Ultrasound in Medical Education Scientific Session 1
Establishing Central Financial Leadership for Ultrasound Communities-of-Practice
Sunday, April 7, 2024
9:58am – 10:05am
Location: 410
Authors: Amanda Fawcett, Ohio State University College of Medicine
The Ultrasound Interest Group (USIG) is one of the most active student organizations at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and OSUCOM has a robust extracurricular ultrasound curriculum. USIG has many “Community of Practice” (COP) subsidiaries, which are dedicated to the use of point-of-care ultrasound in a specific medical specialty. Though USIG has been long-established as an officially recognized student organization, the COPs historically have not met this standard. Officially recognized student organizations are eligible for many resources offered by the university, including up to $4,000 per year to spend on programs and speaker events. COPs provide an opportunity for students to practice the clinical use of ultrasound as it relates to their specialty of interest and meet mentors in their intended field. This project revealed that many challenges related to COP engagement stem from a knowledge gap concerning funding and eligibility. In a bid to support the COPs, we disseminated an extensive guidelines document to COP leaders, outlining the requirements for registration and funding eligibility. This year, the number of registered COPs has tripled, and they are poised to achieve record levels of medical student engagement.