JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is a test performed by any physician, as an adjunct to physical examination, to identify the presence or absence of specific findings of medical conditions. This skill is not yet taught in undergraduate medical education in Peru.

Objective:

To describe and evaluate the implementation of a POCUS course in undergraduate medical students.

Methods:

Pre-experimental study, without a control or comparison group, using a pre- and post-test to evaluate the same group of students. A theoretical-practical POCUS course was designed and implemented for fifth-year medical students at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, in late 2019 and early 2020. Their prior knowledge was assessed using a pretest consisting of 10 short-answer questions. At the end of the course, a posttest consisting of 10 questions on ultrasound (US) image analysis and recognition was administered, and the questions that were part of the pretest were also reassessed. Satisfaction and perception of learning were also assessed using a survey. A descriptive analysis was performed, obtaining absolute and relative frequencies. The Wilcoxon test for related samples was used to evaluate the differences between the pretest and posttest.

Results:

Twenty-six students (57.7% women) participated in the course, although only 19 took the post-test. The average pre-test score before the start of the course was 4.8 (SD 2.2) points, indicating poor prior knowledge. This average increased to 18.5 (SD 1.6) points when they retested at the end of the course. The average post-test score was 12.2 (SD 3.3) points, which differed significantly from the initial pre-test average (P<.001). Only 15 students responded to the satisfaction survey, with more than 50% of them reporting that they had fully acquired the ability to assess the inferior vena cava, bladder, free chest and abdominal fluid, and right kidney. They also reported that the course met 97.5% of their prior expectations, but all considered the practical sessions with the ultrasound equipment to be essential. Although they considered that the best aspects of the course were learning to use the ultrasound equipment and the small group sizes, they suggested that the course could be improved by increasing its duration and the number of practical sessions, as well as by conducting the practical sessions on real patients with some kind of pathology.

Conclusions:

We were able to create a short theoretical-practical POCUS course for undergraduate medical students after their clinical rotations, which enabled them to perceive a significant improvement in their ability to recognize certain abdominal and pelvic organs and anatomical structures using US.