Published
2021-12-10
Issue
Section
Original Reports
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Ashley Fankhauser, Morgan Kessler, Cathy A. McCarty, PhD MPH, Amy Greminger
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All work in JRMC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Ultrasound Curriculum Integration Review and a Survey of its Utility in Regional Medical Campuses
Ashley Fankhauser
University of Minnesota
Morgan Kessler
University of Minnesota
Cathy A. McCarty, PhD MPH
University of Minnesota
Amy Greminger
University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jrmc.v4i4.3790
Keywords: ultrasound, medical education, regional medical campus
Abstract
to guide procedures. As the technology becomes more portable and affordable, schools have increasingly utilized this technology in training physicians. Ultrasonography may be especially useful in rural settings to fill the limitations that rural hospitals have in terms of imaging. The mission of many regional medical campuses is to train physicians to work in rural or underserved communities. Given this goal, we wanted to explore how regional medical campuses are utilizing ultrasound preclinically and determine the best approach for developing a standardized ultrasound curriculum, keeping regional medical campus resources in mind. A literature review of medical schools’ preclinical ultrasound curriculum was completed, and information was collected regarding curriculum programming, faculty, assessment, and student feedback. Based on data from this search, a fourteen question Qualtrics survey was sent out to regional medical campuses with questions regarding the use of ultrasound in their own preclinical curriculum. Of the 11 campuses that responded, 10 (90.9%) indicated that they include ultrasound in their curriculum. Respondents from nine of these schools progressed through the survey and information regarding topics covered in ultrasound curriculum, teachers of curriculum, patients used, ultrasound equipment used, and assessment of student knowledge all varied among medical campuses. The data suggested that regional medical campuses are focusing on similar aspects of ultrasound curriculum however, a standardized curriculum does not currently exist to ensure that all students are receiving similar ultrasound training.
