Objective/ Background: Point of care ultrasound is essential to aid clinicians with diagnosis and management in a myriad of clinical situations, especially in the specialty of OB/GYN. The APGO Medical Student Education Objectives specifically refer to several important ultrasound-related skills in which students should gain competency during their clerkship. However, many institutions struggle to develop relevant curricula due to limited faculty and financial resources. In this round table presentation, we will share how medical students and faculty collaborated to implement a sustainable, standardized OB/GYN ultrasound session through simulated ultrasound cases with the use of phantoms and readily available ultrasound images.
Methods: One OB/GYN faculty member and 10 MS4s facilitate the new OB/GYN clerkship ultrasound session for each MS3 cohort rotating through the 6-week clerkship. The 90-minute session consists of 3 rotating ultrasound stations: a gynecologic case, an obstetric case, and a hands-on transvaginal station using SonoSite machines and BluePhantom pelvic task trainers simulating an IUP and an ectopic pregnancy. Clerkships students complete the same quiz before and after the session as well as a post-session survey.
Results: From May 2023 to December 2023, 130 students rotated through the session and completed both the pre-session and post-session quizzes. We found a statistically significant 2.7 point increase in students’ quiz scores from 4.5 to 7.2 out of 10 points following session participation (95% CI: 2.28-3.05, p < 0.0001). Post-session survey responses show that 95% of students felt more confident about their ultrasound interpretation, 85% of students felt more confident discussing ultrasound-guided care with resident and attending physicians, and >95% of students found the hands-on ultrasound simulation helpful to their learning.
Conclusion/ Discussion: Implementing ultrasound curricula does not require unlimited financial and faculty resources. At Downstate, an interdisciplinary team including medical students, an OB/GYN clerkship director, and biomedical educator collaborated to develop and implement a new ultrasound session for the OB/GYN clerkship. This session improved MS3’s ultrasound interpretation skills, as evidenced by significant increase in post-session compared to pre-session quiz scores, and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the students. Session continuity will be achieved each academic year through recruitment of rising MS4 students, who will assume the roles of the graduating students responsible for overseeing the successful running of the session. We believe our model is replicable, and we encourage other institutions to expand their ultrasound curriculum to third-year clerkships to benefit medical students and better prepare them for clinical practice.
Related APGO Publications/Modules: Curricular Innovations and Improvements: Embracing the Prism of Possibility
Topics: Faculty Development Seminar, 2024, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Clerkship Coordinator, Osteopathic Faculty, Residency Director, Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, UME, Simulation,
