Abstract
BackgroundPsychomotor skills related to the use of medical ultrasound are a fundamental, but often overlooked component of this ubiquitous medical imaging technology. Although discussions of image production/orientation, sonographic planes, and imaging/scanning techniques are common in existing literature, these discussions rarely address practical skills related to these basic concepts. The cognitive load of transducer movements and machine operation, in conjunction with learning the ultrasound representation of anatomy, may overwhelm a novice learner. Our goal was to develop and evaluate a set of ultrasound puzzle phantoms for students to use as they learn isolated, specific transducer movements and sonographic concepts. We intentionally created phantoms that contain objects that are likely familiar to students to reduce the cognitive load associated with simultaneously learning the ultrasound interpretation of anatomy.MethodsThis preliminary evaluation of our novel, homemade, gelatin ultrasound puzzle phantoms was performed using pretests and posttests obtained by scanning an assessment phantom, and student questionnaires. Two phases of training and testing occurred with feedback from Phase 1 allowing for refinement of the puzzles and techniques for testing. Skills taught and evaluated included probe rotation, depth assessment, sliding, and tilting.ResultsTwenty-eight students attended the Phase 1 training session with positive trends in students’ abilities to use rotation, sliding, and tilting to answer questions, while only depth showed statistically significant improvements (p = 0.021). Overall students agreed the experience a productive use of time (86%), was beneficial (93%), and would recommend to others (93%). Fifteen (54%) students returned 3 months later. There was no significant decay in skills obtained from the prior training session. In Phase 2, 134 medical students participated, and 76 (57%) completed an online questionnaire. A majority of students agreed they had a better understanding of rotation (83%), depth (80%), sliding (88%) and tilting (55%). Similar to Phase 1, many students (75%) felt the experience was beneficial.ConclusionsThis preliminary study gave us insight into student opinions, as well as information to guide future scalability and development of additional ultrasound puzzle phantoms to aid in medical student education of isolated transducer movements and sonographic concepts prior to imaging human anatomy.
Highlights
Psychomotor skills related to the use of medical ultrasound are a fundamental, but often overlooked component of this ubiquitous medical imaging technology
Of the 28 who attended the training session, 25 (89%) indicated prior ultrasound experience, which largely involved spending several minutes scanning an ultrasound phantom looking for embedded fruit the year before
Most students agreed that: there was enough time to complete the instructional puzzles (n = 26, 93%), the course was a productive use of time (n = 24, 86%), they would recommend the experience to others (n = 26, 93%), and that the skills learned would benefit them as future medical students (n = 26, 93%)
Summary
Psychomotor skills related to the use of medical ultrasound are a fundamental, but often overlooked component of this ubiquitous medical imaging technology. The cognitive load of transducer movements and machine operation, in conjunction with learning the ultrasound representation of anatomy, may overwhelm a novice learner. Our goal was to develop and evaluate a set of ultrasound puzzle phantoms for students to use as they learn isolated, specific transducer movements and sonographic concepts. Most existing literature describing specific medical schools’ curricula begin with introducing students to the physics of ultrasonography and technical use of the machine They progress to practical skills sessions at the bedside or simulation environments to image specific anatomy [1,2,3,4]. Our goal was to develop and evaluate a set of homemade, gelatin ultrasound puzzle phantoms that contain familiar objects to reduce the cognitive load associated with conceptualizing a new structure (e.g. a body organ). Improvement in student understanding of the concepts was based on score improvements on pretests and posttests that asked students questions about the structure of an unknown object contained within a visually opaque assessment puzzle phantom
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call