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 Sep;5(3):493-7.
doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-12-00214.1.

Feasibility and acceptability of a structured curriculum in teaching procedural and basic diagnostic ultrasound skills to internal medicine residents

Daniel J Schnobrich, Andrew P J Olson, Alain Broccard, Alisa Duran-Nelson

Feasibility and acceptability of a structured curriculum in teaching procedural and basic diagnostic ultrasound skills to internal medicine residents

Daniel J Schnobrich et al. J Grad Med Educ. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound has emerged as a powerful diagnostic tool and is also being increasingly used by clinicians to guide procedures. Many current and future internists desire training, yet no formal, multiple-application, program-wide teaching interventions have been described.

Intervention: We describe a structured 30-hour ultrasound training course in diagnostic and procedural ultrasound implemented during intern orientation. Internal medicine interns learned basic ultrasound physics and machine skills; focused cardiac, great vessel, pulmonary, and abdominal ultrasound diagnostic examinations; and procedural applications.

Results: In postcourse testing, learners demonstrated the ability to acquire images, had significantly increased knowledge scores (P < .001), and demonstrated good performance on practical scenarios designed to test abilities in image acquisition, interpretation, and incorporation into medical decision making. In the postcourse survey, learners strongly agreed (4.6 of 5.0) that ultrasound skills would be valuable during residency and in their careers.

Conclusions: A structured ultrasound course can increase knowledge and can result in learners who have skills in image acquisition, interpretation, and integration in management. Future work will focus on refining and improving these skills to allow these learners to be entrusted with the use of ultrasound independently for patient care decisions.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Moore CL, Copel JA. Point-of-care ultrasonography. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(8):749–757. doi:10.1056/NEJMra0909487. - PubMed
    1. Kendall JL, Hoffenberg SR, Smith RS. History of emergency and critical care ultrasound: the evolution of a new imaging paradigm. Crit Care Med. 2007;35(suppl 5):S126–S130. doi:10.1097/01.CCM.0000260623.38982.83. - PubMed
    1. Simonson JS, Schiller NB. Sonospirometry: a new method for noninvasive estimation of mean right atrial pressure based on two-dimensional echographic measurements of the inferior vena cava during measured inspiration. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1988;11(3):557–564. - PubMed
    1. Kircher BJ, Himelman RB, Schiller NB. Noninvasive estimation of right atrial pressure from the inspiratory collapse of the inferior vena cava. Am J Cardiol. 1990;66(4):493–496. - PubMed
    1. Randazzo MR, Snoey ER, Levitt MA, Binder K. Accuracy of emergency physician assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction and central venous pressure using echocardiography. Acad Emerg Med. 2003;10(9):973–977. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources