Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City will equip first-year medical school students participating in a research study with ultrasound devices to determine if handheld imaging technology can contribute to medical education at all levels of learning.
As part of the study, handheld ultrasound will be added to the curriculum of first-year students to augment their physical examination skills. A total of 72 devices (Vscan, GE Healthcare) will be distributed to teams in the 140-member class of 2016.
Dr. Jagat Narula, PhD, director of the medical school's cardiovascular imaging program, will be the principal investigator of the research study. The ability to see live images inside the body is an innovative educational concept that can modernize medical education, he said.
First-year medical students traditionally learn about the human body by dissecting cadavers and eventually by examining patients using a stethoscope. With the addition of handheld ultrasound devices, the students will learn how to identify and assess anatomical structures within cardiac, thoracic, and abdominal applications.
