Sonographic imaging education for sonographers versus health professionals: A literature review

Abstract

BackgroundSonographers are tertiary qualified health professionals who acquire, measure, and interpret diagnostic ultrasound images. Ultrasound is also used by many health professionals other than sonographers. As the imaging objectives of these two groups differs, and in the interest of enhancing education, we performed a literature review.MethodResearch questions drove the literature search that initially yielded >4,000 articles: subject and theme relevance checks reduced this to a final selection of 44. Based on dominant themes within articles, the final 44 were placed into 7 categories, 3 in ‘skills development’ and 4 in ‘educational methods’ domains. In each category, articles were grouped by research participant type: 1. Sonographer or 2. Health Professional, and citation frequency used to measure impact.ResultSix sonographer‐focused and 16 health professional focused articles were assigned to the skills development domain. The highest impact sonographer‐focused article emphasised psychomotor skills for optimal development, the highest impact health professional focused article centered on rapid image acquisition and interpretation. Six sonographer‐focused and 16 health professional focused articles were assigned to the educational methods domain. The highest impact sonographer‐focused article identified a limitation of high‐fidelity simulators, the highest impact health professional focused article cited a limitation of education delivery.ConclusionDifferent sonographic imaging skills and educational methods are used for sonographers and health professionals. Sonographers utilise a wide range of imaging skills: teaching methods should be tailored accordingly. Health professionals rely on condensed imaging skills and standardised protocols: this requires a customised approach and may be enhanced by sonographer involvement.