title: Introducing Final-Year Medical Students to Pocket-Sized Ultrasound Imaging: Teaching Transthoracic Echocardiography on a 2-Week Anesthesia Rotation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The availability of less expensive and smaller ultrasound machines has enabled the use of ultrasound in virtually all major medical/surgical disciplines. Some medical schools have incorporated point-of-care ultrasound training into their undergraduate curriculum, whereas many postgraduate programs have made ultrasound training a standard. The Chinese University of Hong Kong has charged its Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care to spearhead the introduction of ultrasound into the final-year medical curriculum by introducing handheld transthoracic echocardiography as part of perioperative assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  All 133 final-year students completed a 2-week anesthesia rotation, which began with a half-day session consisting of a lecture and hands-on practice session during which they learned 9 basic transthoracic echocardiography views using 4 basic ultrasound probe positions.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Each student was required to perform a transthoracic echocardiography-examine under supervision of 1 patient/week for 2 weeks, and their results were compared against that of the supervisor's. Most patients were elective cardiac surgery patients. One long question on transthoracic echocardiography was included in their end-of-year surgery examination paper. Students provided feedback on their experience.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most students learned the basic transthoracic echocardiography views fairly efficiently and had variable, though generally favorable, success rates in identifying obvious cardiac anomalies, including use of color Doppler. A few common mistakes were identified but were easily correctable. Logistics for mobilizing enough bedside supervision were challenging. Students reported positive feedback on the teaching initiative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We were able to execute a successful short training course on transthoracic echocardiography during the final-year medical degree anesthesia rotation. Our initiative may set an example for other clinical departments to design similar courses pertinent to their specialties and syllabuses.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care , The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Shatin , NT , Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Anthony M-H
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Lester A H
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Critchley
authors.forename: Joseph Y C
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Patricia K Y
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: Sylvia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: Siu K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Simon K C
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Philip K N
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Gordon Y S
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Joey K M
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wai
authors.forename: Alex P W
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sun O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000193:education*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013337:Students, Medical
keywords: echocardiography; education; perioperative medicine; ultrasound