Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jun 11:13:84.
doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-13-84.

Teaching ultrasound in a curricular course according to certified EFSUMB standards during undergraduate medical education: a prospective study

Hauke S Heinzow  1 , Hendrik Friederichs, Philipp Lenz, Andre Schmedt, Jan C Becker, Karin Hengst, Bernhard Marschall, Dirk Domagk
Affiliations

Teaching ultrasound in a curricular course according to certified EFSUMB standards during undergraduate medical education: a prospective study

Hauke S Heinzow et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: As a non-invasive and readily available diagnostic tool, ultrasound is one of the most important imaging techniques in medicine. Ultrasound is usually trained during residency preferable according to German Society of Ultrasound in Medicine (DEGUM) standards. Our curriculum calls for undergraduate training in ultrasound of medical students in their 4th year of undergraduate education. An explorative pilot study evaluated the acceptance of this teaching method, and compared it to other practical activities in medical education at Muenster University.

Methods: 240 medical students in their 4th year of undergraduate medical education participated in the training and completed a pre- and post-questionnaire for self-assessment of technical knowledge, self-assurance of the procedure, and motivation in performing ultrasound using a Likert scale. Moreover, students were asked about their interest in pursuing a career in internal medicine. To compare this training to other educational activities a standardized online evaluation tool was used. A direct observation of procedural skills assessment (DOPS) for the first time applied on ultrasound aimed to independently assess the success of our teaching method.

Results: There was a significant increase in technical knowledge and self-assurance (p < 0.001) of the students' self-assessments. The clinical relevance and self-motivation of the teaching were evaluated positively. The students' DOPS results demonstrated proficiency in the understanding of anatomic structures shown in ultrasonographic images, including terminology, machine settings, and transducer frequencies.

Conclusions: Training ultrasound according to certified DEGUM standards was successful and should be offered in undergraduate medical education. The evaluation of the course affirmed the necessity, quality and clinical relevance of the course with a top ranking score of hands-on training courses within the educational activities of the Medical Faculty of Muenster.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Direct observation of procedural skills assessment form.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of the evaluation by the students. Boxplots of the EVALuna-visual analog scale between 1 (“very good”) and 100 (“very poor”) The top of the box represents the 75th percentile, the bottom of the box represents the 25th pecentile, and the line in the middle represents the 50th percentile. The whiskers (the lines that extend out the top and bottom of the box) represent the highest and lowest values that are not outliers or extreme values. Outliers (values that are between 1.5 and 3 times the interquartile range) and extreme values (values that are more than 3 times the interquartile range) are represented by circles and stars beyond the whiskers.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar Charts of the DOPS-Scores. Performance-values of the students in the “direct observation of procedural skills” (DOPS) at the end of the course.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bleck JS, Terkamp C, Manns M, Gebel M. Ultrasound of acute abdomen. Internist (Berl) 2003;44(5):542–546. 548–552, 554–546. - PubMed
    1. Shapiro RS, Ko PK, Jacobson S. A pilot project to study the use of ultrasonography for teaching physical examination to medical students. Comput Biol Med. 2002;32(6):403–409. doi: 10.1016/S0010-4825(02)00033-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hoppmann RA, Rao VV, Poston MB, Howe DB, Hunt PS, Fowler SD, Paulman LE, Wells JR, Richeson NA, Catalana PV. et al. An integrated ultrasound curriculum (iUSC) for medical students: 4-year experience. Crit Ultrasound J. 2011;3(1):1–12. doi: 10.1007/s13089-011-0052-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hofer M, Schiebel B, Hartwig HG, Garten A, Modder U. Innovative course concept for small group teaching in clinical methods. Results of a longitudinal, 2-cohort study in the setting of the medical didactic pilot project in Dusseldorf. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2000;125(23):717–723. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-1024468. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fernandez-Frackelton M, Peterson M, Lewis RJ, Perez JE, Coates WC. A bedside ultrasound curriculum for medical students: prospective evaluation of skill acquisition. Teach learning med. 2007;19(1):14–19. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources