Abstract
Residents in many specialties perform ultrasound-guided procedures regularly; however, few medical school curricula offer formal education on the topic. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a reproducible, two-day, interactive course aimed at improving core ultrasound procedural competencies in fourth year medical students. All medical students enrolled in a fourth year radiology elective from 2015 to 2017 at an academic medical center attended a two-day interactive ultrasound course led by interventional radiology (IR) faculty. Students completed an anonymous web-based survey before and after the session. Survey topics included knowledge of ultrasound anatomy, transducer selection, procedure identification, and procedural safety (including needle tip versus shaft recognition). Average scores were calculated for each pretest and posttest category and paired sample t-tests were used to evaluate the improvement in each category, with a significance value of 0.01 after Bonferroni correction. 138 students completed the course and both the pre- and postintervention tests. Paired t-test data showed significant improvement in scores on questions regarding ultrasound anatomy (mean scores: +18%, 95% CI: ± 5%, p < 0.001), transducer selection (+33%, ± 6%, p<0.001), procedure identification (+23%, ± 5%, p < 0.001), and questions regarding confirmatory safety measures, e.g., needle tip versus shaft recognition (+34%, ± 5%, p < 0.001). Ultrasound-guided procedures, including paracenteses, thoracenteses, and central line placements, are performed by residents in a variety of specialties, despite the lack of formal education in medical school curricula. Medical students demonstrated significant improvement in key ultrasound procedural competencies following a short, reproducible, interactive course led by IR faculty. Implementation of a similar hands-on session in other curricula may improve procedural competency of future residents and, ultimately, patient safety.
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