There is a growing sense of urgency to incorporate ultrasound training into medical education worldwide. Faced with this challenge, a group of ultrasound experts, led in part by Dr. Jeanette Mladenovic, President of FAIMER, a member of Intealth, recently published their recommendations in The Ultrasound Journal on how best to establish a global ultrasound curriculum.
International Consensus Conference Recommendations on Ultrasound Education for Undergraduate Medical Students, co-authored by Dr. Mladenovic, was published in The Ultrasound Journal on July 27, 2022. The article explains how the group of ultrasound experts developed the first comprehensive document of recommendations for a basic ultrasound curriculum.
“Ultrasound presents an opportunity in our lifetimes to improve how we fundamentally teach and practice medicine to the benefit of students and patients across the globe,” the article states. “In the rich humanitarian tradition of medicine, may we seize this opportunity for teaching and using ultrasound to make this world a healthier and better place for all.”
Key aspects of an ultrasound curriculum include:
• Curricular integration across the basic and clinical sciences and a competency and entrustable professional activity-based model
• The curriculum should form the foundation of a life-long continuum of ultrasound education that prepares students for advanced training and patient care
• The curriculum should complement and support the medical school curriculum as a whole with an enhanced understanding of anatomy, physiology, pathophysiological processes, and clinical practice without displacing other important undergraduate learning
• The content of the curriculum should be appropriate for the medical student level of training, be based on evidence and expert opinion, and include ongoing collaborative research and development to ensure optimum educational value and patient care.
Dr. Mladenovic has been a champion of the use of point-of-care ultrasound for several years. She previously served as the President of the Society of Ultrasound in Medical Education, an academic society that guides the development of best practices in teaching and testing of medical students, residents, and other trainees in the field of clinical ultrasound.
