Confidence Level and Ability of Medical Students to Identify Abdominal Structures After Integrated Ultrasound Sessions

Abstract

Determine the confidence level and ability of first year medical students to identify abdominal structures using a wireless portable ultrasound scanner.The students were assessed for their confidence and ability to perform abdominal ultrasound. The 5-point Likert survey included questions on their perception about ultrasound as a resource for learning anatomy, physical examination skills, and the quality of the pre-session instructions. Data was also recorded by the faculty about the students’ ultrasound skills and confidence. Goodman and Kruskal's gamma was used to demonstrate an association between the students’ ability to identify the structures and the self-reported student confidence level. Most of the students had confidence and were able to identify the liver, kidney, and urinary bladder, while almost half of them needed faculty help them to identify the inferior vena cava and aorta. The spleen and gall bladder were the most difficult to locate even for the very confident students. The perception of supervising faculty was that the confidence level was low in most of the students and only 13–20% of students felt “very confident” about performing ultrasound. Almost 37% needed encouragement and support and almost 10% of the students were not willing to try to locate difficult organs. Some students started locating the ureteric jet and portal vein. Most of the students agreed that ultrasound is an excellent resource for learning anatomy and physical examination skills. All students suggested having more ultrasound sessions. Most of the students feel confident about performing ultrasound and they perceive that ultrasound can enhance their basic sciences and physical examination skills.

Comparing the Effectiveness and Image Quality of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound of First-Year Medical Students After Training by Student Tutors Versus Ultrasound Instructors: A Pilot Study

“…There was no difference in confidence levels or identification accuracy when identifying volar arm structures between the UI and ST groups. This is consistent with our previous study that students were confident in identifying structures when taught by faculty or peers [ 13 ]. These results suggest that the effectiveness of ultrasound training in identifying the volar arm structures was relatively similar between STs and UIs.…”

Efficacy of Handheld Ultrasound in Medical Education: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Narrative Analysis

“…Two studies used the Acuson P10 (Siemens, [29,54]), two used the Philips Lumify [50,52], three used the Butterfly iQ [44,45,47], and one used the Ballater Medical 3-in-1 ultrasound probe (Ballater Medical, Edinburgh, UK) [46]. Four articles did not mention the brand of the portable ultrasound device used during the training process [30,40,42,48].…”

Ultrasonography in undergraduate medical education: a comprehensive review and the education program implemented at Jichi Medical University

“…Abdominal ultrasound is a core application in medical ultrasound and thus merits inclusion in educational curricula to facilitate students' rudimentary understanding of ultrasound details and skills. Training in abdominal ultrasound was proven valuable for pre-clerkship medical students in terms of familiarizing them with the ultrasound technique and sonographic anatomy [37,[47][48][49].…”