Teaching the internist to see: effectiveness of a 1-day workshop in bedside ultrasound for internal medicine residents

BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence supports the use of bedside ultrasound for core Internal Medicine procedures and increasingly as augmentation of the physical exam. The literature also supports that trainees, both medical students and residents, can acquire these skills. However, there is no consensus on training approach. AIM: To implement and study the effectiveness of a high-yield and expedited curriculum to train internal medicine interns to use bedside ultrasound for physical examination and procedures. SETTING: The study was conducted at a metropolitan, academic medical center and included 33 Internal Medicine interns. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: This was a prospective cohort study of a new educational intervention consisting of a single-day intensive bedside ultrasound workshop followed by two optional hour-long workshops later in the year. The investigation was conducted at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. The intensive day consisted of alternating didactic sessions with small group hands-on ultrasound practice sessions and ultrasound simulations. A 30-question assessment was used to assess ultrasound interpretation knowledge prior to, immediately post, and 6 months post intervention. RESULTS: Thirty-three interns served as their own historical controls. Assessment performance significantly increased after the intervention from a mean pre-test score of 18.3 (60.9 % correct) to a mean post-test score 25.5 (85.0 % correct), P value of <0.0001. This performance remained significantly better at 6 months with a mean score of 23.8 (79.3 % correct), P value <0.0001. There was significant knowledge attrition compared to the immediate post-assessment, P value 0.0099. CONCLUSIONS: A single-day ultrasound training session followed by two optional noon conference sessions yielded significantly improved ultrasound interpretation skills in internal medicine interns.