the computerization and digitization of radiological equipment. In our study, management in radiology and medical imaging together with training in radiation protection were the most desired fields for CME. According to Bengana [6], concerning the administrative field, the “Diplôme universitaire de management en imagerie médicale libérale” (University diploma in management of private practice medical imaging) will enable the technician to integrate or be an administrative head of an imaging department. According to him, the new role of the medical imaging technician will take several forms. These include: acquisition of specific medical training in ultrasound in order to offset the deficit in patient contact time, specialization in cross-sectional image processing for vascular reconstructions or virtual navigation, acting as a network manager who would be in charge of the maintenance of the RIS (radiological information system) and the PACS (picture archiving and communication system), would manage access authorizations and would be the contact person for IT suppliers. Other responsibilities include management of the risk of exposure of personnel and patients to radiation under the direction of a radiation protection officer (RPO), considering that the constraints in terms of X-ray monitoring are becoming increasingly burdensome. According to Dillenseger [7], the specializations to which technicians aspire are numerous and varied, including ultrasonography, dosimetry, interventional radiology, quality control in electro-radiology, network management in electro-radiology, research associate in electro-radiology, etc. There are genuine needs that have to be met in all these fields. However, until 2015, specialization in electro-radiology was available online only. Indeed, in the absence of academic and statutory recognition, specialization does not exist.