Abstract
PurposeThe objective of this study was to determine if exposure to a short-term ultrasound basic biology and anatomy course can promote interest in health careers and other science-related endeavors among DHH students.Design/methodology/approachThis was a single-site, prospective observational study of DHH high school students at a Southern California high school. All participants took a pre-test survey prior to the course. Participants then took part in three teaching sessions which taught basic anatomy using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Following instruction, a post-test survey was performed to determine if students had an increased interest in medicine, science and biology (p = 0.151).Findings28 students were enrolled in the study, with an equal distribution of boys and girls. Initially, subjects reported their interest in medicine at an average of 2.8 ± 1.10. The reported interest in science was 3.0 ± 1.13 and for biology was 3.0 ± 1.19. The change in participants' interest was not statistically significant for medicine (p = 0.791), science (p = 0.225) and biology.Practical implicationsWhile our data did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in students' interest in STEM fields after the training course, there were several students who were interested in more hands-on shadow experience after the course. Regardless, this study demonstrates persistent barriers that exist for a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to engage in the STEM fields. Future studies are needed to determine the level of instructional activities that may impact the careers of these students.Originality/valuePoint of care ultrasound has been shown to be an effective teaching modality in medical education. However, to date, no studies have been done to assess the utility of ultrasound in teaching the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) population.
Highlights
Ultrasound has shown promise as an effective teaching modality in medical education (Hoppmann et al, 2011; Rao et al, 2008)
Subject recruitment and selection of subjects All high school students from the Southern California area currently enrolled in the honors science curriculum at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) institution were invited to voluntarily participate in the study. This specific cohort of students was chosen in an effort to ensure that the focus was placed on students more likely to express a desire in entering a STEM career field, a decision made by the teachers at the school and the interests they knew their students had
Five (22.7%) participants reported an increase in their interest in medicine while 5 (22.7%) other reported a decrease
Summary
Ultrasound has shown promise as an effective teaching modality in medical education (Hoppmann et al, 2011; Rao et al, 2008) In recent years, this tool has gained traction and is implemented regularly in both early and late medical education (Bahner et al, 2013; Fox, 2017; Bahner and Royall, 2013). Current studies have demonstrated the ease of teaching ultrasound to premedical and medical students because of its ability to engage the audience with visuals and real-life application of science concepts (Bahner et al, 2013; Fox et al, 2014). This early training enhances their ability to detect medical problems quickly, non-invasively and at a reasonable cost, as evidenced by medical student-identified pediatric cardiac pathology via ultrasound in rural Panama (Miner et al, 2015)
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