Canadian National Survey on Undergraduate Bedside Ultrasound Education
Octavian Dobrescu1, Peter Steinmetz MD2,3, Sharon Oleskevich3 PhD, John Lewis MD2
1 Undergraduate medical education, Faculty of Medicine, 污污草莓视频 University, Canada
2 St. Mary鈥檚 Hospital Centre, 污污草莓视频 University, Montreal, Canada
3 St. Mary鈥檚 Research Centre, St. Mary鈥檚 Hospital Centre-污污草莓视频 University, Montreal, Canada
Objectives: Bedside ultrasound (point of care ultrasound) is being increasingly integrated into clinical practice as an adjunct to the physical exam and patient history. Accordingly, more emphasis is being directed to the teaching of bedside ultrasound at the undergraduate level. In the United States, a growing number of faculties have included ultrasound teaching in their undergraduate medical curricula. The educational landscape for undergraduate bedside ultrasound teaching in Canada is unknown. The aim of this study is to determine the extent of bedside ultrasound teaching in medical schools across Canada.
Methods: An online survey comprised of 19 multiple-choice questions was distributed to Associate Deans of undergraduate medical education in accredited Canadian medical schools. Bedside ultrasound teaching was evaluated according to: 1) timeline, 2) course format, 3) course logistics, and 4) opinion on bedside ultrasound.
Results: There are 17 accredited medical schools in Canada. Responses were received from nine schools, constituting a 53% response rate at the time of abstract submission. More than 50% of schools had integrated ultrasound teaching into their undergraduate curriculum (6/9 schools, 67%). Of those schools teaching bedside ultrasound, integration occurred within the last two academic years (4/6 schools, 67%). Bedside ultrasound was taught predominantly to first-year (5/6 schools, 83%) and second-year students (6/6 schools, 100%) with some schools teaching ultrasound in every year (2/6 schools, 33%). Students received on average 1-5 hours of ultrasound teaching per year and instructors were primarily non-radiologist physicians with experience in bedside ultrasound (4/5 schools, 80%). The instructional approach was clinical problem-based and the format included both lecture and practical hands-on sessions. The majority of Associate Deans agreed that bedside ultrasound is a useful adjunct to the physical exam (9/9 schools, 100%) and does not negatively impact patient safety (8/9 schools, 89%). They agreed that teaching should be part of their curriculum (8/9 schools, 89%) and list time constraints of the curriculum as the greatest obstacle for integrating bedside ultrasound education (7/9 schools, 78%).
Conclusion: Bedside ultrasound teaching is becoming increasingly integrated into accredited medical schools across Canada. Overall, Canadian undergraduate bedside ultrasound teaching 1) is consistent with a general trend to early (preclinical) integration in medical curricula, 2) uses a clinical problem-based approach 3) is taught by experienced non-radiologists, and 4) should be, in the opinion of Associate Deans, included in the undergraduate medical school curriculum.