Educational Assessment of Medical Student Rotation in Emergency Ultrasound

BACKGROUND Medical student ultrasound education is sparse. In 2002, we began the first medical student rotation in emergency ultrasound. OBJECTIVE To evaluate if medical students can learn and retain sonographic skills during a two- or four-week elective. METHODS We gave students an exam on the first and last days of the rotation. Six months later, students took the exam a third time. A control group was used for comparison. RESULTS Over a 19-month period, we enrolled 45 students (25 on the two-week and 20 on the four-week elective). The four-week student post-test score was significantly better than the two- week post-test score (81% vs 72%, p=0.003). On the six-month exam, the four-week student post-test score was significantly better than the two-week post-test score (77% vs 69%, p=0.008). The control group did not statistically improve. CONCLUSION Medical students can learn bedside ultrasound interpretation with clinical integration and retain the knowledge six months later.