A One-week Intensive Ultrasound Special Topics Course for Rising 2nd year Medical Students

Integration of ultrasound education programs into medical school and resident curricula provides a good opportunity for exposure of this critical instruction at an early point in the careers of rising physicians. Preclinical... [ view full abstract ]

Integration of ultrasound education programs into medical school and resident curricula provides a good opportunity for exposure of this critical instruction at an early point in the careers of rising physicians. Preclinical ultrasound education enhances the teaching of gross anatomy. The direct visualization of “live anatomy” is a powerful adjunct to the physical diagnosis. Several studies have shown that curricular integration of ultrasound results in increased scores on examinations such as Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs), and most impressively, first year medical students (after focused ultrasound training) were shown to outperform board-certified cardiologists in identifying cardiac abnormalities. While ultrasound education has clear benefits, ultrasound integration into medical curricula remains a challenge. Although in a recent survey of (134) medical schools, close to 80% of respondents agreed that ultrasound education should be integrated into medical school, less than 40% reported that it is actually taught in their institution. The main barrier to implementation was the lack of financial support for equipment and qualified personnel. At UABSOM, we face similar struggles. Curricular implementation of ultrasound, although increasing, is still limited and does not include OSCEs. To offer students with a special interest in ultrasound the opportunity to hone their skills in an elective course setting, we developed the “Introduction to Ultrasound Special Topics Elective”. In our study, medical students participated in a 5-day intensive ultrasound course. The course consisted of didactic lectures and hands -on scanning sessions. The hands -on sessions were conducted on high -fidelity ultrasound simulators, standardized patients, and emergency department patients. We gathered pre- and post- course survey data (Survey Monkey) to document the improvement in the students’ comfort levels and expertise with scanning within this one week of intensive training. All participating students, regardless of baseline ultrasound knowledge, reported significant increases in ultrasound confidence and competence.