A sonographer training school in Florida has decided to end a controversial policy in which students would undergo transvaginal ultrasound scans as part of their education.
In a May 26 announcement, Valencia College President Sandy Shugart, PhD, said the institution had decided to "permanently discontinue the use of student volunteers for transvaginal ultrasound scanning." The college's sonographer program will use simulators instead of student volunteers.
Valencia College made headlines earlier this month after two former students filed suit against the college, claiming that it retaliated against them after they protested having to undergo the transvaginal exams. While the college said that the procedures were voluntary, in actuality students were browbeaten into consenting to the probes and were threatened with retaliation if they didn't, according to the complaint filed in the case.
The plaintiffs claimed that they complained about the practice to multiple administrators, faculty, and staff at Valencia College, to no avail. They eventually resigned from the program.
In the May 26 statement, Shugart cited the voluntary nature of the transvaginal program, and noted that the college suspended the practice last summer and commissioned a review by an independent third-party expert. The expert "verified" that the program was administered "safely, professionally, and respectfully," Shugart said in the statement.
However, the college has now decided to permanently discontinue the use of student volunteers for transvaginal ultrasound scanning and instead use the simulators.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
