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Use of a Rotating Gross Dissection‐Clinical Training Schedule to Incorporate Ultrasound Training in a Medical Anatomy Course
Author(s) -
Ressetar Holly,
Minardi Joseph,
Palmer Bruce
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.692.4
Subject(s) - gross anatomy , dissection (medical) , medical education , curriculum , medicine , anatomy , facilitator , medical physics , psychology , pedagogy , social psychology
Increased use of clinical ultrasound (US) has fostered its integration early in the medical curriculum. Our objective was to smoothly integrate fundamental hands‐on US training to over 100 students in a first year medical human structure course without overwhelming students or compromising anatomy study. For the past 2 years, we taught US as a pass/fail component to our combined gross anatomy/histology course. Students attended 6 US lectures and 6 lab sessions covering limbs, thorax/abdomen, pelvis/kidney and US procedures. US and gross anatomy labs coincided and a database system was used to make assignments, assuring that each dissection group of 5 students never had more than 2 team members simultaneously attending US lab. Dissection groups rotated 3 times a semester so it was essential to proctor students to ensure they adhered to assignment. US labs consisted of facilitator‐mediated hands‐on practice using standard patients. Appropriate assessment of US skills in a basic science course was challenging and raised the most student debate. Anatomy‐based case study exam questions that required US interpretation counted towards their final anatomy grade while a separate pass/fail grade was based on quizzes and final practical covering US theory and technique. Some students felt US material should have been assessed separately while others felt the time commitment warranted recognition as part of the anatomy grade. Year‐end surveys indicated that students enthusiastically accepted the extra time commitment and highly rated the US experience. It reinforced their gross anatomy learning and provided their first patient encounter.