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The Use of Ultrasound Simulators to Strengthen Scanning Skills in Medical Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Author(s) -
Le CathieKim,
Lewis John,
Steinmetz Peter,
Dyachenko Alina,
Oleskevich Sharon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of ultrasound in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1550-9613
pISSN - 0278-4297
DOI - 10.1002/jum.14805
Subject(s) - medicine , ultrasound , randomized controlled trial , point of care ultrasound , curriculum , objective structured clinical examination , medical physics , simulated patient , physical therapy , medical education , radiology , surgery , psychology , pedagogy
Objectives This study evaluates the use of ultrasound simulators for retaining and improving ultrasound skills acquired in undergraduate ultrasound training. Methods Fourth‐year medical students (n = 19) with prior training in point‐of‐care sonography for shock assessment were recruited for this study. Students were randomly assigned to a study group (n = 10) that followed an undergraduate ultrasound training curriculum, then used a simulator to complete 2 self‐directed practice ultrasound sessions over 4 weeks. The control group (n = 9) followed the same undergraduate ultrasound training curriculum and received no additional access to a simulator or ultrasound training. A blinded assessment of the students was performed before and after the 4‐week study period to evaluate their image acquisition skills on standardized patients (practical examination). To evaluate the student's clinical understanding of pathological ultrasound images, students watched short videos of prerecorded ultrasound scans and were asked to complete a 22‐point questionnaire to identify their findings (visual examination). Results All results were adjusted to pretest performance. The students in the study group performed better than those in the control group on the visual examination (80.1% versus 58.9%; P = .003) and on the practical examination (77.7% versus 57.0%; P = .105) after the 4‐week study period. The score difference on the postintervention practical examinations was significantly better for the study group compared to the control group (11.6% versus –9.9%; P = .0007). Conclusion The use of ultrasound simulators may be a useful tool to help previously trained medical students retain and improve point‐of‐care ultrasound skills and knowledge.