VCOM Louisiana Research Day Program

Education Research

Shelby Deynzer, OMS-III; Jacob Turnbull, DO; Kristina Zarenko, PhD; Colleen Cheverko, PhD Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Monroe, Louisiana 44 EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS IMPROVE ULTRASOUND ANATOMY IDENTIFICATION IN PRECLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTS

Background: The benefits of using ultrasound (US) technology for immediate diagnostic imaging led to its widespread integration across medical specialties. Implementing US education throughout medical training is important due to its reliance on user knowledge and technique for accurate imaging and diagnosis. Creating a concise teaching model could help preclinical medical students gain practical knowledge of US techniques within existing curriculum. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if implementing an US curriculum within preclinical years of medical school can lead to improved US anatomical identification and increase user confidence. Methods: Participants were selected using a single-institution survey sent to VCOM Louisiana preclinical students. They were sent a pre-training questionnaire to establish baseline knowledge, which was comprised of various questions on US basics and images for anatomical identification. Participants then watched an online lecture with information about US scanning and anatomical identification. This lecture was followed by a hands-on workshop, where they used a Butterfly iQ™ portable US to scan their peers’ lower extremities. The participants completed a timed practical to test

their ability to diagnose fracture presence using cadaveric subjects. The same questionnaire was administered after both the workshop and practical to reassess their ability to correctly identify anatomical structures and pathology and to gauge their confidence when using US. Results: Results demonstrate a significant increase in questionnaire scores from pre- to post-intervention (F [2, 76] = 77.83, p = <0.001). Students self-reported that they felt more confident in their ability to use US following the workshop than the practical (X 2 = 9.86, df= 2, p = 0.007). Conclusions: A structured US training course can significantly improve preclinical medical student ability to correctly identify anatomy and fractures. Decreases in confidence after the practical alludes to the complex nature of pathology identification. These results highlight the importance of incorporating formal US training into medical school curricula since increased exposure can lead to increased confidence in clinical settings.

59 2023 Via Research Recognition Day