Incorporation of Clinically‐Based Ultrasound Workshops in a 1st Year Medical Anatomy Course

Abstract

Ultrasound (US) is quickly becoming an increasingly common tool in point‐of‐care medical practice (commonly called “the new stethoscope”). To better prepare our students for this environment, the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (AZCOM) has developed and is implementing a 4‐year, longitudinal, integrated, US curricular experience. The initial phase (1st year courses) includes a major US component in gross anatomy. The gross anatomy series is two regional, dissection‐based courses with eight exam units (four per course) over two quarters. The US component to the gross courses includes increased use of US images in lectures as well as eight, clinically‐based, hands‐on US workshops; one for each exam unit. Modifications in the lecture schedule made inclusions of the workshops credit‐hour neutral. The exam units and associated US workshops (in italics) are: Back/Scapular—lumbar puncture; Upper Extremity—carpal tunnel syndrome; Thorax—4‐view cardiac assessment; Abdominal—biliary colic; Posterior Abdominal wall/Pelvis/Perineum—AAA, FAST; Lower Extremity—plantar fasciitis, calcaneal tendonitis, tarsal tunnel syndrome; Head and Neck I—ocular and thyroid exams; Head and Neck II—carotid stenosis. The US workshops are designed for students to visualize the relevant anatomy of a common, point‐of‐care clinical scenario on living subjects. Student assessment is in the form of oral “check‐out” quizzes in the workshops and US‐based questions in the written and practical portions of the unit exams. Overall performance on US questions in the first four exams was below the exam averages (77% v. 83%), but with a marked upward trajectory of the US question performance (69%, 62%, 76%, 89%). Practical exam questions showed a similar trajectory, but with lower averages. A Likert scale survey—first of a series as part of an ongoing four‐year study—was given at the end of the first quarter (4 exam units) to assess student opinions regarding US in the anatomy course. The non‐incentivized response rate was 146/279. Students overwhelmingly (90+%) feel US training is an important part of the curriculum that should begin as early as possible. For each workshop a strong majority agreed that it improved their comprehension of both the anatomy of the region scanned (87%, 92, 91, 92) and the regional clinical concerns (91%, 94, 93, 93). A majority of students also agreed that the US workshops led them to do some form of further research of the clinical concerns (65%, 64%, 74%, 71%). These preliminary results are very encouraging. Another survey will be taken at the end of the winter quarter, but current indications are that the utilization of US workshops in the AZCOM gross anatomy course has been a valuable addition.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.