Lifesaving Sonography Protocols: A Pilot Course Involving Undergraduate Medical Students

Background: Ultrasonography protocols are easy to learn, frequently used in emergency medicine, and could be useful for inexperienced doctors. In this field, only a few protocols are needed to give an initial diagnosis and to start fast and proper treatment. Until now, only Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) protocol training studies have been reported in the medical literature. Our point-of-care course, comprised of extended FAST, lung scan and ocular scan trainings. The students’ curriculum usually does not include such ultrasonography courses, thus, we wanted to check its utility for the undergraduate medical students. Methods: Training lasted six days and consisted of two parts: 22 hours of theoretical classes and 18 hours of practical activities, all trained and evaluated by six experienced medical doctors. Eighty-five elected students completed pre- and post-study questionnaires about emergency ultrasonography and passed the practical final exam. Results: Eighty-five participants of the course were present in the pre- and final test. Final test scores of theoretical and practical exams were significantly higher after the training (58% vs. 87%; n=85; p<0.01). Answers for the questions related to FAST and EFAST (extended FAST) were correct irrespective of completion of the course. A question regarding the sonographic evaluation of body fluid incontinence was found to be the most difficult for students. After the course, 96.5% of participants were able to complete an EFAST scan at an adequate level of performance in under two minutes. Conclusion: Results show that medical students significantly extended their knowledge about point-of-care emergency medicine ultrasonography and acquired practical skills during the course. Emergency medicine ultrasonography courses could be included into medical students’ curricula.