Amanda Purdy
University of California Irvine School of Medicine
Amanda Purdy is a 4th year medical student at the University of California, Irvine. She is on the board of UCI's ultrasound interest group and is one of the founding members of UCI's International Initiative, a group focused solely on international ultrasound research projects.
Introduction:
Education for medical students at UC Irvine (UCI) has been significantly enhanced through the integration of ultrasound into the curriculum [1]. It deepens students’ understanding of medicine, provides avenues for new research opportunities, and increases the fund of knowledge that these students are able to share in both their local communities and abroad. Previous studies have shown that medical students are able to accurately and effectively learn basic, point-of-care ultrasound after 16 standardized training hours, and in turn teach these skills to others [1,2]. In addition, follow up studies have shown that those who learn ultrasound from medical students are able to reach the required competency level to continue using ultrasound accurately in a clinical setting [3,4,5]. In an effort to both use and improve their newly developed ultrasound skills, students have organized trips abroad to areas where fast and efficient imaging modalities are desperately needed. These students have participated in a wide range of research projects, some of which include: imaging abdominal schistosomiasis and tuberculosis, teaching healthcare workers obstetrical triage ultrasound to assist childbirth in remote villages, and screening for gallstones and pediatric heart disease. Additionally, other projects have focused on disseminating ultrasound knowledge through arranging ultrasound electives at international, rural-based medical schools.
Methods/Results:
In the past four years since these projects began, over 150 UCI students have traveled abroad to enrich their medical school experience through teaching point-of-care ultrasound. Students have traveled to Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Panama, Romania, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, and Vietnam. Many of these projects have become longitudinal in that students are returning to build upon the advances of the previous class and create sustainable projects for the communities they are serving. We now have four generations of students who have traveled Panama and Tanzania to continue and improve upon ultrasound projects. The most recent group to travel abroad (2016) was unique in that a single overarching IRB was created for ultrasound education research in order to add power to their studies. These trips have collectively resulted in 8 publications in peer-reviewed journals, 10 podium presentations, and over 50 poster presentations.
Discussion:
The impact of these projects is multi-fold. There is benefit to those underserved areas where students travel, through providing an imaging modality to detect pathology that would normally be missed. There is the additional benefit of promoting sustainability through teaching international medical students and healthcare workers, who will continue to use ultrasound in their communities. With the positive feedback UCI students have continuously given over the years upon returning from their trips, it is evident that this experience is both productive and stimulating for their medical education. By encouraging students to continue to pursue their interests within ultrasound as clinicians, researchers, and educators, we are creating more competent physicians with a better understanding of a broad variety of cultures, pathology, and practice methods. Our hope is that through publicity of our projects, international ultrasound programs like ours can be implemented at other medical schools.
The organization of these projects has been completely student run, initially through our Ultrasound Student Interest Group (USIG). The popularity and growth of these projects prompted the development of a separate student-run group, the UCI International Initiative, focused solely on international ultrasound research projects. This group holds events throughout the year to prepare students for their summer abroad, including workshops on IRB submission, grant applications, and fundraising. In our experience, funding has been the greatest obstacle. In 2012, UCI received a generous $100,000 donation to fund these trips, which supported four generations of projects through the summer of 2016. The UCI International Initiative’s focus has shifted from fairly distributing existing grant funds, to now strategizing with groups to optimize crowdfunding while pursuing additional large-scale funding sources.
Conclusion:
Students at UCI are fortunate to have ultrasound training built into the curriculum, which allows us to develop a unique skill that most medical students do not have. In the spirit of our school motto, “Discover, Teach, Heal,” we have decided to use our ultrasound knowledge to discover new uses for ultrasound abroad with hope that this can lead to the healing of those who might usually go untreated.
Use of ultrasound in Undergraduate Medical Education , Use of ultrasound in Graduate Medical and Continuing Education , Point of Care ultrasound in health care delivery to underserved populations
