Ultrasound in Medical Education Scientific Session 2
Point of Care Ultrasound Physics and Basic Imaging Acquisition Education Delivered Via Innovative Deliberate Practice Workshop
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
9:18am – 9:25am
Location: 410
Authors: Cherie Tator, Baylor College of Medicine Kiyetta Alade, Baylor College of Medicine -Texas Children's Hospital Alan Riley, Texas Children's Hospital - Baylor College of Medicine
Ultrasound is a fallible technology, therefore poor-quality images or poor understanding of ultrasound physics negatively impact interpretation and decision-making in clinical settings. But, teaching ultrasound physics can be hard and feel abstract if not taught well. We present an innovative workshop designed to teach first-year medical students (MS1) basics of POCUS machine use and ultrasound physics with expert feedback in a fun, memorable and psychologically safe fashion. Small groups completed expert facilitated exercises to learn about POCUS machines controls, POCUS transducers, and then to scan inanimate objects, i.e., pickles, hard-boiled eggs, and olives with pits. Inanimate objects were curated based on their sonographic characteristics, recognizable appearance to general public, and facility to teach selected elements of ultrasound physics. Everyone knows what the inside of a pickle looks like, and now MS1's can learn how ultrasound physics can distort reality and create misleading images. Survey results suggest that our workshop created a better understanding of ultrasound physics and its relationship to imaging acquisition as compared to asynchronous lecture alone. By emphasizing this important relationship and separating it from patient workshops, we hope to encourage early learners to become more deliberate during image acquisition later in the curriculum and in their clinical careers.