Creation of an Educational Opportunity for Medical Students to Learn Cardiac Ultrasound and Echocardiography

The data demonstrates a significant interest within The Ohio State University Medical Center in self-directed ultrasound learning.This interest appears to be highest with medical students based on this limited data set.The initial goal of this program was to gauge interest and feasibility of a self-guided ultrasound check out program, while providing an opportunity for ultrasound practice for a diverse group of users.Given the interest and feasibility of this program, the next steps to expand the capabilities of the program are in design.These include implementing a marketing campaign throughout the medical campus, and an Institutional Point of Care Ultrasound committee (I POCUS), to provide further awareness of this program.Updating software, adding more precise demographic data to the Qualtrics survey, and regular marketing of the program are methods that could lead to increased utilization.With upgrades of software and navigation of security concerns to utilize cloud-based image review, team members seek to expand data collection of usage and image review.These include, but are not limited to, the types of scans practiced, whether AI technology was used during scans, and quality of scans based on cloud-based image quality scales provided by the device manufacturer.Further progression of this program could include specialty faculty-led Quality Assurance reviews of practiced scans, with feedback provided to end users.This gift in kind provided a feasible method to provide a wide swathe of ultrasound users that included medical students, residents, faculty and other ultrasound users, access to portable ultrasound at a tertiary care medical center and College of Medicine.More research is needed to determine whether end users improve their skills through deliberate practice and whether AI technology can further hone ultrasound skills.