Abstract
Background:
Ultrasound imaging enables the visualisation of internal structures of the body. This presentation showcases an ultrasound-integrated cardiovascular physiology practical class for year 1 medical students, co-designed by a physiology lecturer in partnership with medical students and clinicians.
Methods:
The 2-hour practical class was delivered to first-year undergraduate medical students. It started with introducing the principles of ultrasound. The students then broke into groups of 10 or 11 for ultrasound-based tasks (UBTs). The UBTs featured were (i) demonstrator-guided hands-on scanning of upper limb blood vessels and internal jugular vein, and (ii) demonstration of basic echocardiography views (parasternal long axis, parasternal short axis, apical 4-chamber and inferior vena cava). These tasks aim to visualise the functional and structural difference of arteries and veins, the effect of skeletal muscle pump on venous blood flow, changes in venous return by respiratory activity and gravity, and functional anatomy of the heart. Each UBT is accompanied with prescribed short-answer questions to help students recall and apply physiology concepts that they previously learnt in the lectures.
Results:
This activity was evaluated by an online survey measuring students’ situational motivation and perceived usefulness of the learning activity. A total of 352 surveys was disseminated, and 54 completed surveys were received (response rate=15.34%). For situational motivation (7-point Likert scale), the mean scores for intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, external regulation and amotivation were 5.9, 6.0, 4.8 and 2.3, respectively; indicating good self-motivation amongst the respondents. For students’ self-rated understanding of the topic, the score before the activity was 5.5 (±1.7), and that after the activity was 7.9 (±1.3).
Conclusion:
This demonstrated that the UBT-integrated practical class was well received and improved students’ perceived understanding, providing the impetus to explore integration of ultrasound to pre-clinical teaching at scale. In the future, the effectiveness of UBTs for teaching Biomedical Sciences students will be explored.